Rheumatology appt

mrsshazbat

At the moment this is set for 16th April; can anyone advise what I could/should expect?

I'm making an assumption that this could potentially be the first of many appointments and I'm not daft enough to think I'm going to get a diagnosis straight away. My GPs are woefully inconsistent; one told me that my blood tests were clear so it wasn't arthritis, a subsequent musculo-skeletal specialist GP said that that was rubbish and it was still possible. What form of arthritis is also open to conjecture, although I'm going with RA because my symptoms seem to match that and my OH nurse seemed to think the same.

Thanx

shandy4greenday

At my first one they asked me lots of questions and they just wrote it all down all to do with what problems you have and if you have any swelling they may look at that,then I had more bloods taken and xrays it wasn't that bad I like you was rather worried but I've got my 3rd one next week so it's not that bad.I asked them if they had an idea and was given their opinion which hasn't really altered since.

dreamdaisy

It's been so very long since my first appointment (in the back end of 2000 I think) that I honestly cannot remember what happened (apart from being told to go away because I wasn't their problem. Proved 'em wrong, haven't I? )

I hope you are keeping a regular record of pain, tiredness, what hurts and what doesn't, what helps and what doesn't so that you can hand this over for them to get as full a picture of you as possible. Let us know how you get on, OK? It's about a month away so, if you're not keeping a record then please start one, it helps your memory too. DD

stickywicket

GPs don't know a great deal about auto-immune versions of arthritis because they don't treat them. They are General Practitioners, not specialists. Your musculo-ske;etal man probably has more of an idea but the rheumatologist is the one who deals with these things. It doesn't much matter which form of auto-immune arthritis you have as the meds are virtually the same. I hope it goes well for you.

barbara12

Hi
The others have given you some good advice, I just want to say I hope it all goes well for you...and dont forget your list of questions x

mrsshazbat

Thanx all. I'm so rubbish at keeping records like that; a friend suggested keeping a diary while I was off work about how I felt, what I ate, how I slept, what pain I was in, etc., but as it was the same every day I just gave it up. I've got the long list of things I can't do stored on the PC so that's ok. I'll have to devise some sort of format to work with.

Edit: A-ha! <lightbulb> Android app

gt43

Hi! I got home tonight to find my rheumatology appointment waiting for me - like you, first one, 14th May. It goes against the grain, as I generally try to avoid navel-gazing, too depressing, but I have been keeping a sort of diary. As much for my own sanity as anything else - my bloods have virtually all been negative, symptoms have been coming and going until recently, and I've been only too happy to retreat into denial in between. Once I started to write it all down though, I was clearer in my own head and that gave me the confidence to go back to my GP and tell her I wanted a private referral, as she was umming and aahhing about sending me NHS.

The consultant I saw privately took a full history and was interested in my all my odd symptoms ... I thought they were odd, so did various GPs, but he seemed to make sense of them.

So yeah - write it all down. Either that, or take a partner or friend to back you up.

dreamdaisy

mrsshazbat, I hope you also have a list of what you CAN do stored alongside. The diary does not have to be detailed: for a while mine was along the lines of

Pain - 6.
Tiredness - 4
Acid - none (or it might be 'Acid - had some Branston')
Mood - 7

I scored on the basis of 1 being bad and 10 being good. The headings were the initials P T A and M, jottted down in a little diary and I added notes if necessary about what I'd been doing if things had altered in big way. DD

mrsshazbat

Well my rheumatology appointment is next Tuesday, my pain diary is full to the brim.

My mum has been having some knee pain (worse when walking downhill), foot pain and swelling (the top of her foot) and recently had some hand/wrist pain. She went to her GP with the knee pain, then she returned because it wasn't any better and added the footpain into the mix.

Two visits, no blood tests, no x-rays and they've diagnosed OA! I've been like this for a year, had x-rays, blood tests and all sorts and still don't know what's wrong with me!

mrsshazbat

So it looks like there's nothing wrong with me other than a bit of wear and tear. The main focus was my thumb joint and my back - the thumb is wear and tear and there's a slightly abnormal disc in my back. Unfortunately I can never remember what I'm told in these situations. I've had some blood taken but I don't for one minute think anything will come back.

Unfortunately, I'm in nowhere near as much pain/discomfort as I was when I was referred 4 months ago, and although I still ache in all my joints it doesn't look like it's going to be diagnosed as anything.