2 years now I've been complaining about fatigue

Have you asked to be referred to a rheumatologist.doc wrong in assuming just cos you haven't got any deformity doesn't mean you haven't got rheumatoid arthritis. I haven't got any and I have had RA n fibromyalgia for 5 years.you need to be seen by a specialist before that happens.

Thanks for the validation! I've asked for the referral, but the Dr seems to be reluctant. I'm PUSHING for a referral currently, as this last flare up has cost me 5 or 6 sick days in the last 2 weeks. I don't understand why they won't refer? Does it reflect poorly on them or something? Is it a stats thing? Thankfully the pain isn't the worst symptom right now, but this fatigue is debilitating! Heretofore, if I slept more than 8 or 9 hrs I'd end up w/ a wicked migraine, I've been sleeping 12, 14 hrs straight, no migraines, showering wears me out. That's just not right.

You must have gone to my doctor!  I was having all kinds of pain in my hand and just above both knees.  I got to the point that I had to roll off the couch because my knees and just my right hand were too painful to help me up!  I asked him if there was a test that would tell me why I was having these symptoms and he said "you mean like rheumatoid arthritis?"  He looked at my hands and told me I had no nodules so he gave me arthritis medicine for regular arthritis.  I then went to orthopedic dr who told me I had carpal tunnel!  It wasn't until I went to a nurse practitioner who did blood tests that it confirmed RA!  Don't exactly know what the test was that gave a reading of 915 when it was supposed to be less than 14!  Was referred to a rheumatologist who said it was aggressive!  Was diagnosed 1 year ago!

you have to be your own advocate!  Keep pushing for testing!  

Good luck and keep us updated!

Buckeyes - could not agree with you more.

I have had an education in arthritis the last 10 years, and nor with my husband suffering from heart failure have become somewhat of a specilaist in that area as well.

Bamboozles the Dr's when you start discussing my husbands condition using their medical words, and referring to his heart by its correct terms for the parts.

I have found by hard earned experience, you need to be able to call them an idiot from a position of knowledge, and even be able to take them dr to dr papers, and then put it down on their desk, and ask them if they have read this paper from named university site.

I did this recently when I was talking to a ortheopedic surgeon about myself, sick of being told lies, and infront of a medical student by a senior registrar or houseman, specialist was not impressed when I told him about his fellow specialist's junior registrar, and asked me when I had seen him, happy to share that info with him, he wrote it all down. Would like to think he would share the info I gave him with his peer.

Lie to me and you will pay for it, I hope.

 

Good for you!

That's why I've prepared a chart to take w/ me. Comparative numbers from the last 2 yrs worth of blood work. Not a medical study, but it feels like a bigger picture of me. Something I think the drs don't have time to do. I should have talked to you guys months ago. I don't care for this victim feeling, I'm a fighter, I prefer to be the bully....jk, but I sure don't care for being bullied.

Good for you too!  Keep fighting!

Thanks for the encouragement! If my mom and paternal aunt both had breast cancer no one would think it strange if I had fibris tissue on my breast checked. They'd say I was being wise. But when I'm having extreme fatigue, white spots on my gums, hip pain and low grade fever, I'm being silly to suspect RA or some other auto-immune condition.

That's the kind of thing I want to avoid. I don't think the 2 docs I've worked w/ have God complexes, I think that since my SED rate was 2 in 2013, that I'm just a hypochondriac. I'm not really sick, just needy or something. Very dismissive.

I changed my doctor too!

My sed rate or ESR has been as high as 77, and medium for me can be around 45, my normal is in the 20's, Dr cannot even with chemists shop of drugs cannot get it to go below that rate. Very frustrating, cannot take bilogicals because of previous cancer, and positive TB tests.

If you had RA, you sed rate would look more like mine, it is a marker for RA and psoratic arthiritis.

You also mention deformity, I have had a form of RA, negative serum level, but rheumo said no question I have some kind of arthiritis going on now for over 10 years, and those ESR and CRP are always looked at as the first part of seeing me, then she comments about how I am feeling, how are my hands, as they are my bellweathers of my levels of infammation, I have no deformities, I like to think because of the tablets I am on.

As I understand it today the whole idea of getting you treatment early is to avoid the old deformities.

My Rheumo also has me on 6000mg of odourless fish oil capsules a day, they do help with infammation from my own experience. I also take a general multi vitamin, daily as I seems to help with general energy levels, I think the tablets I am on don't help with taking up goodness from food and one of them causes diahrohea, especailly in the morning first thing, but I can live with that as long as my husband is not using the toilet, when I need it, I can get very cranky with him, when I need it I NEED IT NOW.

I think the SED rate is a matter of decimals, the "test range was 0- 19" and mine was 2. Which even if that is not indicative of RA, surely indicates some kind o's immunity probkem, yes? Maybe I am crazy!😕

Using google - I typed in ESR reading in blood test

It came up with a web site labtestsonline site, it seems to be a resonable informative site for explaining what is going on and why you have these tests, and what the results indicate or don;t indicate

I am goiing to sit down and try to understand a little more than i do already, can't do any harm to add to my knowledge base.

That's the site I have used to research my lab results. I agree about it being an informative site and not all dramatic like a Web md. I'm so grateful for you guys and your feedback. Finally getting some dialog about these symptoms. Thankful!