Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
turns out she's moving to dallas because her hubby got an excellent offer. i don't know what he does. but she's new york born and bred, lived on long island all her life, so i can identify. we picked up and moved to florida for some reason (disney), but we just had to come home. i think some people are born to be islanders, and i'm one of them.
i brought up the idea of PsA, pointing out my DIP issues and that thingy on my heel. when i told her about the heel, she was like 'omg that could be PsA'. it was kind of cute. she said that my current dx is 'seronegative RA' and that because most of the same medications are used, it's not a huge deal for now. she said if it gets to the point where the crossover meds i've used haven't worked, i may need a dx of PsA to be approved for PsA-specific meds.
we have a strong family history of RA, but no diagnosed psoriasis/PsA. my dad gets funny dry patches, but he has diabetes so his doctors have attributed it to that. however, my younger brother has a skin issue - it's fairly widespread, over his shoulder, arm, and some of his upper chest, and he has a couple of other areas that get affected. he only *just* got health coverage for the first time in 8 years... when he went to our GP and paid out of pocket, the doctor said to wash it with selsen blue and a loofah, like use the selsen blue as a body wash on those areas. it helped. when i told my rheumy that, she said that some people have treated milk psoriasis with that. so now i'm going to talk to my brother about scheduling a (long overdue) physical and to bring up that skin issue. if he has psoriasis, and we have a strong history of RA, and if i have PsA, there's a pretty nifty chance he might face this in the future.
there are a bunch of doctors in the practice i've been going to. but i'm not sure if i'd like any of them. i'm also only one month into humira. so i think i've decided that i'll make at least my next two appointments in this practice and 'try out' two different doctors. my family members have a rheumy they love, but it's quite far from me - about 25, 30 miles, which is a 45-60 minute drive. i know many of you travel farther than that for rheumies, but in that 30 mile radius, there are about 18 other rheumies that take my insurance. i might try some options closer to home first.
i brought up the idea of PsA, pointing out my DIP issues and that thingy on my heel. when i told her about the heel, she was like 'omg that could be PsA'. it was kind of cute. she said that my current dx is 'seronegative RA' and that because most of the same medications are used, it's not a huge deal for now. she said if it gets to the point where the crossover meds i've used haven't worked, i may need a dx of PsA to be approved for PsA-specific meds.
we have a strong family history of RA, but no diagnosed psoriasis/PsA. my dad gets funny dry patches, but he has diabetes so his doctors have attributed it to that. however, my younger brother has a skin issue - it's fairly widespread, over his shoulder, arm, and some of his upper chest, and he has a couple of other areas that get affected. he only *just* got health coverage for the first time in 8 years... when he went to our GP and paid out of pocket, the doctor said to wash it with selsen blue and a loofah, like use the selsen blue as a body wash on those areas. it helped. when i told my rheumy that, she said that some people have treated milk psoriasis with that. so now i'm going to talk to my brother about scheduling a (long overdue) physical and to bring up that skin issue. if he has psoriasis, and we have a strong history of RA, and if i have PsA, there's a pretty nifty chance he might face this in the future.
there are a bunch of doctors in the practice i've been going to. but i'm not sure if i'd like any of them. i'm also only one month into humira. so i think i've decided that i'll make at least my next two appointments in this practice and 'try out' two different doctors. my family members have a rheumy they love, but it's quite far from me - about 25, 30 miles, which is a 45-60 minute drive. i know many of you travel farther than that for rheumies, but in that 30 mile radius, there are about 18 other rheumies that take my insurance. i might try some options closer to home first.
Anyway, hope you find another Rheumy you like so much, good luck!!!
Let's hope she charted the possible DX of PsA for the next RA dr to further investigate.
I'm wishing you the best of luck with finding a good dr that is a perfect fit for you.
Can't stand starting over but when things like this happen I like to think it may be for a good reason.
Take good care.
Sammy