RD Appt. | Arthritis Information

New Meds:

Actonel

Lidoderm Patches
Rozerem

Soma

Med Changes:

Remicade 300mg

Darvocet take 1 daily

New DX:

Raynaud's

Ordered Work-up:

Blood Work

X-Rays - Neck

Friday, Saturday, & Sunday pain, swelling, stiffness was a really bad fibro flare, so my RD tells me. She said very little of what was going on those days was RA. Apparently, the rib pain is fibro. She clued me in on how she believes those days were bad fibro flare, which was that most symptoms decreased after taking half a LorTab10. She said if it was RA the swelling and stiffness would not have gone after taking just half a LorTab10. Yep, had first real fibro flare, I wish I would have known that is what is was before I started freaking about it and thinking I was getting worse and not better, RA wise.

She said RA still very active. She wanted to drain my right knee and inject steriod into it because it is still pretty swelled, hard swell. I asked her about the "hard swell" she said it was because that inflammation had thickened and it is painful to me because it is pressing down on my knee joint. Instead of draining my knee she is letting me do pred taper starting at 40mg until I get back down to my normal dose. She said if I come back in 6 weeks and my right knee is swelled again, she will have no choice but to drain it and inject steriods. I told her it was not THAT painful, she said the inflammation was still causing damage and it needed to be removed.

Told her of my neck problem and those 2 mini black outs I had. She said it could be inflammation pressing on my spinal cord when I try to move my head. I got x-rays done. If those are no help then I get to have an MRI.

She still wants an MRI of my hands. She has not received the report back about my nuclear bone scan. She said she would get someone to call about it to find out where it is.

Remicade got moved up to 300mg, and get to have that new dose in 2 weeks. She said she likes to give lowest dose possible and then build up to where you need to be.

She said most of my problems right now, will more than likely be better once the Remicade starts to work and last like it is suppose to. She said the problems that are still presistant even after Remicade has a chance to work, then she will work on those problems.

Sounds like a productive RD appiontment. Really get some of that pain cream for your neck. You will see what i what i mean. A stiff neck hurts but if you don't have to feel the pain as bad it will make a major difference.A very productive appointment by the sounds of it..
In six weeks time you will be a new girl.
glad to hear your visit was so productive and hopefully it all helps you quickly

so you won't have to deal with this pain very long

hope the family is doing well and you get better

have a nice evening.

Joonie - glad it went well for you. Take care ~~ CathyGreat news Joonie, now you are getting somewhere! HUgs Janie. Thanks everyone. Well... it sounds productive, but still lacking....

Because of course, I freaked when she was talking about draining my knee and injecting it with steroids, that is about the time I started to shut down and not complain anymore and stopped reading from my list-o-complaints. I knew at some point I was going to choke like a big chicken, so that is why I started out with the big complains first.

Oh and to make things worse... I was so much in panic mode that I told the vampire the wrong arm to take my blood outta. I did not realize it was the wrong arm until she already had blood flow cut off and looking for a vein. Then she made sounds like it was going to be hard for her so I just told her it was the wrong arm and even pointed out the vein to her in the good arm. Told her I did not feel like getting stuck more than once.

Joonie, if you end up having to have that knee drained and injected, ask the doctor to give you a Valium (5mg) or Xanax (0.5mg) or something similar to take about an hour before the treatment. It will make a BIG BIG difference. Gosh Joonie I could only pray to have an appt like that! I am frustrated at current RD, but hubby said we are not going RD shopping! I could only hope for that much proactivity!Even with the bad you added, I still think it sounds good and that you did a great job! Good luck with everything, it sounds like she explained what to expect very well, and don't freak about the injection - if you need it, you need it! And maybe you won't, right? There is a good chance you won't need to have the knee drained. I know they wanted to drain mine and I right out refused. So with ice packs (which I hate hate hate anything cold at all touching me anywhere) and keeping it up for about half hour three times a day in a week it was normal. Thank God.

It does sound like your Dr. is listening to you and trying things. Good for you.

Joonies, I'm really proud of you, you did great!!

Sounds like you have a good dr !!!.. and having your knee drained, to me it sounds good, LOL, and yes, like jasmine said, do take pain meds or I'm sure he'll give you something for it.

You are being proactive and thats great and also good/ bad news/ about the fibro, but at least you now know what you're dealing w/ and sounds like the journaling helped you.. yay.. keep up the postive thoughts~

blessings and i'm sorry you're having to go thru soo much!!.. esp w/ kids~

It does sound like a good appointment Joonie. Try to see the good instead of the bad here.

I've cortisone injections on my knees before that eliminated the need to drain them once it was given a chance to work. You've been through much worse......try not to panic. It's not that bad, honestly.

Joonie, your appointment sounded as if it went very well , although being told you have fibro isnt so good. The knee draining isnt that bad, even for someone who doesnt like needles. You did well and deserve a big pat on the backdear joonie

you had a great appointment! good job getting alot accomplished. what a caring doctor you have! i have had my knee drained and injected and it did not hurt and felt so much better afterwards. hang in there! it all sounds good. susan

Hey, don't worry about draining the knee so much, it's honestly not as bad as it sounds. They did mine when I was like, 4 or 5. They numbed my knee first - not with a needle, with stuff they rub on. So that helped a lot. It doesn't take long either, because they use a bigger vial than when they take blood. Same size needle though I think, so that's good. It comes out really fast and isn't really much worse than getting blood done. And you can do that, so you can do the knee drain if you have to.

But for now, focus on the pred working and think about other stuff! You may not even have to have it drained!
Joonie!!! I'm so glad your appointment went well. Joonie,

It sounds like you have a good dr and your appointment went well. My rheum did nothing but say my labwork was good and to taper the prednisone. Didn't exam or discuss anything with me and by then I was mad so I didn't talk either! You did well!