rheumatologist visit first time advice | Arthritis Information

 

will i find out anything significate at my first visit.  i'm so anxious to find out.  what will they do besides blood work and will they do that.  any advice would be great.  tuesday.

 

thanks, jason

32 year old male

Hi, they will weigh and measure you. the dr will take a complete history, concentrating on the amount and type of pain, whether there is morning stiffness and how long it lasts. They will prolly have you fill out forms about past illness and family medical history ( ages  of siblings, parents etc..any illness like diabetes, ra, cancer, lupus etc.)

They will probably ask how much the pain interferes with daily activities. They will look at the affected joints, and probably feel them. They may ask you to walk, bend, reach and grasp..

this is pretty much what my RD did on my first visit.

USE this time to ask questions. have a list. Dont minimize your pain, or concerns.

 

Good luck.

Ditto to what kathy said! I had my diagnosis on my first visit, which I was
surprised by. Lots of medical history and poking and prodding of joints.Depending on the doctor, you may be diagnosed on the first visit. Other doctors have you jump through hoops to get a diagnosis. Many here were diagnosed based upon symptoms with all good bloodwork. In early RA, all labs may be fine. Good luck with your appt! love and gentle hugs, juliahit took a while for me to get a referral to the rheumy and then when I did finally get in, I saw him for two years before he made it official.  He said that it was better to keep my dx unclear so that I didn't have problems with the insurance companies, etc., with discrimination.  Apparently he has seen a lot of issues surface with his RA patients.  The only serious problem I have had so far is when I changed jobs and had my pre-employment physical.  It was horrible because of my dx and my meds.  [QUOTE=albear]Ditto to what kathy said! I had my diagnosis on my first visit, which I was
surprised by. Lots of medical history and poking and prodding of joints.[/QUOTE]

Me too...I found out the next day. When I had the first visit before blood tests they told me it could be lupus, collegen disease or RA. I think a lot of it has to do with your history. My family has RA running wild thru it. I'm the only one that has ever been treated with anything but ibuprophen/tylenol. My uncle tried treatment when he was in his late 50's but couldn't hack MTX so he doesn't use anything but advil and he's almost bedridden  
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