First message on here

Jenny246

Hi, My name is Jenny, I am a 68 year old retired Midwife, and suffering with a of of pain. Originally this was in my hands,mainly my right hand (my dominant one), later it has progressed to my R elbow and r shoulder. I am now getting pain starting in my left shoulder and my knees. I have been trying to get a diagnoses and help for about 18 months and have so far only seen a physio - self referred (who suggested Tennis elbow) and more recently I got an appointment with the physio in my surgery who was able to request an xray for my shoulder and ran a number of blood tests although she declinged to test ESR because it was i normal range 2 years ago.

I have stiff painful hand and wrist joints with knobbles on my knuckles

I honestly feel ignored and I am in so much pain especially in my shoulders and its at its worst at night. Thank you for listening

Help !

Ellen

Hi @JennyDowding Jenny I am very pleased to meet you and welcome you to the online community.

Reading your post through I wonder if you are feeling that something is being missed here by the physiotherapist.

You have had nurse training yourself being a retired midwife so you know a bit about blood tests. Is it worth speaking to your GP now and requesting bloods including ESR and possibly a referral to a Rheumatologist? The waiting lists can be long, but the sooner you are in the system the better.

This information is about investigations which can be done to establish what is happening:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/healthcare-professionals/training-and-education-resources/clinical-assessment-of-patients-with-musculoskeletal-conditions/investigations/

Trouble getting diagnosed is just so common here I did a search for you using the search icon above:

https://community.versusarthritis.org/search?query=trying%20to%20get%20a%20diagnosis&scope=site&source=community

I hope reading some of those posts will help you feel less alone.

Now that you've introduced yourself please do take a look around and join in wherever you feel comfortable. Living with Arthritis tends to be one of the most popular categories.

Best wishes

Ellen.

frogmorton

Hi @Jenny246

Nice to meet you and welcome you to the forum from me too.

I think you might be a nice person, but maybe the time has come for you to be assertive. You could do with all bloods done at least to start with.

It may well be that you have widespread OA or it may be a different form of Arthritis which needs a different kind of treatment🤨

The sooner you know the better.

Take care and best of luck

Toni x

Jenny246

Thank you folks, I am waiting on the xray in early June and will then insist on a GP appt to review all. Hopefully i can get some help then

frogmorton

Well done @Jenny246 do let us know😊