Good news/bad news

[Guest guest]

Well, saw " Dr. Jerk " , the rheumatologist who patted me on the head

and only reluctantly sent me off for more blood tests, and things

started much the same with this visit (he dismissed the fact that my

RF doubled in three weeks and, at first, anyway, that my ESR jumped

from 40 to 50 in the same amount of time). Then I showed him my

ankles. He took one look and said, " WOW, those really are

swollen! " Uh, Yaaaaa. I didn't bother to tell him that they

actually looked better in the last few days than they have in three

months. He felt around one the right one, which is not a smart

thing to do (OWWW), and said, " Well, maybe you do have rheumatoid

arthritis.... " Sheesh. He was very nice to me after that. Hmph.

So, I'm now on a different " sleep med " (still an antidepressant,

which I don't care for, but it does help me sleep), and 20 mg of

prednisone a day, which will be brought down to 5 mg over the next 3

weeks. I also had xrays of my hands, feet, and chest (he said to

rule something out, but wouldn't say what...), so am waiting for

those results.

How long does prednisone take to work, and how dramatic are the

effects? I'm also really dizzy today, and feel kind of icky...would

the pred cause that, or should I blame the sleep meds? My ankles

are not really sore at all, today, even if I press on them. Just

wondering if the pred can work that quickly, or if I'm starting to

get a little better on my own. Swelling is still there, though. I

took my first dose this morning.

Anyway, I'm glad he's taking me seriously, though I'm not

particularly happy about getting a dx, for obvious reasons. If it

is RA, I do hope they caught it early enough to prevent severe

damage...I'm worried about my right ankle, since it is painful

almost all the time, now, and my foot is starting to stick out at a

strange angle.