Osteoarthritis that never was

hippy

I have been having problems with my knees and joints for a while. I went to physio and it really helped the pain in my knees. However, with that better, my pain in different parts of my body but especially my legs, intensified. My physio told me it was osteoarthritis and that I could expect flare ups now and then.

Anyway, I saw my GP after six weeks as he had been absent. He told me that it doesn't seem as though I have OA, my x rays show no significant wear and tear. He was cross with the physio for saying otherwise.

So now I am waiting on the results of blood tests checking for inflammation, calcium, kidney and liver function and anaemia.

He suggested RA but doesn't really think so and something called polymyalgia.

I feel anxious about the results but I also feel incredibly anxious about not finding out what is causing the pain, what is causing me to feel like a woman 30 years my senior.

barbara12

Hello hippy
I know what you are going through right now, all we want sometime is a proper diagnosis..I do hope the test bring that for you ..

stickywicket

Hang on in there, hippy. In Arthritis World (and, should you have it, polymyalgia is a form of arthritis) there is much doubt and much waiting. We just have to get used to it. Better a late, accurate diagnosis than a hasty, inaccurate one. I hope your wait isn't too long.

palo

I do think it is cr*p that as patients we have to spend so much time waiting - waiting for diagnosis, waiting for treatment, waiting for results, and with auto-immune treatments waiting to see if a drug works or not and then waiting to try to the next one on the list...

It also seems ironic that we learn patience in abundance on this merry-go-round...

Good luck, I too am similarly conflicted I want to know what is going on fully but I don't want another condition to deal with... but I know what I want is pretty irrelevant in this situation..

Sleepy72

Hi Hippy,

I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis by a rhumatologist even though my affected joints don't show significant wear and tear. She said that between the x-rays and the ultrasound scan that she did that she saw enough evidence to diagnose.

My GP originally did loads of blood tests partially to check for all the things your GP is testing for plus Vitamin D levels. They all came back within the normal range so at that point my GP referred me. If your tests come back ok it might be worth asking for the referral to see what the specialist says.

Good luck x

hippy

Hi,

Thanks for replies. I see GP on Wednesday, so hopefully I will have a better idea of what is, or isn't, the problem.