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Flaring - finally going to Rheumy again!

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Posted 1/24/2012 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
Well I've been putting this off for 2 wks - ok maybe 3 wks. I called my rheumy this am for appt but she's preg & cut back on her schedule so I have to see her partner whom I don't like (he doesn't look me in the eye & everytime I see him he uses ultrasound machine to check for inflammatiion which costs literally hundreds of dollars!) I'm so anxious now & have to see him in an hr - & its below zero F here so I'm going to regret going outside! Brought treats to my kids class yesterday for Chinese New Year & it took me 5 hrs to recover fro the cold!
ok...done venting! Wish me luck! I'm sure they'll just put me on a Pred taper as always. $500 to tell me that! Ugh!
Posted 1/25/2012 12:09 AM (GMT 0)
I understand the cold recovery. Everytime I go outside my classroom into the unheated hallways of my school I freeze. My hands hurt and are so icy! I'm having to keep them in my pockets to keep them somewhat warm.
Posted 1/27/2012 6:27 AM (GMT 0)
Angelina,
Hope your apt. went well.... I did not even know they could do ultrasound for inflamation, but then again I live in a very rural area lol just a once upon a time farm gal :)
Regards,
Cathy
Posted 1/28/2012 3:45 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks - ive had a rough week. The Dr just told me to increase Pred to 20 Mg for a few wks & very slowly go down by 2.5 Mg every 2 wks. He also said to quit Arava (immune suppressant) bc he thought that might be causing the fatigue. But after 4 days of no change I did my own experiment & added a small additional dose (10 mcg) of the fentanyl patch (thank God I have extra!) & guess what? It made all the difference! I actually got up & made dinner, took a long bath & was in a decent mood! See...Drs don't know everything for sure! (Though it I try to tell the Dr I need a higher dose I'm not sure what to expect bc he isn't my usual Dr as mine is preg & on leave!)
Posted 1/28/2012 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
Prednisone is to address the inflammation, Fentanyl just hides the pain. I would suggest that perhaps following the drs plan will get you better longer term results.
Posted 1/28/2012 6:37 AM (GMT 0)
But I'm not having inflammation which is a mystery to the Rheumatologist! I'm not sure they know as much about Auto-immune Diseases as they may lead us to believe! He (the Dr) was totally at a loss! He said maybe it was Fibromyalgia..All I know is that the Pred wasn't helping but when I added small amt of the patch, it was like night & day! (I'm currently on 1/2 the dose I was on when the disease began)!
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