Re: Derm vs Rheumatologist

[Guest guest]

Hi Sara,

I recently was diagnosed with EN, am in week 4 of my first flare up

and it gets worse every day. My family doc was sure it was EN, but

sent me to a dermatologist, a rheumatologist, a gastroenterologist,

and a hematologist.... i've been the the dermatologist and the

gastroenterologist so far.... to be honest, the dermatologist was the

least helpful - all he did was spend a total of 30 seconds looking at

my legs, and confirmed it was EN. No biopsy or even one question

about any other symptoms.

All the Derm. can do is medicate you - they can't do anything to find

the underlying cause. He wrote me a prescription for prednisone and

sent me on my way. My family doc, gastro. and rheum. all agree that

i should not start treatment with prednisone until they find the

underlying cause. Prednisone has a lot of side effects, some of the

rare ones can be very serious and my family doc thinks that nobody

should take a steroid drug like that unless the diagnosis of the

underlying cause is confirmed - i agree with my doc on that.

Best idea is to see if they can find an underlying cause - but i

don't think that a dermatologist can be of any extra help on that...

My advice is - push your GP into investigating every possible cause -

although 50% of cases are idiopathic, I honestly think thats because

nobody takes the time to investigate far enough...

Glad to hear that you are in remission of this awful condition, I

hope my flare up goes away soon. I've been unable to work, barely

able to walk, and in a LOT of pain... would give anything for just

one day of relief!