Worst fear came to light today | Arthritis Information

 

Hugs and more hugs,

 

Pip

 

It usually takes a few visits to different RD's to get some answers. Some RD's have old school and some have new school of diagnosising.

 

Much hugs to you.

 

 

The term "rheumatism" is still used in colloquial speech and historical contexts, but is no longer frequently used in medical or technical literature; it would be fair to say that there is no longer any recognized disorder simply called "rheumatism."

 

Good luck, Alan

 

I am not impressed with a rheumy that would not run his own blood tests, and would make a diagnosis based upon a brief examination and old blood work, and dismiss it as "rheumatism".  BUT - you have also educated yourself, you've been through a poor examination, and now you know what needs to be done and what you should require.  All of the questions you have raised here, you should bring up to the next rheumy.  They are intelligent, logical questions for a patient to ask, and you should feel confident in asking them.  This is your body, you know something is wrong, and you need to find out what it is.  You are the consumer, and you are paying a lot for the care you receive - you have a right to expect a certain standard of care.

 

You may not have RA, but there is something wrong.  Normal bodies don't feel the way you do.  Don't give up and don't let the jerk get you down!  That "rheumatism" remark is a dead giveaway.  I'd be willing to bet he's from the old school and knows little to nothing about the current diagnosing and treating of autoimmune diseases.  To say you have rheumatism seems to confirm you have an autoimmune disease, but he just can't be bothered to do what needs to be done.  You're not crazy, he's an idiot.  I agree with all the replies you have gotten.  Get another doctor pronto.  This guy isn't worth your time or money.  The very first thing a decent RD does is run labs and send you for xrays.  What you have could very well be Fibromyalgia or Rheumatoid or one of the 100 other diseases known as arthritis.  A good RD will find out what is wrong or will refer you to another type of physician.  As far as your husband goes, I would like to think he is as frustrated as you are and doesn't know what to say or do to fix things for you.  Cut him some slack for now.  I meant to include my "ear doctor story" to make you laugh.  A few years ago I went to an ear doc and he asked what was wrong with me when he saw me having trouble getting out of a chair and saw my cane that I was using at the time.  He then gave me a lecture about his 90 something year old mother who hops around like a 20 year old in spite of having had a hip replacement.  The da*n fool then told me I was too young to have RA.   I didn't know whether to cry or give him a good smack in the side of his head!  So, please be assured that there are jerks out there who have a medical degree but no sense at all. I started feeling awful in April.  As late as October 1, all of my bloodwork (a full panel) was still normal.  Nothing showed until late December.  This is NOT in your head.  Try hard not to be defensive (it is so hard).  You know how you feel, and you need to take care of yourself.  Do it for your kids too.  Your kids need a mom who feels as close to 100% as possible.  Get a second opinion ASAP.  Don't let this get you down!!!!!  Sounds like he is biased and just wants to pin it on your weight.  Show your husband this thread or get support from a counselor, pastor, friend you can trust .  SOMETHING is wrong, you know that, do not doubt yourself.  I felt the same way  last summer.  It gets to a point of feeling ridiculous.  I went to work one day with a crazy limp, ended up in the ER (long story) and had to go back to work and tell everyone that the doctors didn't know what it was.  Kept going to doctors.  Going and going.  Honestly, I didn't get any answers until my wrist flared so bad I couldn't write or drive. Had I been on Aleve it wouldn't have looked as bad and maybe I wouldn't have been taken serious, but I was breastfeeding so I was on no meds.  You will get answers in time.  I had to go on Valium for a little while and I'm still on Lexapro.  Get the mental health care you need to get you through until you can find out answers about your other physical conditions.I too have been in your situation...twice. After the second RD said he hoped my symptoms disappeared as quickly as they came, I put off going to another one for over a year. I am just not getting brave enough to see another one. Sorry to hear this happen to someone else.I agree, see another doctor. *** above post should read just now getting brave enough to see another RD..Welcome to the club!!!  Nothing like knowing you are becoming desparately ill, that your body is morphing in front of your eyes, and the big Pooh-Pahs brush aside a PATIENT who is paying for HELP AND ADVICE, like what should I do next? justsaynoemore2008-07-16 18:51:24Kick that quack to the curb!

Run, don't walk to the next RD.  It took me 14 years and not until I had a severe onset and bedridden was I taken seriously.  In those 14 years I had considerable damage done and it continued because it was very difficult to slow the disease.  I'm now in clinical remission but it's taken me over 10 years to achieve it.  I can't believe it when I realize that I've had symptoms for 24 years!  Remember, I said run, don't walk.  You're not crazy, you're ill.  Lindy

I know where you are at. For almost a year I went through the same thing. I was beginning to get desparate because no one seemed to listen to me. I knew that something was happening to me and just kept pushing the issue until I got my answer.  Listen to what so many others have advised run from that quack of a Dr and look for another.  You are living in your body and you know what you are feeling. You are certainly not crazy. Don't think  for a minute that you  are. Best of luck in finding a Dr who will listen and diagnose you so that you can get treatment.
Mom2
Thanks guys I am going to ask my PCP to redo the labs and see how they look. Then get a referral to another RD. I am going to stop the Relafen and Tylenol Arthritis for a few days before the labs  to see if that makes a difference.  Just as a note - any way you could be Palindromic?  They are the only disease left where we are sometimes called Palindromic Rheumatism instead of the more modern Palindromic Rheumatoid Arthritis or Palindromic Syndrome.  Good for you. Dr. don't always listen to what we are saying. I think too that they listen to females even less. Sometimes they  think we are just cry babies.  Don't give up.
mom2
If your lab work is not abnormal, nothing on the x-rays, and you are experiencing widespread pain, but no visible inflammation, you might have FM. In any case, you need to be documenting everything so the pattern of whatever you have shows. I use an Excel sheet that shows everything head to feet, mood, sleep and other symptoms.  My labs were elevated, I have gotten worse since they were done, but the RD said they were not elevated "enough" (whatever that means) but he did not run new labs, he just went by my the 3 month old test. No one ever did any X-rays at all. He did not even do a through exam, he just looked me over and told me to exercise and lose weight.  Yeah... dump the doc. I am also in MS and was diagnosed by PCP.  Rheumy took one year to agree that I had RA.  He still writes "rheumatism" on my paperwork.  What are your rheumy's initials?MO at IMA in Tupelo I'd suggest going to a teaching hospital.  I think they're more apt to be up on all the latest tests, etc....... good luck.Dump him...the sooner the better.  Don't let him tell you it's in your head.  Take the questions you asked on this board concerning the weight already lost and how you are feeling worse and write them down.  When you see your new RD and if they are sidelining you, ask your questions that you have written down.  Make him answer you.  As for your husband, you may have to give him some room to digest it all.  I think that the men get frustrated because they can't just fix this.  Lastly, you are not crazy.  You are however, caught in the same medical blackhole that many RA and FM sufferers have sadly had to go through.  Keep your spirit up (I know this is very difficult) and forge ahead in finding an RD who will run the appropriate labs.  Do it for you children.  Good luck and keep on posting....hiking_galI know EXACTLY how you feel. I feel so sick all the time. I, however have not lost 30 pounds since September, I've probably gained that much. I don't ever feel like doing anything, I just sit here because it hurts to move. My hands stay swollen most of the time but the last time I saw my rheumatologist he seemed to think we were making good progress with the Humira. His office has a policy about NOT calling you unless something on your labwork is horrific so I never know exactly where I stand. I'm a nurse so he and my PCP just expect me to do what they say without asking many questions. My PCP has been my doc for 21 years he expects trust and I do trust him but because he expects me to trust him, he expects me to  trust the guy he sent me to. I stay wrapped up in my head trying to figure my way out of this maze called RA. I believe you when you say you are ill, find someone else to treat you, someone that you can respect and trust. Ask people you know about a doctor. I hope you feel better soon, neighbor.... I'm in Alabama. :)What a lousy RD! I have been looking in on ya'll for several years now and have never posted until now.  I was diagnosed with RA in 1999 by a rheumatologist at IMA located in Tupelo, MS.  They are the only game in town.  I started out with CK and stayed with him for several years until I couldn't take it anymore then started seeing a female rheumatologist there until she left the area and I am now seeing KA.  I was very pleased with the female rheumy but the male docs are the worst.  CK was a smart aleck and KA is nice but always in a hurry.  I feel like the only reason I go to see him is to get prescriptions.  The only alternative is to go to Memphis or Jackson, MS and that would be out of area as far as my insurance is concerned.  I truly feel like my hands are tied.  I do understand your worries, as even though I have been diagnosed, people don't understand the disease or the symptoms we have to live with.  Well, I'm probably going to get bashed for this but I'm going to say it anyway.


Obese and overweight women don't get the same consideration as normal and underweight women do by most doctors (I didn't say all, just most) Fat women are labeled as lazy, sloth like and deserve what they get because they are fat and lazy. That is the mentality of many medical professionals. If you would drop some of that weight, all your problems will just disappear. It will be interesting to see how many of you agree or disagree with this. I can vouch first hand because I have not always been overweight. I was a healthy normal weight when I gained 80 pounds during my pregnancy with my twins. They will be 4 years old next week. I am definitely treated differently by Drs, and other people because of my weight, some of them are the same Drs that treated me when I was thin. 

I have lost 30 pounds since September last year. If losing weight was the answer I should be feeling better, not worse. He had never met me, did not know my weight history, nor that I had lost a fair amount and was still actively losing, and made that comment. I had more energy, no pain, and could do many things I can not do now when I weighed 30 pounds heavier than I do now, if losing weight were the only answer, then I should feel a whole lot better and be able to do more, not less than when I was heavier.

My PCP says I am doing great on the weight loss and that he was probably biased toward overweight people therefore wrote me off, but she is actively trying to help me now and if needed will refer me to another RD.
Being overweight exacerbates so many conditions that I wouldn't be surprised if some doctors get an attitude about patients who are overweight. I think the problem with most doctors is simply summed up in this: they are not the patient. They are just plain lazy when it comes to diagnostics.

I wound up in the hospital ER several years ago with severe stomach pain. Almost 3 grand worth of tests. Couldn't figure out what was wrong. My GP gives me a quick once over after I described what had happened after that and gives me a poke below the belt. Double hernia.

No wonder I'm doing better with him than the RD.
That dr. doesn't know what he is talking about! I can't believe someone so incompetent is still practicing. Get to another one and ask to have your labs done again. You are not crazy. It took me many months and many drs to get a dx. You need to keep pushing. Good Luck Good Luck! Hope you get somewhere soon. My first RD sent me to a psychiatrist.  Apparently it was all in my head. Holy cow....I think you everyone here has met my old rheumatologist  I don't think she ever heard a word I said to her.  It stinks that a GOOD doctor for this disease is sooo hard to find.  The one I have now is a good doc..it's just trying to communicate with her when having problems between appointments.  That and her staff is not the greatest but what do you expect for medical group practice? Yup, get rid of the doc and kick hubby in the butt.  How dare he not believe you for goodness sake.  You are his wife and the mother of his children!  That is like saying that his children's mother is a liar.  Geez......
Sorry you are going thru all of this. 
GG2008-07-17 18:29:46

janalex, we must have had the same first rheumatologist !!!  Refused to test me, and sent me to a shrink.  That's the way a fine rheumatologist should handle a one and only visit. 

jenni - glad your doctor is rallying to your side.  That's almost an impossibility, as the collusion and the competition is so fierce between these yahoos for medical turf on your dime and body, they usually cover up for each other.  Morons.  Take care ~~ Cathy

I just wanted to let everyone know that my hubby apologized to me this afternoon. He is Just stressed and frustrated too because a lot more responsibility has fallen on him. But he snuggled me and rubbed my back and feet and even commented on the fact that  my ankles seemed swollen. I think once I get a dx we'll all feel better, its not knowing that is so hard.
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