confused, tired and in pain

Hi, I am new to this site, but was very interested in joining after reading some of the posts. I am looking for support, info, help and understanding. I have been seeing a rheumatologist in our area for several years. I have been having a lot of pain in my hands, feet, ankles, elbows, shoulders, back and neck. I recently went through steroid injections in my cervical spine and nerve block injections in my lower spine. None of them worked for more than a few days. Now they want me to have the burning of the nerves procedure done to see if that helps. I have been diagnosed with ddd (degenerative disk disease) in my lower spine and cervical spine as well as sclerosis and scoliosis of my spine. Over the past couple of years I have gone through a lot of xrays, MRI's and CT scans as well as many many blood tests. Some of my tests came back positive for lupus, but my rheumatologist does not think I have lupus. He was initially leaning towards rheumatoid arthritis especially since it does run in my family. (my daddy had it really bad), by the way I am 51 years old. My toes have started to twist sideways and under and my fingers are twisting and my knuckles at the back of the hands are sticking up and my fingers do not lie flat anymore. I quit working several months ago because the pain has gotten really bad. I told my dr that I applied for disability and now he changed his mind and said I don't have RA and he doesn't see what I am talking about with my fingers and toes twisting and that I ONLY have osteoarthritis and there is nothing he can do for me and I have to learn to live with the pain. Oh and I should stay away from anti inflammatories as they don't help OA. He tried me on a few RA meds such as methotrexate, but the few he tried me on made me extremely sick. Now that he knows I applied for disability he told me he sees no reason for me to come to see him anymore since he can't do anything to help me. My question is, does anyone know of a really good Rheumatologist in eastern PA. I am desperate. I am in so much pain and it just doesn't stop. My hands throb with pain. My feet and knees hurt so bad some days that I can barely walk. I use a cane most of the time. I am so tired all the time. Not sleepy tired, but worn out and run down tired. I can't handle the cold temps or anything cold touching my hands. I use heat pads on my hands often and on my back and neck. Any advice or help anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. Do my symptoms sound like RA??? The doc I was seeing was making me feel like I am crazy. My husband got very upset with him when he said he can't see where my fingers and toes are twisting and does not know what I am talking about, yet about 8 months ago he looked at my hands and wanted to know when they got this bad. Thank you for reading my long post, but I don't know where to turn to anymore. I am so frustrated.

Deelou, hello neighbor, please message me (click on the email button) and I will get you a few names. I am dealing with a very nice lady that got me in very quickly, but there is another I wanted to go to but the wait list was nearly 6 months for a new patient. I hear she is well worth it, but honestly I was desperate and needed to be seen asap.

I do see a pain management doctor for my lower spine and my cervical spine. he is the one that has been doing my injections. I also went to PT for my cervical spine since the steroid injections did not help. I just want to find a doctor that will listen to me and understand what I am going through. The rheumatologist that I was seeing told me that if my blood work came back normal for RA, then there is no way that I have it. I know that is not true because my fathers came back normal for years and nothing was done for him and by the time it came back positive for RA, it was to late to stop the progression of the joint deformaties and the pain. He suffered so much. He had surgery after surgery because no one listened to him in the beginning. I look at my hands and I see his at the beginning of his problems. For those of you out there suffering with RA, do your hands ever throb non stop and you just can't stop it. It is not just my finger joints, it is my whole hands. The doctors in our area are not very good. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor 20 years ago and our local doctors tried to tell me I was crazy and needed to see a psychiatrist. I went from doctor to doctor for over a year until I finally went to a hospital about an hour from where I live and they diagnosed it right away. I should have learned my lesson then to stay away from the doctors around here.

angeleyes13 I sent you an email. I hope you get it. I am new to this site and still trying to figure it all out.

Deelou, can you please try emailing again. I use a forwarding company and maybe it got lost in space. I updated my email here and it should come directly thru this time if you click on the link on the left. I love technology when it works.

I'm not sure where you are in eastern pa, but I live just outside of philly and have an amazing doctor. Try mainline rheumatology - Cheryl Wieczorek,CRNP. 610-896-8400