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Posted 9/18/2009 3:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hi gang!  I'm almost 38 and just found out (from x-ray) I have arthritis, but am still waiting to hear "what" kind.  My grandmother had fibro. and I've been thinking a lot about her and what she went through before she passed and our symptoms are startingly similar (some of which I've been having for a decade or more and just wrote off as something else...).  I have an appt. with a rhuemy in about two weeks, but I'm kinda going nuts not knowing exactly what I've got (the internet doesn't help...).  I feel like I should be doing "something" proactive, but until I know what this is, I don't know what to do! confused    I only have 19/59 symptoms on Radio's list, but there were some on there I was unclear on.  Can you have more than one kind of arthritis?  It sounds to me like I have symptoms of at least 3; Fibro., OA, and RA.  Any thoughts?  Any suggestions on how I should approach this first appt.?
Posted 9/18/2009 7:51 AM (GMT 0)
I found my first appointments to be fearful, and yet hopeful. Though sometimes more often at least with the fibro very unhelpful. Yes it is possible to have more then one type of arthritis. On all of my first visits best i can say is be honest, modesty isn't really helpful for you or the doctor and with most i find they just seem to want to bend me twist me and take more blood then a vampire! But all my blood work is perfect and because of hyper-mobility they never seem to think i could feel stiff or hurt. Best I can say is meet the doctor and discuss all of your concerns, i always have to make notes of what i need to say because for some reason once there i never seem to remember what all i wanted to say anyways. First appointments always feel like blind dates, but that said I think addressing the symptoms that bother you most and impact your daily life is important. And having a goal of what kind of life improvement is important.
Posted 9/18/2009 2:52 PM (GMT 0)
I too am new to to the doctor scene and have been dealing with the pain for fear of going to doctors that would not understand. My mom was diagnosed with fibro and my sister. But they went through numerous doctors to get to one that even knew what it was, most thought it was all in there head. I finally recently went and had tons of blood work done I am vitamin D deficient and one out of the three tests ran for RA came out moderatly positive. My doctor has yet to give me a clear diagnoses. I am currently taking 900 mg of gabapentine and tramadol and clonozapeme. Nothing helps with the nightime and morning, for me those times are extremely tough.
Posted 9/18/2009 5:45 PM (GMT 0)
I'm actually not afraid of the appt....I'm excited and I think I'm experiencing some anxiety because of the "unknown" in addition to having to wait.  I really dislike it when God tries to teach me patience!! rolleyes LOL  I was just kinda hoping someone might be able to give me an idea of what I have based off of my symptoms and history (although I didn't go into specifics) as well as some ideas abot how to handle this first appointment, like should I ask for certain tests to be ran (I really don't know what to expect as routine in this case), should I try and come up with a list of my symptoms and general dates when i experienced them, should I be keeping a diary right now to take with me?  How much can I expect to be accomplished at this first appt.?  Stuff like that...I'm really bad at waiting and tend to get into my own head and make things worse, but I don't want to disregard something that might be important, you know?
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