Ok so my internist finally called me back. She has now agreed to give me more Prednisone and she feels that since I'm ok w/ the side effects then she's ok w/ giving Prednisone to me. She also said her referral coordinator just mailed me a new referral for a Rheumy so I should get that any day. She said that this will be very tough to prove but that she feels I have sero negative RA. She says it's going to be tough to prove it because my sed rate and RA factors are normal thus far. Has anyone had a normal sed rate and been sero negative? I'm so glad you got the pred and a referral! Yes, I've seen posts like that, so I'm sure someone will reply. The main thing is that you have some relief and an appt. with a specialist! I'm seronegative but quite often have an increased sed rate. Sero-negative isn't hard to prove. Many RD's now recognize it quickly and if you are lucky enough to find an RD that does you'll begin treatment quickly. There are many other criteria that doctors use to dignosis it. Unless you see some old fashion doctor that isn't current on his information you shouldn't have too much trouble provided that's what's wrong with you. You don't want to be treated for it unless that is actually your problem so a doctor that rules out many other things before starting treatment isn't a bad thing provided they don't waist too much time in the process.
There are many other criteria they can use for diagnosis....blood work like CRP, Anti-CCP, ANA (http://www.labtestsonline.org/ is a great site to check these out), and also diagnostic tests like x-rays, bone scan or MRI's. Also, the physical exam is important as you may have symptoms (swelling, stiffness) that are obvious during an exam but don't show up on the lab work. A good rheumy will take both lab work and the physical exam into account.
One thing I've found helpful when talking to the doctor is not just to describe your pain, but to put it in terms of what you can and can't do. If you say "my hands hurt too much in the morning to pick up my baby", the message comes across loud and clear.I was just diagnosed in February after testing completely normal. My rheumy diagnosed me based on my symptoms (classic RA), family history of RA, and the fact that I already have 3 other autoimmune diseases. It's actually great news to be diagnosed before anything starts showing in the test results--it means we can head things off before they get to bad (hopefully, at least!). I've heard a lot of people start showing things on test results more after they've had RA for a while.I was diagnosed originally with Palindromic Rheumatism and recently re-diagnosed Sero-neg. RA. Rheumy based it on my symptoms which are now symmetrical and more progressive. All my bloods are normal and MRI shows synovitis in hand joints but no joint damage. Been on Plaquenil for 6 months but not helping much so far. Hope Pred works for you soon.
Take Care sero Neg and normal SED rate..