Hello, everyone. The weekend is here. Hooray!
My last weekend was spent at a level 9 pain, with virtually no sleep for 48 hours. I had called the rheumy on Friday morning. Had to speak to the nurse, of course. Told her I needed prednisone for incresed pain. She called back at five and left a message on my cell to see my PCP for a "re-evaluation" before the rheumy would prescribe a medrol pack. Because of this, I spent a horrific weekend in so much pain. I never want to go there again.
So......I called my orthopedic in tears Monday a.m. He immediately prescribed prednisone and Celebrex. The rheumy I just "fired", said I had Erosive Inflammatory Osteoarthritis. My PCP, Orthopedic surgeon, and a rheumy I saw ten years ago all think I have seronegative RA.
Had an xray of my knee today. There is OA behind the knee cap, but the joint space isn't too bad yet. My knee is swollen, stiff, and sore, so they ordered an MRI. Ortho says they may be able to discern RA on the MRI, and if they have to do arthroscopic surgery, they can do a biopsy. They also said that some people they know have RA never test postive for it, and even the biopsies don't show it. Have you all ever heard of this?
Thank you for letting me ramble. It makes me feel better. Since the pain level has decreased by about 75%, my bp is getting better and better. I feel like a Raggedy Ann doll. Just plumb worn out, as if I had run a marathon. It is all good, though. The pain is very manageable now w/the prednisone, Celebrex, Tramadol and Soma.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Peace,
VHi Vee,
How long have you been seeing that rheumy? That's terrible. My rheumy always makes sure I have enough prednisone on hand for flares.
Thank you both for your comments. I do have a bottle of prednisone but it is only 1 mg tablets. I now have an extra Medrol pack, and I am glad for that. I saw a rheumy ten years ago and he said I had RA. He also prescribged 2400 mg of Ibuprofen for a year that tore up my stomach, and he had a terrible manner, so I stopped seeing him. Just started seeing another rheumy last May. I fired thim this week though. I really think it is more a problem w/the nursing staff than w/him, but I can't put myself in that position again. My orthopedic doc told me he will help me and treat me and if I have to go to another rheumy, he will help me find a good one. Thank goodness for that kind, kind man, and his wonderful staff!You would think that for the money these so called medical proffessionals earn they would be nice to you especially since they are unable to cure little more than the common bacteria infection or broken bones. Doctors as drug salesmen make more on selling the drugs than treating the patients and then the nurses make 100k a year or more on top of it. There is a lot of your money going into other people's pockets that you can keep if only you wised up.