Well I have just got back from seeing my new rheumy and I am at last confident I have found the right doctor. He was wonderful and listened and asked lots of questions. He made lots of jokes and put me at ease straight away.
I asked my old rheumy if he thought an infection from Tick bite fever i had a long time ago when i lived in South Africa could be the cause of my joint pain, fatigue and swelling, he just laughed at me. This new rheumy stopped writing asked me about the tick bite fever and the rash i had had. He then gave me forms to be tested for Lymes disease. I have been on lots of meds for RA and have never had much luck with them helping me. I stopped Humira a while ago as i got a severe infection and have been on antibiotics since trying to clear that and a bladder infection. He think the antibiotics could have been fighting a lymes disease infection and thats why my symptoms have dissapeared. I have gone from being hardly able to move for at least 2 hours in the morning and sleeping a lot during the day and dealing with swollen knuckles, knees and ankles to no problems at all.
I will keep you updated
Lisa -
This is wonderful! Did you keep a copy of the tests for Lyme he ran? Do you know which ones?
Pip
Yay! Happy to hear you are feeling better!Did they ever do a lymes titer when you were first dx'd? I thought all rheummy's ran those tests(and all other tests that mimick ra) Heck my GP's even ran those tests.
Glad you are feeling better.
this is great news Pin. Really happy for you!
Hey that would be great if this new doctor is correct! Looking forward to hearing about what he finds!
Kelly
Newbb - unfortunetly in the UK they only run what the NHS can afford to run.
Pip - my tests are being run tomorrow and i cant make out what he says on these formS but let me try. biochemistry test for U&E LFT and hes written antibiotics on the form
The other one is a microbiology test and i think it says Borrelia tite
Then there is the standard haematology FBC PLATLET and ESR
Ok I think thats it
Microbiology! That has me hopeful. Didn't realize you were in the UK. Anybody here can translate those other tests?
Pip
Wishing you the best of luck!How wonderful that you are feeling so much better, so quickly! Please keep us posted. Maybe, after you find out something for sure, you could let your old rheumy know that he shouldn't be so quick to judge. It is your body, after all. You would know what you have had in the past, and it is a good doctor that knows how to listen.
Best of luck Sweetie.
Oh, by the way, I showed your pictures to my husband, and he was as much in awe as I was. His question was, with UK being so damp (that's what we hear, anyway), is it very hard on your bones and joints. I know now, that anytime we are anyplace with that kind of climate, I am in uncontrollable pain. But we were both saying how much we would love to see your part of the world! It is truly magnificent.
Stay well!!
Hugs,
Nini
Pinnie isn't Lymes curable? So this would be a GREAT THING. Don't you run off on us if this turns out........Just cause you might not have RA doesn't me we don't still love ya!! It seems that it might be Borelli titer? In which case I think he's looking for antibodies to the borelli which is the infection of Lymes. So, I guess that's the Lymes test.