I feel like I might be catching a cold and if it turns into something nasty or chronic because of my current medical condition and/or RA meds, I'm wondering who I should call...the RD or my internist? I recently saw the internist and got him up to date on what's going on, but I wonder if the RD is the one who should be treating me, or does it depend on what the problem is? How would I know if a problem is related to the RA or meds, at which time I would call the RD. Or what if it's just a run-of-the-mill illness, when I would call the internist? What do you do?
P.S. I guess because of my over active immune system, this will be the first cold or illness I've had in many years. Now I know why I just never got sick for the past several years.
Good Question.
My guess would be if you think you are getting a cold I would call the reg doc. I would hope he would know then if you would need to see your RD. If it were something he couldn't handle.
But that's just a guess from me.
Good luck and I hope it isn't a cold. I know colds really get me down for days.
Your posts remind me of another related question. I wouldn't normally call anyone unless the cold/virus, whatever, was persistent, getting worse or chronic. Can I still follow that pattern or do I need to call earlier or at the first sign of a problem? What do you all do?
My internist treats me. He and my RD work closely together. Actually my RD doesn't want to be bothered unless it's related directly to RA. I don't blame him, he'd be getting calls all the time. If I need to be off MXT then I call his office and have it charted. Lindy My RD told me I should see him for a respiratory illness even just a cold, because of the immune suppressents. He said sometimes a GP doesn't understand the need to get on an anitbiotic right away due the the elevated chance of pnumonia with the enbrel/MTX. It's easier to just come to him.Jesse, I call at the first sign of a problem. I have pulmonary fibrosis and even the slightest cold can be a real problem for me. I feel that because of the drugs we're on that we should call the office after a few days of symptoms. But then it depends on the symptoms. It's really a judgement call that you have to make. LindyJesse, this might sound stupid and I haven't reserched it at all , but when you wrote about an over active immune system , I had to stop and think. I was recently diagnosed with sero-neg RA and Fibro, and I too have never been one to catch colds etc in the past. What I was wondering was it because our immune systems before diagnosis were in overdrive?
[QUOTE=Jesse88]Your posts remind me of another related question. I wouldn't normally call anyone unless the cold/virus, whatever, was persistent, getting worse or chronic. Can I still follow that pattern or do I need to call earlier or at the first sign of a problem? What do you all do?
[/QUOTE]hugs
OK, since there's two answers here, I guess I'll ask the RD and see what he wants me to do. Since he's also an internist he may just say to call him, or, since he's so busy, he may be the delegating type and say to call the internist first.
About the autoimmune thing, I seem to remember hearing that when your system is overactive, you just don't pick up illnesses easily and it seemed to make so much sense when I remembered all the times my husband was sick and I no longer caught the same sickness, even though we shared a bed, bathroom and house. It was as if he could even sneeze on me and I still wouldn't catch it, when in our younger days, what he or the kids got, I got. And I never caught a cold from my grand-baby even when I took care of her for days. I've heard children's germs are very potent, but nope...no catcha da cold.
Question: my aches and pains were just that, other than in my wrists, but I just got over a 2 week cold/flu like on Friday, but this week my body HURTS!!! It's the first time it has been this all-encompassing. Is this what happens when we get sick and aren't on any type of drug?
If so, it really is the pits. I couldn't even walk into the drug store to drop off/ pick up my Rx. Lazy me
On a more serious note, apparently since my diagnosis, my hubby has been doing some research on his own at work, and he is SO attentive and washing dishes/laundry, etc. Wonder how long that is going to last? LOL Lisa All Rheumatologists are Internists. Most choose to do rheumatology and not internal medicine. There's not enough hours in the day for an RD to do both in a busy area. I live in an area that's probably 200,000 in population and a large percentage are retirees. There is only 1 full time RD and several part time ones who travel from San Diego. I'm fortunate that my RD and my internist happen to be best friends and will communicate about any crossover medical problems that I have. I've had them call one another from the examining room. I don't think it matters much on who takes care of the issue as long as your internist and RD communicate about your health treatment. Thanks for all your responses. As it turns out, it may not be a cold after all. I was working out in the yard (something I can now do again, thanks to the meds) and that night got a sore throat and tight chest. It's gone now and I suspect it was allergy kicking up. This time last year I was SOOOO sick with ragweed allergy, but this year.....nothing, except for that sore throat episode. When I saw my internist for a check-up he said the RA meds are helping to keep me from having allergy problems. That's a nice side effect I wasn't expecting. Anyone else have that same experience?
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