Don`t know weather to laugh or cry!

My doctor wrote to the rheumatologist, and after 4 weeks of not getting an appointment, I rang hospital last week, they said no appointment, the rheumie has written suggestions to your doctor!.....even my doctor wasn`t impressed with the "suggestions!"    Thanks....

Think you`ve asked me this before, (Norfolk) I go to N&N, I have the rheumie that says "be quiet, listen to me!" I think she didn`t like it when I last saw her (July last year)  and balked at going on MTHX to get me off ASP!  i know it`s difficult to define pain etc, but my doctor says rheumie has written to her to say...wait for it.....fibro is pain, stiffness is PMR!  I was speechless.( I have both!)....I have asked my doctor to test me also for RA, my sister has it, and reading your posts about LORA, makes me wonder if it could even be that.  My doctor, who I can speak to about any of these things says, I`m a complicated case!  I have now booked blood tests, and will go to my doctors for results in couple of weeks, and will asked to be referred to another rheumie (any suggestions at N&N?) PM me Eileen if you have a name please....Thank you for your reply.....

Can I ask you, or anyone who can answer, this may be a silly question.....Is there any advantage to having ESR, blood tests  etc done, before taking the sterioids (in morning)....does it give a truer reading of the inflammation?....Having mine done tomorrow, just wanted to know....

Thank you

To be honest - don't know. I don't know how quickly the pred works on the ESR but it won't do much inside 2 hours anyway and I think it is probably longer than that before it would reduce the ESR significantly at all. But it is the state you are in AFTER taking the pred that matters - most people are stiff in the mornings after the cytokines are shed in the body at about 4-4.30am.

Ooops - sorry, missed the other post! Sorry - there are so many people on the forums I can't remember details of where you are. I do wish there was some way of indicating it - I suppose we could always add it to our profile pages (that very few people complete   )

Fibro is pain, PMR is stiffness eh? Glad she thinks so! I know plenty of people with PMR and pain but who respond to pred - which fibro doesn't! I don't know doctors at the N&N but I have asked a former PMR patient who was under there - of course her doctor may have left by now...

ESR is a snapshot in time, it does not jump up and down significantly during the day.  You need to look at the changes over days or weeks to see if the inflammation is improving or not.  Are you having your CRP checked to? 

and here I was thinking you kept a spreadsheet with all of us and our stories to keep track.....

Thanks for that, will take the pred before blood test.  Would be very grateful if there is a Rheumie name that you can suggest at N&N....

I asked the one person I know who would have used the N&N - unfortunately she went to the other hospital and was so disgusted at the physical state of the place she left and went back to her GP to tell him. He then managed her for the entire time of both her episodes of PMR. Sorry...

Don`t apologise....thanks for trying anyway....I will look up on the different rheumies, and my sister has changed from mine to another. (for RA)  She sees him in a couple of weeks, so maybe I`ll change to him, if shes happy after her appointment...although she was told by her GP,  you can`t pick who you want to see, only someone who can take on more patients....

Which usually means one of two things: either they are rubbish and no-one wants to see them or they are brand-new and haven't got a list of patients yet.

You used to be able to name a specialist - it was a bad day when that was changed.

Absolutely, quite agree....why do things seem to go backwards these days, so frustrating!....

I have yet to come across anything that is "new and improved" that really IS improved...

The answer is always the same.....Money!....whatever it is....and especially health...in the UK anyway, don`t know if it`s a problem where you live now....several people I know are having treatments delayed etc, just so unfair...when we can see the waste!

They even  did an article a couple of weeks ago to say, don`t expect things to last (washing machines etc) for more ethan 2 years!  that`s all very well for those who can afford to keep replacing things....I must get off my soapbox, it`s getting worn out!

2 years? Here in mainland Europe we feel decidedly aggrieved if a washing machine doesn't last 10 years! If you paid to get a Miele then you expect up to 20 years! My fridge (some generic make) is over 10 years old, both my previous dishwashers lasted about 8 or 9 years, this one is 10 years old though it did have a couple of years of not being used much, like the washing machine. Our car is 8 years old - and relatively new compared with many driving around here as there are a lot of the older model Passats which must be somewhere between 15 and 20 years old.

But then - the main difference is that it tends to be the more basic models we buy. Far less to go wrong. And we still have people who REPAIR domestic white goods - just think about that!

Just got rid of a 12 year old fridge...salad section in new one very flimsy, pathetic....Bosch (spelling?) W/machine 6 years so far....and Neff cooker 4 years....

Hate changing things, just know it won`t be replaced with same quality.  Husband is very handy, and has changed the brushes on past W/machines, but don`t htink it is possible now....£60 call out on most things as well, before repairs!  Lawn mower......25 years old maintained by OH...like new!

My son had my sister`s old dishwasher which was 8 years old for 5 years....now had to buy new one....he says it`s not a patch on the last....both Bosch....

Car....a VW low mileage.......11 years old!

Agree basic models....only use a couple of programmes anyway.

Have never seen the attraction of a dishwasher, hurts my back loading/emptying, have to have lots of crockery....OH is my dishwasher, is cheaper too!!....

Will make you laugh now....when I first got married had a gas fridge....was lovely, no noise!.....

I inherited my MIL's old frig, a real retro from the 50s - not quite gas though! 

I love my dishwasher - clears the kitchen immediately and works reliably unlike OH! I usually have to rewash the pans that don't go in it because he misses eggy bits...

Yes, the men aren`t too fussy are they!

Or the women are too fussy. Just saying. ;-)

 

You like cremated egg white on your pancakes then? 

Some maybe, but if things aren`t properly clean....cutlery etc, I give them to him....he dosen`t mind!

You can just pick the dried bits off before the pancake mix goes in and I don't mind the cutlery or crockery being "not properly clean". I use the same coffee cup all day without a rinse and get a bit upset if my wife or daughter gives me a clean one. Seems a bit of a waste to me, just more washing up to do. Sometimes we are too clean. :-)

I use the same cup all day too - we do create the minimum of washing up! After all, the dishwasher uses far less water than hand-washing and is hotter as well. Drives me up the wall when visitors grab my cup after one use and put it in the dishwasher    We run out of mugs too quickly. We have a small-size dishwasher and it goes on every 3 days usually when we are alone. I don't put my precious frying pans in - they'd lose their non-stick properties, achieved after years of careful use!

Ha ha.  I even make sure to use my favourite mug if it's a day I'll be in most of the time, so that I get full enjoyment from it!  ☕