Frustrated.... first Rheumatologist appt | Arthritis Information

 

I am frustrated and hoping that maybe someone can shed some light for me. I was sent to rheumatology on the recommendation of my pcm who thought I had ra. He did xrays and blood work and said either ra, some form of connective tissue issue or something along those lines. I got the xrays (our hospital puts them on a disk), lab work and everything and went to the Rheumatologist today. She seemed more interested in her computer than in me to say the least. She asked questions, but from reading here, didnt seem to be the right ones, but hey, im not a dr so ok... She looks at my labs (which are RF positive) and says ... yeah, well, we will see.... She does the exam and since I have been pain free since the middle to end of last week of course found nothing! She told me that with my stress level and fatigue she would expect me to have a pain disorder (she later terms fibro) and when she did the points for it they didnt bother me. This seemed to make her irritated. She kept asking over and over if they bothered me. They didnt! She said to have a hep c test and another rf test and see her in a month. So, I need to know from people if this is normal. What happens when you have been in pain for a long time and when you finally get into a dr and you dont have pain they totally discount everything. She said that the pain in my elbow is tennis elbow and that she will probably see pain in the fibro spots next time I come in. I dont understand how a dr can discount lab work and xrays and patient history, and try to pass it off as something that they CLEARLY do NOT have. I know I am rambling and probably dont even make sense right now because I am so frustrated, but if anyone has words of wisdom/ advice/ tales from the trenches I would love to hear them!

Thanks for "listening" to me vent!
Hello, i am sorry to hear that your appointment did not go well. I can imagine how frustrating it must be to feel you will finally get some answers then get nothing and told to come back in a month, a month is a long time to wait when you are suffering! i had the same experience with my first RD, I only saw her one time, I was pregnant and my feet were swollen to the point that I could not walk by mid afternoon because the pain was so severe, she did an exam told me to take tylenol for the pain until my next appointment which she did not schedule until 2 months later because she was going on vacation! I immediately made an appointment with an RD a family friend had been seeing for her fibro and he ended up being a god send! I have now been seeing him for 8 years and he has always listened to me and has been very aggresive in my treatment. Looking for the right dr, whom will make you feel comfortable and answer all your questions and listen to all you have to say is very important since this is a life long disease to manage. Good luck, I hope you can find someone who is more helpful!

Find a new doc. This is n some ways how my RA went undiagnosed for years and caused lots of joint damage.

You have some sort of inflammatory process going on, don't let them make you think it's all in your head.
So sorry to hear that you had to go through this. No Dr. should ever discount what we are telling them Who better to know what's happening in our bodies than ourselves. Plus that you  had all of the X-Rays and bloodwork. I would say look for  another RD and don't look back. Good luck.  Thoughts and hugs to you. I have been trying to go over EVERYTHING that happened in the appt and I have a few questions of things that seemed weird to me.... she was feeling my fingers and said they were cold... she said you cant have ra if your fingers are cold.... and when she got to my knees she said that I probably had some kind of knee cap issue causing my knee pain. The feet she said is probably bursitis. She said that the feet and knees are because I am a mom and the fatigue is also that, because I am a mom. She called the positive rf a red herring and discounted other blood work that is also related to ra. How can you have so many issues that fit with ra, blood tests that are positive, and the dr come up with bogus explanations for everything you say hurts? I called my pcm today and am hoping to get info from him and a 2nd opinion.  Ive been a mom for over 12 years. It is mighty funny to me that it didnt start hurting like this till now when even my youngest is 2 and very independent so the load on my body is way less, oh yeah, and that apparently being a mom produces rf too!  Red herring?  Really?  That is what she is doing... bringing up another topic to divert from the original issue....... Hi canmama, sorry to read about your run around.  I just did a bit of googling though, because I seem to remember some time ago, of someone who had shown an RA Factor, but did not have RA.  Apparently this can happen in a low percentage of people...
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