new here

[Guest guest]

Well, not really new. I joined this group probably a year ago when I suspected

these flare

ups I was having might be RA. After 4 years of this (yes, I'm slow!) I finally

went to a

rheumy. He was recommended by a coworker and I was warned that he was a good

doctor,

but had a crummy bedside manner. I went anyway. My RA, ESR, and CRP were only

slightly

elevated, and the joints I complained about he said were not joints typically

affected by RA

(hips, shoulders, elbows occasionally, & knees). He fixated on my right hand

thumb joint,

which was very swollen and tender (Couldn't hold my hairbrush or open a bottle

of water,

or let my 3 year old students high five me). He said that was osteo and all he

could do was

give me a cortesone shot which did help some. Anyway, he said he couldnt do

anything

until I was in pain, so come back when I was in pain. He also said he thought it

might be

Palindromic Rhuematism, but just keep taking the celebrex I was on.

I was discouraged at a definitive diagnosis (not that I WANT RA, I just want

relief), so I

didn't look for answers anymore until this last flare up a few weeks ago. I had

pnuemonia

and on top of that a flare up while I was 1000 miles away on vacation. I was

miserable. I

finally went back the other day and saw the nurse practitioner instead of the

doctor. I LOVE

HER! She listened to my list of complaints and was very concerned for me. She

prescribed

medrol for one week to get the inflammation under control (and 2 days before

rheumy

appt. I had cortesone shots in my feet so I could walk- been hobbling for over a

year). She

also prescribed valtorin (?) instead of the celebrex which wasn't covered by my

insurance,

and is getting me started on plaquenil after my eye exam. She also prescribed

MRI's of my

wrists, hands, and hips. (The wrist pain is new since last year- so I'm worried

about

progressive damage).

I'm 45 year old female who has fought & won the battle against Hepatitis C (6

years clear

now), and I feel this diagnosis may be connected to the interferon I took for

the hep c. I

value a good support group; it helped me tremendously though the hep c issues,

and now

I'm vice pres of a hep c 501c3 non profit helping others without insurance get

treatment &

medical care. I look forward to learning about this disease and the medications,

side

effects, so I can be a good advocate for my own health.

I would appreciate any feedback from you to help me learn & deal with this.

Take care,

PS. Sorry for writing a novel!