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Help! New Dr appointment tomorrow. Questions

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Fibromyalgia
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Posted 11/21/2017 4:10 AM (GMT 0)
Hello all, I'm new here and can already tell this is a great place with lots of loving people.
I have a long story but I'm not up for explaining it all now. I hope you understand.
I was in the ER on Friday and they diagnosed me with Sinusitis and IBS symptoms. I was thinking I had the flu considering the way I was feeling. I went to the ER because I thought I was dehydrated. They did blood work urinalysis and chest X-ray and said everything was normal. They still prescribed antibiotics as well as steroids and three meds for the IBS symptoms.
I have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia but sometimes I forget every single diagnoses I've been given.
To get around to the point of my post. I'm seeing a new primary dr tomorrow and I can't think. I need help from y'all. I can't think of what questions to ask the dr to make sure it's a good fit. Can you please reply with some questions you think would be good.
To many times I go to the dr and let them just take over. I want to really check the dr out to make them feel like they are working for me. Not them bossing me around. I've tried to find a dr that takes medicare and specializes or has experience with patients who have fibro. Not so easy when your newer to an area and you don't know where to turn. I'll take recommendations for Drs in the San Antonio Texas area if anybody knows of a good pc or fibro specialists.

Thanks for reading my rant. Sorry I went on and on.
Lallie
Posted 11/21/2017 1:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Lallia, and welcome! I hope your new doctor is board certified. I make sure mine are and, if they are diplomates, that's even better. You can get good info on doctors on healthgrades.com and vitals.com. These sites tell where they went to school, if there are any actions against them, but most importantly there are patient reviews. Do remember, people will take time to complain but few take time to praise, but these sites do help.

I would tell the doctor that you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and you are aware some doctors don't believe it is a true illness. Then ask what he/she believes when it comes to Fibromyalgia. If they don't believe it's a true illness, run to the exit! You will get no help from them.

Most use a rheumatologist. They run tests to rule out other illnesses that have many of the same symptoms as fibro...things like lupus and Lyme disease. Once these are ruled out, a definitive diagnosis of Fibro is given and most generally a rheumy will offer good help.

I'm on Medicare and have had no problems finding good doctors. Medicare is generally accepted. Other insurance plans might not be.

I hope this helps you. Do let us know how your appointment goes because we do care about you.

Sherrine
Posted 11/25/2017 9:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Sherrine
Thanks for your response. Overall id say the appointment went well.
I checked out the dr on the websites you gave and she had 5 out of 5 ratings.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a good feel for her fibromyalgia experience and thoughts. There is just too much history to go over and the focus for the moment was getting familiar with my history and addressing the problem at hand. Which was not my fibromyalgia.
The one thing that bothered me was that she didn't have me make a follow up appointment.
It seems like my specialists see me on a regular bases. But the primary care dr only sees me as needed when there is a problem. Doesn't this seem backwards.
I want my primary doctor to manage my care and for the specialists to come in on an as needed basis when they are needed. It would make for a lot less Drs appointments if I could see my primary care dr every month instead of several different specialists. Is this your experience as well and what are your thoughts on the matter? I'd like another persons perspective.
Posted 11/25/2017 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
The ratings your doctor got are very good so they most likely will help with fibro. This doctor was trying to work with what she knew about you. Did you mention fibro? Did she know that was the reason you were there?

When I went to see my rheumy for the first time, I was struggling to walk because of enormous pain running down my legs. My back was killing me and, speaking about killing me...laying for numerous x-rays on a cold metal table had me in tears! He KNEW I was struggling. He took my family history and ordered numerous blood work (8 vials) because he wanted to see what was causing all of my pain. He had me come back in two weeks for my diagnosis. I not only had fibro but also ankylosing spondylitis and sacroiliitis. Because I have these other problems, he has me see him every six months or so.

If you didn't mention your pain and the fact you think you might have fibro and you want to know for sure what is happening to you, they could miss this. We all look healthy as horses! Most of our blood work comes back perfect! This is the problem with this illness. We do have to speak up so our doctors know what we go through.

If you find yourself struggling and nothing is helping you, set up another appointment with this doctor. Let them know why you are there and let her know what your symptoms are. Then, you should get help and most likely some follow-up appointments.

My Internist wants to see me every 3-4 months. I have numerous health problems that he likes to keep an eye on. I'm also a senior so I'm sure that plays into my visits too. I tell him that he just misses me too much! 😂

But the bottom line is...I think you do have a good rheumatologist. Just speak up for yourself. Go to your appointments with a list of questions and pull out the list and get answers for every question. You have to be your own advocate when it comes to your health.

Sherrine
Posted 11/25/2017 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sherrie

The dr I saw was actually a primary care dr. For the moment I see a pain management dr once a month who prescribes meds for my fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
I was wanting to find a primary dr that had experience with patients who have fibromyalgia so she could help me identify when I'm experiencing symptoms from the fibromyalgia as opposed to something else.
As it turns out the blood work from the ER visit wasn't as normal as the ER dr had implied.
The new pc I saw said it indicated I had a viral infection. I had looked through the paperwork from the ER and also noticed that it said I had not been out of the country in th last 30 days. This is not true. They never even asked me this question. 😞
So i let the dr know I had recently been to parts of Honduras and Mexico. She had blood drawn to test for Zica virus.
I also asked if I should finish out the course of antibiotics the ER dr had prescribed. She said I should because it sounded like I also had a sinus infection and that bacterial sinusitis doesn't show up in bloodwork. Now today I woke up with an itchy rash all over my legs.
The saga is never ending. Do you ever feel like you live in a soap opera?
She also advised me on how to take the IBS meds the ER dr prescribed. I had never even filled them because I already had supplies of all three. I explained the problems I experience when I take them and she said that the doses were on the higher end and to try taking half of each of the tablets.
Her recommendation for the nass
Posted 11/25/2017 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
She sounds very thorough. For a diagnosis of Fibro, you need to have other illnesses with many of the same symptoms as fibro...like lupus and Lyme disease..ruled out first. You also have to have pain in all four quadrants of your body for three or four months. Fibro affects the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Many of us have cognitive memory problems too. If you are not experiencing the pain, which is the hallmark of Fibro, you most likely don't have fibro.

Nevertheless, your doctor sounds good. If anything shows on your most recent blood work I'm sure the office will contact you.

Your rash...it could be from the antibiotic. I used to be able to take amoxicillin but then I developed a itchy pink rash and the doctor said I had developed an allergy to amoxicillin, which isn't t that rare actually. If it continues, get it checked out. You may have to stop what you are taking.

Sherrine
Posted 11/25/2017 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry I got interrupted and the post got sent before I could finish.
I have already been tested multiple times for lupus and one dr I believe who was a rheumatologist did diagnose me with fibromyalgia and then turned me over to pain management and discharged me from his care.
The pain management dr has me on Lyrica and Dilaudid.
The new primary made a comment that gave me the impression that's all that could be done.
Is this true?
The Lyrica is effective for my everyday fatigue and pain however there are times when it gets much worse and I can barely get out of bed. Sometimes I go days where I don't. And these episodes can go on for weeks.
Posted 11/26/2017 6:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi ,

We can often have more than one issue impacting how we feel.
Like you were fighting an infection with fibro, which can be hard..

The drs can help us with the pain levels , but we often need to experiment..self help options, to also help ourselves..

For fatigue, research d ribose m ,

To help keep pain meds lower i love topical pain relievers.

It takes a good bit of trial and error,

Lj
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