That is just so sad. Imagine a doctor saying that. I have been having some major flares, and this disease is just unbearable. To say nothing of the deformities even if you get the disease under control.

That is awful call them self a Doctor where is the compassion!I hope you get your pain under control and that when you see your Rheumy today that he does a referral regarding your knees.Pain day in and day out wears you down.Keep us posted how you get on.

Leigh-Ann, I'm sorry you came across a doctor like this. It is sad, as Angela says. We all know just how painful this disease can be and the damage it can do.
Hope your Rheumy appointment goes well and you're able to get some relief.
Hugs

omg there are quacks out there. saw one doctor for a few years he was more sports medicine than rheumy, he had me on too many subscriptions, allopurinol, colcichine, tramodil, morphine, plaquenil, and like 4 others, i'm going from memory. i just took the allupurinol, colcichine and plaquenil, the other stuff was too much and tramodil made me feel wierd one day and i got shakes so i stopped it. he was giving me injections of some sort of steroid every few months too. i stopped seein him after i was diagnosed with hep c. still don't know how i got it never had a tattoo or took needles except at the doctors office. then this doctor said after i told him i just got over jaundice in the hospital that hep c is no big deal a lot of people that worked in resturarants have it. i was like what??! first off i don't want to eat at the resturants you go to. second my liver is important to me pal. then he prescribed all those pills again, needless to say i listened to the doctor at the hospital and just take tylenol once in a while now cause i don't want jaundice again, that was scary. i still wonder if that guy gave me the hep c cause i never saw where the needles came from and he gave me like 4 shots in each knee and 2 in each ankle. and 4 in the back. i guess there is no way to find out so now it's hard to trust doctors when you hear such different things from two different doctors. i see a doctor for the first time in almost two years next week because i have to for ssdi and i am bringing pictures and burned a cd with photos in case the swelling is down i have proof to show. good luck and go with your instincts, doctors get away with a lot being they are in a position of authority but this is your life so be careful and don't pause to question them.

Wow even doctors have pre-conceived notions about age and arthritis. I bet you the doc took one look at how young you were are assumed you couldn't possible have bad arthritis. This wasn't a Rhuemy was it... he was just a regular family doctor?

His assumption lead him to "drug seeking behaviour"... wow all you wanted was a referral to an orthopedic surgeon!

I would file a complaint against that doctor. You have a formal diagnosis from a Rhuematologist how can you possible be making it up!

Hi Leigh Ann,
Sorry to hear about your experience; I wonder if that doc would feel the same if SHE were the one with the symptoms?? Best of luck with your rheumy, sounds like you have at least one doctor you can trust.

wow. sorry about the doc adding insult to injury. i'm not feeling the compassion, really I am not in this specialty.

and it's not like I have never seen it in a specialty. I watched my middle school child wear a body brace for scoliosis and the specialty care was well, special and gentle and diagnostic, and empathatic.

ditto for my son with a dermatologist.

rhemorinos? oh mercy. i asked the last one why he picked this specialty. not much of an answer. I'm starting to think becuase the oncall isn't difficult? becuase the law suits are low? because you can run shoddy over the pain management of those entrusted to your care? because you can be a bonafid script writer and run on auto pilot?

perhaps this is considered a gut in medical school when one has to choose...

hang in there Leigh Ann better treatment is on the horizon