How often do u get to see rhumatologist

Hairobsessed123

That’s my question really ?

I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis December 2020!

i have only been to see him 2 x once early January 2021 and again July 2021

it’s always nurse over telephone appointments and they increased methotrexate for me when I have bad elbow. Which is all good now but now I have pain in my right shoulder and nurse just said take ibuprofen !! And see if that works

Are we not supposed to see consultant rhumatology more regularly or not ?

anyway hope everyone is ok I have been really well until my shoulder started to hurt 😞

stickywicket

I last actually saw mine pre-covid. I had annual appointments then as I did back in Yorkshire before moving to Scotland. Since covid, my annual appointments are all by phone but, frankly, I'm very happy with that. He always ends by reminding me to get in touch if I've any problems. I don't have. In fact it was he who spotted my inflammatory levels being raised in my bloods, a year or two back, and increased my meth.

I'm sorry you're having problems. Is the ibuprofen helping?

Hairobsessed123

Not really @stickywicket !

jamieA

Hi @Hairobsessed123

I suppose to some extent it depends where you live and how bad your symptoms are how often you see a consultant. I was diagnosed with PsA at the end of October 2020 and saw my consultant in November 2020 and then again in March 2021. Both occasions were pretty useless as he never moved from behind his desk - he didn't examine me. At my next appointment it was with one of his junior doctors who new nothing about me - hadn't read my case notes - and I demanded to see the consultant. I changed consultant late 2021 as I was unhappy with a number of statements he'd made to me. I've never met with my new consultant. I had a face to face appointment with one of her junior doctors in February 2022 - which resulted in the most complete physical examination of me that I've had and I was provided a copy of his 4 pages of findings. I had a telephone consultation with my consultant in June 2022 and had a further one cancelled in December 2022 as she was off work. So I've not officially seen my case consultant since March 2021. I have been seen by a number of other consultants when I was admitted to a different hospital a number of times in 2020/2021

I now have a face to face appointment with a locum doctor - not a consultant - next month.

Like you I've seen more of the rheumatology nurses and the senior nurse I've seen most has 30 years experience in rheumatology so I'm happy to see and rely on her. She was the one that told me I was moving onto biologics and talked me through the pros and cons - I didn't see a doctor/consultant at that time. She also organised my covid 3rd primary vaccination and my boosters when no-one else was prepared to help.

Fif

I was diagnosed by the consultant in November 2021 and saw him again in September 2022. I am scheduled to see him 8 months from then, which would be about May, but will probably be a bit longer because of backlogs. I can always get in touch with the RA nurse and she asks his advice if she feels it necessary. I'm spending some time in Spain just now and had to send blood test results to the department. My consultant's secretary emailed to say he'd looked at these and was happy with them. I really feel I'm pretty well off in terms of contact and communication, particularly when the NHS is under such pressure. There's probably no hard and fast rule about how often you're seen, but if you're really unhappy and feel you need more support, I'd ask the nurse if she can pass on your concerns to the consultant.

Baloo

I only saw a Rheumatologist until I was discharged. Never seen once since. What I do think though, is my arthritis seems to need constant attention, where I have to keep drawing on all the advise I previously obtained, and checking it still works, and finding new advice when the arthritis decides to start a brand new argument.

My shoulder doesn't hurt, but my knee did today and has never been diagnosed. Guess what. I took an Ibuprofen. Its my secret weapon. I only take one (one) and my health app told me once the affect lasts about a week 😊