SailormoonK
05-20-2001, 09:58 PM
i have my first visit to a ruemetologist in a little over 2 weeks. does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? should i take my typed up list of symptoms and allergies or should i just try and remember it all or write it by hand- writing by hand has become very difficult. and how much should i expect? i mean i have more than 4 of the criteria but my blood work is negative, so my internist keeps implying i am nuts and sending me to my psyciatrist who says the problem is physical not mental. i have no clue what to do, should i get my psyciatrist to write a letter stating that he doesnt feel this is all in my head? i want to hope but am afraid i will just be disapointed by being told i am imagining it all. does anyone have any suggestions?
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Irish
05-21-2001, 02:39 PM
SailormoonK:
Who recommended that you see this particular rheumatologist? If your family doctor recommended him, he already has been sent info from your files.
I didn't tell my rheumatologist anything until after he ran all the tests, then he sat me down and asked me lots of questions. You know how they run...what did your great-granny die of, etc?
He asked me about symptoms and I told him about the fatigue, the sleepless nights, the anxiousness about everything. He is an excellent doctor and I have a lot of confidence in him. He doesn't laugh if I ask a foolish question. He takes the time to answer me and reassure me when I am concerned. He really keeps close check on me. I go to his office every 4 months and mid-way between I go to my family doctor for a blood test (CBC & Liver Profile). That way I am being checked every 2 months and he seems genuinely concerned about me. I am sure he treats all his patients like that. That is why his office is full every time I go there.
I am sure the rheumatologist will ask you about symptoms. I would not take a list. I would just tell him how I feel. If you take a list he may think you are one of those persons who likes to be sick. If he thinks that, he may not check you over so completely.
Good luck on your office visit. I hope he says you don't have Lupus. It really isn't very funny.
Irish
Who recommended that you see this particular rheumatologist? If your family doctor recommended him, he already has been sent info from your files.
I didn't tell my rheumatologist anything until after he ran all the tests, then he sat me down and asked me lots of questions. You know how they run...what did your great-granny die of, etc?
He asked me about symptoms and I told him about the fatigue, the sleepless nights, the anxiousness about everything. He is an excellent doctor and I have a lot of confidence in him. He doesn't laugh if I ask a foolish question. He takes the time to answer me and reassure me when I am concerned. He really keeps close check on me. I go to his office every 4 months and mid-way between I go to my family doctor for a blood test (CBC & Liver Profile). That way I am being checked every 2 months and he seems genuinely concerned about me. I am sure he treats all his patients like that. That is why his office is full every time I go there.
I am sure the rheumatologist will ask you about symptoms. I would not take a list. I would just tell him how I feel. If you take a list he may think you are one of those persons who likes to be sick. If he thinks that, he may not check you over so completely.
Good luck on your office visit. I hope he says you don't have Lupus. It really isn't very funny.
Irish
Irish
05-21-2001, 02:41 PM
SailormoonK:
Who recommended that you see this particular rheumatologist? If your family doctor recommended him, he already has been sent info from your files.
I didn't tell my rheumatologist anything until after he ran all the tests, then he sat me down and asked me lots of questions. You know how they run...what did your great-granny die of, etc?
He asked me about symptoms and I told him about the fatigue, the sleepless nights, the anxiousness about everything. He is an excellent doctor and I have a lot of confidence in him. He doesn't laugh if I ask a foolish question. He takes the time to answer me and reassure me when I am concerned. He really keeps close check on me. I go to his office every 4 months and mid-way between I go to my family doctor for a blood test (CBC & Liver Profile). That way I am being checked every 2 months and he seems genuinely concerned about me. I am sure he treats all his patients like that. That is why his office is full every time I go there.
I am sure the rheumatologist will ask you about symptoms. I would not take a list. I would just tell him how I feel. If you take a list he may think you are one of those persons who likes to be sick. If he thinks that, he may not check you over so completely.
Good luck on your office visit. I hope he says you don't have Lupus. It really isn't very funny.
Irish
Who recommended that you see this particular rheumatologist? If your family doctor recommended him, he already has been sent info from your files.
I didn't tell my rheumatologist anything until after he ran all the tests, then he sat me down and asked me lots of questions. You know how they run...what did your great-granny die of, etc?
He asked me about symptoms and I told him about the fatigue, the sleepless nights, the anxiousness about everything. He is an excellent doctor and I have a lot of confidence in him. He doesn't laugh if I ask a foolish question. He takes the time to answer me and reassure me when I am concerned. He really keeps close check on me. I go to his office every 4 months and mid-way between I go to my family doctor for a blood test (CBC & Liver Profile). That way I am being checked every 2 months and he seems genuinely concerned about me. I am sure he treats all his patients like that. That is why his office is full every time I go there.
I am sure the rheumatologist will ask you about symptoms. I would not take a list. I would just tell him how I feel. If you take a list he may think you are one of those persons who likes to be sick. If he thinks that, he may not check you over so completely.
Good luck on your office visit. I hope he says you don't have Lupus. It really isn't very funny.
Irish
SailormoonK
05-21-2001, 02:47 PM
actually the referal came from a doctor i never saw myself, he suggested i try this doctor because my own doctor is a twit in his opinion. the doc who suggested it is a ruemetologist himself, he just treats children not adults so he couldnt see me himself. my files are all coming to me, at least the ones i can get. i have requested some of my meduical records 6 times or more and the doctor refuses to send them to my new doctor. i have no clue why unless he is hiding something he did offer that if i paid 150 i could pick them up myself. i changed docs and he got poed.
Ann S
05-22-2001, 10:30 PM
Your records legally belong to you, and besides, you paid for them when you paid for the service. They have no right to charge you for them, unless they have sent them out numerous times already. Hold firm! Have them sent to you!
This is just my opinion, but here is what I would do with the new Rheumy:
-Bring a list of symptoms to help you remember them all--put them in your OWN words, so he doesn't think you got them off an internet site. (Like don't call it a malar rash.)
-Bring a copy of all lab tests, but don't show them to him till after he tells you what he thinks from examining you, hearing your symptoms, and getting a family history.
(If he doesn't already know, don't mention the other doctors till after he gives you his opinion.). You can explain that you weren't trying to hide anything, you just wanted him to be able to form an unbiased opinion.
-If it isn't hard too get, have your Psych Dr. write up that letter and send it to YOU. Take it along just in case, but don't show it to the new rheumy unless you need to tho.
-Also, look through the list of 100+ autoimmune disorders and write down if any family members have any of them. (especially along the female line)
-Initially, don't tell him that you think you have Lupus.
-If your husband can be a help, have him come in with you (mine did). Sometimes they take a man more seriously than a woman.
Finally, maybe you already know this, or maybe I've said it before, but many of the AI diseases overlap symptoms and are just diagnosed as connective tissue disorders. Sometimes the disease evolves to show more specific diseases later, but sometimes it never does! The point is, it doesn't matter if they call it connective tissue disorder, or Lupus, or whatever....... the treatment and meds for the ones with overlapping symptoms are the same regardless of what they call it, and being treated is what's important!!
Try to relax (I know, easy to say, but hard to do.) and keep us informed. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers, Ann
This is just my opinion, but here is what I would do with the new Rheumy:
-Bring a list of symptoms to help you remember them all--put them in your OWN words, so he doesn't think you got them off an internet site. (Like don't call it a malar rash.)
-Bring a copy of all lab tests, but don't show them to him till after he tells you what he thinks from examining you, hearing your symptoms, and getting a family history.
(If he doesn't already know, don't mention the other doctors till after he gives you his opinion.). You can explain that you weren't trying to hide anything, you just wanted him to be able to form an unbiased opinion.
-If it isn't hard too get, have your Psych Dr. write up that letter and send it to YOU. Take it along just in case, but don't show it to the new rheumy unless you need to tho.
-Also, look through the list of 100+ autoimmune disorders and write down if any family members have any of them. (especially along the female line)
-Initially, don't tell him that you think you have Lupus.
-If your husband can be a help, have him come in with you (mine did). Sometimes they take a man more seriously than a woman.
Finally, maybe you already know this, or maybe I've said it before, but many of the AI diseases overlap symptoms and are just diagnosed as connective tissue disorders. Sometimes the disease evolves to show more specific diseases later, but sometimes it never does! The point is, it doesn't matter if they call it connective tissue disorder, or Lupus, or whatever....... the treatment and meds for the ones with overlapping symptoms are the same regardless of what they call it, and being treated is what's important!!
Try to relax (I know, easy to say, but hard to do.) and keep us informed. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers, Ann
SailormoonK
05-23-2001, 01:54 PM
AnnS,
thank you. now i know what to do about the fact my regular doc keeps claiming i have a mental problem not a health problem. the list i have is in my own words because i typed it up before i even knew lupus existed. i will not tell him i suspect lupus. i am trying to get some of my medical records sent to me but my old doc says that is his fee for copying records and giving them to the patient. heck my new doctors office has requested those records so many times it isnt funny and they have yet to recieve the darn things. i know that i probably will not get any definate diagnosis but being treated would help greatly. maybe with treatment i could walk w/o my legs giving out in less than 10 min. i hate this body sometimes. but then i remember all the others in my family who have suffered with even greater pain, and know that i have to convince someone i am sick if for nothing more than to prevent my daughters from enduring as much as i have for as long as i have.
thank you. now i know what to do about the fact my regular doc keeps claiming i have a mental problem not a health problem. the list i have is in my own words because i typed it up before i even knew lupus existed. i will not tell him i suspect lupus. i am trying to get some of my medical records sent to me but my old doc says that is his fee for copying records and giving them to the patient. heck my new doctors office has requested those records so many times it isnt funny and they have yet to recieve the darn things. i know that i probably will not get any definate diagnosis but being treated would help greatly. maybe with treatment i could walk w/o my legs giving out in less than 10 min. i hate this body sometimes. but then i remember all the others in my family who have suffered with even greater pain, and know that i have to convince someone i am sick if for nothing more than to prevent my daughters from enduring as much as i have for as long as i have.