OT-ish: Endocrinologist Today | Arthritis Information

 

He seems to think that biological therapy might help the inflammation in my thyroid, that some how it is all connected.  He said he would normally give someone like me prednisone to get the swelling down but with my Vandy consult in 2 days obviously didn't want to do that (he also said it makes sense if I am seronegative to have a second opinion before going on biologics to make the insurance company happy-- I have erosions on x-ray but have been symptomatic for less than a year, so I can see where they might protest). 

 

So he ordered another I-123 uptake scan.  If it shows 0% uptake then pretty much thyroiditis is it (viral? postpartum? autoimmune?)  But he also ordered repeat TSH, check for Sjogren's antibodies, B-12 (it's been high recently though), and thyroid antibody tests: TBII, Thyroglobulin antibodies, TSIG, and Thyroid microsomal antibodies.  My scan is next week and he will follow up in 2 weeks.  Not sure if I get bloodwork before then.  Probably better for my sanity and productivity that I do not.

 

The highlight of the 2 hours I spent in his office was that he actually had the most current issue of People magazine in the room.  That was very exciting, and I'm not kidding.  I spend so much time at the doctor's office, just pray for me that I don't get fired!  I stayed at work until 7 pm though, I have very flexible hours, thank god, because if I had to check in and say "I'm going to the doctor" every time I do, they would probably start doubting my sincerity or think I'm a hypochondriac.  But I have my monthly bloodwork and RD appointments, GYN recently and with this thyroid thing it's been even more.  The I-123 will require two days of leaving work and then my follow up is two weeks from Monday. 

 

The appointment ended with "well I'm not sure what to put as your diagnosis so we'll just go with thyroiditis."  That about sums up a lot of my doctor's appointments this last year.  I went from monoarthritis to inflammatory arthritis to rheumatoid arthritis, and here we go again...

 

So I go to Vandy on Thursday and of course my joints feel okay-ish.  Sort of.  My wrist burns a lot and my elbows burn when I carry things, it's just I'm at my desk a lot.  My hips have been hurting occasionally recently, in the groin area, mostly just on one side.  And my jaw is still sort of swollen, you can see it, but it doesn't hurt so much as it is disgusting that there is a crunching noise sometimes.  My guess is that the little cartildge disk is just gone.

 

Random question for anyone who injects MTX: you know how you have to flick the syringe to get the bubbles out?  Does that hurt anyone else's fingers?  It hurts my fingernails so bad I can't do it, my husband does.  Weird.

 

Thanks for reading! 

 

Thanks for the update on the thyroid.  It can be a bit discouraging when there is something going on but nothing real definitive.  It sounds as though your endo is very thorough and that at least is a blessing.  My poor endo is run ragged when I go in we check the thyroid nodules and the type 1 diabetes.  Now she has to keep my RA in the back of her mind.  She told me it isn't uncommon to have a few autoimmune diseases working at the same time.  I know what you mean about the doctor appointments and work.  I too have a very flexible schedule but it does get tiresome.  Oh well, keep us posted and good luck!  Hiking_gal