Re: seeing the rhemy soon

July 27, 2008

On my first appointment, the doctor looked at my other mri i had on my ankle

and foot. He looked at my hands and my other joints, the tender spots. He

saw i had psoriasis and saw my knee swelled up as well. He sent me for xrays

, in the meantime he put me on a low dose of prednisone only 10 mg. I

wasn't happy about taking it, but i did and i slowly started to feel better.

He

did blood work even though i had had tons, he found my crp which is c

reactive protein to be 6.8 normal he said is around .6. So he new i had some

kind

of inflammatory arthritis going on. Its hard cause i had the psoriasis, and a

family history of ra as well. anyways he then tole me to research

methotrexate etc. After six weeks i came back and he started me on i think

four pills

a day. I greatly improved. Then i went back and he added one more which is

five. I have blood work every month and so far ists been good.. i know i go

back in a couple weeks and im sure hes going to raise the methotrexate. My

psoriasis is almost completely gone, which is amazing. I know he mentioned

he was slowly starting me as i have rsd as well. Oh the xrays showed

osteoarthritis in my left knee as well.

Jolene

In a message dated 7/27/2008 3:20:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

jaayimee@... writes:

My first appointment is on the 6th. What am I to expect. My internist said

to expect lots of weird tests and blood draws so now I'm curious on what

exactly a weird test is.

Also I was wondering if this was typical. We were in Vegas a few weeks ago

and I had some pain but very little compared to the every day pain I have

here. Once we got back I realized how the weather was affecting me. When the

humidity starts rising I have extream pain and swelling. I always have lots of

pain everyday but it gets so much worse. The swelling around my spine gets

really bad when the humidity raises. The longer I go without treatment the

worse

things are getting. I can hardly move anymore and my range of motion is gone

by half. The numbness in my feet and hands is worse and of course the joint

pain and stiffness that I've been dealing with is worse. I'm guessing all of

this is to be expected? I hope this doctor can help me.

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July 27, 2008

When I saw my rheumatologist for the first time, I took a list of the

symptoms I had presented to my Primary Care Physician. Each time I had gone to

my

PCP with symptoms, she had sent me somewhere else, not believing me when I

told her it was something systemic.

So as I told the rheumatologist of my first visit with knee and upper arm

pain and the MRIs that were ordered, he looked up the records for the MRIs, then

moved my joints around in different ways. He did this with every symptom on

my list. It was amazing to have a doctor listen and not be in a hurry.

He asked lots of questions that would help with his diagnosis. How was my

skin? Was I having a Crohn's flare?

At the end of the first appointment, he said it could be one of three

things. But the beginning treatment for all three was to start on Prednisone.

Then

he ordered blood and urine tests.

The three things were:

Arthritis associated with Crohn's.

Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Rheumatoid Arthritis

So the only weird things were manipulating my joints. The blood tests showed

that it was RA. He said the rheumatoid factor was 8 times normal.

Let us know how it goes.

dd

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July 27, 2008

Jolene,

I dont post much,But i too live in northeast ohio....I had the same

experience, we where on vacation last month in Vegas...I felt So much

better..Than when we got home, my body didnot let me forget the

pain!!!..Incentently my sedrate had finally dropped some, Im sure it

was being in vegas and not the mtx...take care diane

July 27, 2008

They usually just order blood work..I've never heard of any weird tests. They

do quite a bit of lab workup and possibly order an MRI or xrays but unless the

numbers are high or there is visible swelling my rheumatologist didn't really do

that at first until my joint effusions on the knees developed. They may do

range of motion tests with physical exam.

From: <jaayimee@...>

Subject: [ ] seeing the rhemy soon

Date: Sunday, July 27, 2008, 3:12 PM

My first appointment is on the 6th. What am I to expect. My internist said to

expect lots of weird tests and blood draws so now I'm curious on what exactly a

weird test is.

Also I was wondering if this was typical. We were in Vegas a few weeks ago and I

had some pain but very little compared to the every day pain I have here. Once

we got back I realized how the weather was affecting me. When the humidity

starts rising I have extream pain and swelling. I always have lots of pain

everyday but it gets so much worse. The swelling around my spine gets really bad

when the humidity raises. The longer I go without treatment the worse things are

getting. I can hardly move anymore and my range of motion is gone by half. The

numbness in my feet and hands is worse and of course the joint pain and

stiffness that I've been dealing with is worse. I'm guessing all of this is to

be expected? I hope this doctor can help me.

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _

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July 27, 2008

HI JAMIE, BE EXPECTING TONS OF LAB WORK TO CHECK YOUR BLOOD CELLS(red & white r

important,sed rate cbc etc)

EVEN YOUR RANGE OF MOTION IN YOUR ARMS,LEGS,SHOULDERS,KNEES,NECK,ETC. THEY ALSO

SOMETIMES CHECK YOUR STRENGH IN YOUR HANDS & FINGERS. IT DOESN'T HURT IT KINDA

FEELS GREAT!!!GOOD LUCK JAMIE & I'LL KEEP U IN MY PRAYERS, GOD BLESS

MELYNDAGAMEZ 7/27/08 11:07P.M.CST

[ ] seeing the rhemy soon