I had my appt Monday with the rheumy. She said blood work was normal which is great but i just wish i knew what is going on. She would call it seroneg RA if she could see some swelling told me to come back and show her when it swelled. She order a bone density and more blood work and she and dr smith (charleston doctor) agree there is something going on BUT don't know what it is. I just wish she had more compassion and would listen to me. My friend told her she intimidates me the last 2 visit she makes remarks like i know your pissed at me and when i say something about it she raise her hands and says sh shh sh. won't let me talk she has the worst bed side manners then any doctor i have ever known,and I have work with doctors. My husband don't want me to go back I am thinking about just leting my GP take care of things till he can figure it out. Boy i hate these weepy days. Thank God for my faith. Did anyone not have swelling at first? I am so mixed up I don't know where to go anymore. Well don't i sound like a real postive person this morning can i say pity party, anyone want to join just for the morning?
I know it's tough. Try to hang in there.
DEFINATELY find a new doctor. Yours sounds like a real you know what. They work for you!! Don't let them treat you poorly.
Go to a different rheumatologist, My first RD didn't work out well either. Unless yours is very exceptional, I wouldn't trust my GP to handle this. No reason you should be treated that way.Definitely get a new doctor.
That sh sh sh is plain crap. You pay her to help you, she doesn't pay you to come in there so she can sh you. Jeez, that ticks me off and it wasn't even me she did it too. She just doesn't have a bad bedside manner, she doesn't have MANNERS.
Get a doc you like and are comfortable with. I am on my second one.
I hate to say this and I don't want to offend anyone but sometimes you gotta take the "guard dog" with you, especially if you don't feel good and it jsut doesn't seem worth the effort to talk back to them.
I wish you luck and hang in there.
I am on prednisone 10mg and pain pills, prevacid . I had tried plaquenil it really work good for me but i lost a lot of weight on it. My GP wanted me to go on mtx but didn't want the responsibility of it so i said no. I have been going threw this for over 3 years its really out of control now. I told them if they don't think its RA to send me to someone who could help me. We don't have a lot of good doctors here ,at one point she said she might send me to the mayo clinic. They just won't do anything untill it shows up in blood work. I just have to hang tough till then but its so hard and scarey when you can't do everyday things or feel so bad you can't get out of bed. I know one day it will get better, you guys have really help me. Thank YouYour doctor doesn't sound just ill mannered, she sounds downright abusive. You have got to get on some kind of treatment. The Mayo Clinic would be an excellent choice if you can do that. They have get a whole group of doctors together and they will find out what's wrong. I've been told that again and again. I just couldn't afford to do it at the time I was considering it.
It was somewhere around a 00 to get this kind of evaluation. I really didn't explore it very far. But you have to do something.
That doctor is bad, bad news. How dare she treat someone as ill as you that way. You probably could even report her to your State Medical Review board.
Gizzy, don't give up please. You have a right to better treatment.
Deanna, I have real good insurance would they cover a visit like that.I couldn't pay the 00 either do you have to have it up front? Last year before she sent me to a Dr smith in Charleston she told my husband he smelt and not to come back if he smoke. She kept the door open and keep fanning her face. I felt so bad for him he wanted to crawl in a hole. He believes she has a screw loose. also told me before we went to Dr smith that if i came back with a diagnosis of RA she wouldn't believe it. I didn't want to go back to her but GP really wanted me to try again. He believes its seroneg RA.If you have really good insurance, there is a possibility. Where is the nearest Mayo to you? We have one in Phoenix. I believe there is one in Minnesota.
I work right across from the Mayo here. RVs are out in their parking lot with people coming all across the country to get answers. I've heard some really impressive things.
GPs just are not equipped to treat RA. RD's have at least four more years of medical school than GPs.
Just call the Mayo Clinic nearest you and they will be happy to talk to you about the costs, insurance, etc. After suffering so long, I think you could find a lot of answers in a short amount of time.
Your RD does have a screw loose or a very bad personality disorder. Scientific proof doesn't convince her. Where did she go to medical school. Her behavior is horrible.
If you need help finding the numbers for the Mayo closest to you, let me know. You can private messager me if you want. If they can't help you, I bet someone in their Rheumatology Department can get you to someone who can.
Just don't give up.
tell her that if she doesn't change her perfume because she stinks, and go back to Lillian Vernon's Charm School, you are going to file a complaint with the State Board of Drs.Ditto to that.
I think she needs reported anyway. She has probalby already had complaints against her. If she acts taht way with you, she is probably that way with everyone.
Feel sad for her actually. I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams treating someone who is sick and looking for help like that.
Gizzy, I'm sorry you are going through such a rough time with such an insensitive doctor. You should know that it can take a very long time to diagnnose RA (8 years for me) and often you don't have anything show up in the blood work for years. I am sero positive RA and I don't have much swelling that is noticable to me. I have a lot of fatigue and muscle aches. If the doctor probes me things hurt but I'm not always aware of swelling. Many of us have slow onset RA and it can take a long mysterious time before doctors figure out what's going on. I started out with a diagnosis of OA and fibromyalgia and then had RA and sjogren's syndrome added. There are still other autoimmune problems that have not been given a name.
My advice to you is to keep really good medical records from all the doctors who are looking after you as well as notes you write about yourself. It certainly wounldn't hurt to get another opinion from Mayo Clinic or another RA.Take all your medical records with you where ever you go. I keep mine in a big ziplock bag. I don't think you need to fire your present doctor to do this. I'd wait and see if you can get a better doctor first; you can always terminate the one you don't like later. Good luck.
Giz-my proffessional opinion is that your RD is a B#$%h from HeLL!!!! She sounds horrible and I would not waste my time with her ever again! Go to your GP or someone, anyone else!!!
I dont always have visable swelling, and when I do it is usually at night. I have little boney hands and feet and when they swell they just dont look boney anymore. She is a nut. I know you dont need added stress, but if you could report her it would be great! You could send her a letter too. Just tell her like it is. Even if you dont ever go back.
Probably the best thing to do is to just walk away and find a different RD. I am not one for filing complaints, did a few times and it turned to nip me in the bud so it was a learning experience. You have to have power in the community to get anywhere and I am not one of those people, perhaps you are, regardless, your medical health is much more important that a conversation with a person that is not looking out for your best interest medically.
Diagnosis is crucial, we all know that , it is getting the correct dx that it so darned difficult. Unfortunately, RA is a mix of problems with the body and to treat it involves trial and error, I know I have been through this mess for 15 years, and it took every day of those 15 years to get through this disease without a guarantee......it can be depressing, heartwrenching, and it ruins your relationships and your self esteem not to mention your career. But the flip side is that there is medication available, treatment modalities that actually work and relieve so in a nutshell I guess I am trying to say, try not to give up and if you have to for a day or two, let yourself, allow yourself to grieve, and tomorrow does come and it may be a better day!
((((GIZZY)))),
Honey...this is your health. I want you to think if it was your child...or say if you had any...and the doctor was treating your child like this. One thing about a woman and her kids...you don't go there and mess with her babies. You will see a sister take off her earrings and shoes and beat someone down!
In this...you must be willing to do the same. OKAY...don't go beating up the doctor...then we'd have to get bail money together and get you out of Jail!
Sweethart, Don't take it...get to a doctor that will listen. The longer this doctor messes around the more damage you could have. A doctor ESPECIALLY a RD should know not to do the waiting game.
I am Sero-negative with borderline Lupus....I have never swelled much at all...and if and when I do...My Rd is surprised. So, just because you don't swell, means nothing. Damage can still occur. My mother was dx'd with Sero-Negative RA. She was 8 years or more into her Dx's before anything positive showed in her blood tests. She didn't swell much either.
So...don't wait. If hubby says we need to go to another doc...go. And if the other doc is a BUTT...report her...I know she will never treat another patient like that again if you do!
Love ya...and here to better days!
Roblyn
Trisha
Gizzy - I don't understand what the doctor's problem is.