Letter from Rheumy...

traluvie

Evening all..
Hope You are all ok, well as ok as ok can be lol
I received a letter from my rheumy today following my appointment beginning of month...
The letter has had me googling all the abbreviations and terms lol..
Anyone fancy summing it up to me in a few easy words lol...
Be greatly appreciated if anyone has a better understanding than me lol..
I'll miss out the boring bits of me getting distressed and trying to explain the severity of the symptoms i was experiencing lol..

DIAGNOSIS; Widespread joint pain in peripheral distribution, inflammatory? normal blood tests.

RECAP; 6month history of widespread joint pain associated with puffiness and tenderness in the fingers in an inflammatory distribution. investigations including ESR,CRP,XRAY ULTRASOUND. Has shown no evidence of inflammatory arthritis.

EXAMINATION TODAY; There is slight tenderness in the PIP joints but no clinical evidence of inflammatory arthritis. She does not have classic fibromyalgic tender points although she is having poor unrefreshing sleep..

INVESTIGATIONS REQUESTED;Thyroid function, antimitochondrial antibodies, antiTTG,ESR,CRP nad technetium bone scan.

MANAGEMENT PLAN; Will repeat inflammatory markers, and some additional antibodies as there was slight abnormality on TSH last visit, repeated thyroid.I am in somewhat of a dilemma as all previous investigations do not point to inflammatory arthritis, therefore be in keeping with a chronic pain management problem. I will however request technetium bone scan just to try and evaluate further if there is any evidence of inflammation...
:???: :roll: :???: :roll:

phew... need a rest now...

tjt6768

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Me no understandy.... Lol
I'm sure someone with much better knowledge than me (not too difficult really) will be along at some point!

I wish you well..

traluvie

Toni..

lol i glad i not the only one then lol...
can be a bit mind baffling sometimes..
i need it in lamen terms lol..

Hope you feeling a bit more chirpy after today

Tracy..xx

tjt6768

Doing ok hun thanks, you may soon learn, I'm a cheery chap, lol.Suffering a bit tonight but not too much.. Having to use my mobile instead of pc at the minute as the room is a bit upside down due to a furniture re shuffle, and the pc isn't really accessible to me.. It's easier to you're but takes longer, lol.. Plus mi hands hurt like a bugger anyway, do won't be around late tonight.. Haha

Hope you are ok?

traluvie

I;m lucky i'm lay in bed with notebook..
I know what it's like when hands are bad i'm useless lol
Nice to hear your not to bad otherwise :roll: ..
Good your positive.. we can't let the b*****d grind us down lol..
I must try get some sleep soon, i have my bone scan tom 9am and i have to get train there, so early start.. need to wake up at least an hr earlier to get meself mobile lol..
Take care

Tracy..
xxxx

tjt6768

you too hun, good luck for tomorrow, a lot of us will be with you on'pocket duties' to make sure you're ok...


Lol

Think I'll try get some sleep myself, hands are seizing up totally..

G'night

traluvie

Night Toni,,

Thanks,,

Hope you feel bit better tom..

Tracy
xxxxx

dreamdaisy

Baiscally, they're not sure what's gong on. You have a history of joint pain, bloods, Xrays and ultrasound have revealed nothing to date, peripheral distribution to me suggests 'outer' joints, eg knees (I don't know), 'antibodies' tests could refer to TNF factor, but that is sheer guesswork (I base that on the fact that I am on anti TNF stuff) ESR and CRP are inflammatory markers and are not registering any inflammation (both of mine have been in the 160s-180s in the past, ideally they should be between 0 and 10) anti TTG I have no idea, antimichondrial thingies and bone scan doobry ditto, I think they are ruling out fibro, what the **** are PIP joints? I am not a doctor, or a rheumatologist. We really should have a pet one available to us! Yes, we do know our stuff but we are not medics traluvie, and I am not pretending to be one. I can, however, understand your bewilderment. These letters are not designed to help or inform us, despite us being the ones in need of such info. They are meant for fellow medicos. They should come with a patient's translation - that would help, I think. Try not to fret about it tonight: there has to be a way to find out what all these things mean (without resorting to Google and scaring oneself witless). Hopefully someone will come along with an idea about how to do this. I am off to bed, I am out on my feet. I hope you get some sleep. DD

traluvie

Thanks DD,

Really appreciate your wise words..

I know alot of ppl aren't medics just was hoping someone could explain it a bit better than i understand lol.. You done a great job of doing that so thanks DD..
Am not fretting too much, have bone scan tom, so will await my next letter off rheumy to say what my results are..
Watch this place.. lol

Take care..
Night
xxxxx

skezier

Hi Tracy,

Basically its that he isn't sure whats going on but some of the tests are showing slight elevation hence the tests for thyroid and thew scans etc..... I think the pip is something to do with the small bones? i got some vague memory of that but it could be wrong...

he is obviously being thorough but hasn't really ruled anything out....

Its the waiting game I am afraid. Its hard but in time they will get a better idea as to what is happening and then maybe start to help you.

That's how i would read it to be honest.

Its hard in the beginning...... hang in there and maybe a chat to talk it through with your gp could help you? Sometimes I get called in for a consultants letter and it might be your have the same system with yours but if not i think a chat could help you.

Hope your ok in your self? Cris x

caprica

The PIPs are the proximal interphelangeal joints in the fingers. The middle ones the ones closest to the hand are the metacarpals and the ones at the tip are the DIPs, distal interphelangeal.

Never even studied biology..ooo, the things you learn when you get arthritis *rolls eyes*.

Hope they get to the bottom of it soon, don't give up and stick up for yourself, cos no one else will!!

Starburst

^ lol Caprica, me too! Nearly type paprika there!!

Good luck for your scan today. My rheumy says inflammatory arthritis is hard to diagnose, especially without any blood indicators. I did have inflammation in my bloods and he still wasn't convinced, so he sent me for the bone scan, like you. 14 months later and I still don't have a 'proper' diagnosis. You'll get there in the end and on the right medication, whatever it is you have.

Sophie xx

dreamdaisy

Good luck for today, traluvie, I hope it goes well. I've never had one of these, please tell me about it later, if you can, I'd like to learn. DD

julie47

Your letter was a little confusing but reading it i would also say they are confused too.
I wish you look with the scan today
take care
juliepf x

frogmorton

Eeeh Lass!!

that were some letter!!

Not suprised you are confused - I think they are too.

IS the scan today? If so i do hope they get to the bottom of things quickly for you.

Love

toni xx

tjt6768

forgive me if I'm late but best of luck with your scan today...

Let us know how you went on..