mri results

jdm

Hello
I have just received a letter with my mri results on my back and pelvis, and it showed no damage or even inflammation. My rheumatologist has decided my back pain is therefore muscular so I should have physio, which i have tried in the padt amd did not help. I am really upset at this as have had seronegative arthritis for 21 years and feel like I have been dismissed as having nothing wrong with me. I am in constant pain with all my joints but my back is stiff and painful when sitting for long periods and at night and is clearly not muscular. I have had lots of problems in the past with the medical proffession being dismissive, although did see one excellent rheumatologist who diagnosed me with seronegative spondyloarthropathy. I am now wondering about trying a private rheumatologist?

stickywicket

I wonder why you feel your back problem is “clearly not muscular”? I can't always tell (despite my vast experience :roll: ) what is muscular and what is joint related. In fact I even got the joint wrong when my TKR failed as all my pain was in the ankle below it :oops: It was the x-rays that revealed the truth.

I hope your rheumatologist has not dismissed you. What medication do you take for your sero-neg? What are your inflammation levels like? Did your rheumatologist suggest that your meds might need increasing or changing? All these things contribute to our pain levels.

Personally, I would explore all these avenues (including the physio. I couldn't manage without mine) before spending money on a private rheumatologist. I don't see how a different diagnosis would help. Once you've been diagnosed with an autoimmune form of arthritis the meds are basically the same whatever 'flavour' of arthritis is ultimately decided upon. I seem to remember you mentioning sulph. Are you still on it?

daffy2

Please don't dismiss the rheumatologist's conclusion completely. I've had scoliosis(curvature of the spine) for 50 years and although the spine itself didn't hurt, the difficulties it caused my muscles sure as hell did, and continue to do so. A spasm can literally stop you in your tracks. The fact that the physio didn't help in the past doesn't mean it won't ever do so, but there are also other therapies you could look into which might help. I found learning Alexander technique very helpful, not least because it gave me a measure of control over the causes of pain by enabling proper use of the muscles. Things have since got a bit more complicated but what I learned more than 15 years ago can still be of use.