New to the Forum

suja78

Hi

I decided to join today, as I am feeling really fed up with lack of support from GP and hospital, and the time everything takes to get diagnosed/treatment. I recently had an MRI scan, and went back for the results last week. Apparently the results were inconclusive. Rheumatology say that I have the genetically determined histocompatibility antigen HLA B27 of Ankylosing spondylitis, which would tie in with the really bad morning stiffness I get in my lower back, but I don't have all the symptoms of this inflammatory disease. I also have pain in my neck (constantly) and some pains in my upper arm muscles and tops of my legs. I think they said some of these may be symptoms of Polymyalgia. The MRI scan also showed some degenerative problem in my lower spine. It is all very confusing. I am taking Meloxicam 7.5mg tablets with Omeprazole to counteract stomach irritation. This helps a bit, but not much. I still get disturbed sleep and wake up several times in the night, which leaves me tired every morning. The hospital are going to assess me for hydro therapy treatment and I hope to attend a pain clinic, but I've got to wait until the 15th August to see a consultant and other doctors for what they called a case conference to see if they can actually diagnose me!!! I do have a puppy now, 6 months old, and I make the effort to walk her every morning, even though I don't feel like it, as I think maybe exercise helps. I feel frustrated that I can't really look for another job at the moment (even if I could get one - used to be an NHS administrator till end of last year). Anyway, thanks for listening.

Suja

helpline_team

Dear Suja,

Thanks for your post to Helplines. Really sorry to hear about all this pain and technical stuff that you are having to wade through. I wonder whether the MRI looked as high up as your neck as you're getting so much pain there? It sounds as though the lower back degeneration may be the long way of saying that you've got some osteoarthritis there, but see what they say.

You are clearly concerned about support - if you'd like to talk about things and your frustration over the lack of support you'd be welcome to ring us.

Another approach may be to do some posting on Living with arthritis, to see what shared themes people might connect with.

As you've had a number of other issues flagged up you may well have to manage uncertainty and possible dead ends too - and that's not always easy. I hope you find some good support on here - and I hope we can help along the way.

all the best

Guy