Find the -itis
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 7:40AM Yesterday afternoon I had a doctors appointment. It was a follow up regarding the inflammatories numbers that keep showing up in my blood work. My doctor wanted to see if those number had changed at all.
They did. They went up, significantly.
So now he wants me to see a Rheumatologist. He asked me if I had any joint pain anywhere, to which I replied, "nope." He said, "Well let's just send you to this doctor to have him check you out and see what he finds."
So now there is something in me that is inflamed and they don't know what it is. This seems like a weird approach but I am going to play along and see what this doctor tells me.
Oh yeah, and my A1C is 8.6 which my doctor called "Out of Control!" I wonder what he would have thought of my 12.5 all those years ago?
Do any of you have any experience with this sort of thing? Arthritis? Inflammatory numbers being high in blood tests? I would love some advice.
Reader Comments (5)
I don't have an experience with what you are dealing with, but I got the run around a few years ago with some random blood work.
They found that my liver enzymes were off (a few years later my brother's were too) but they couldn't find a cause. This included a four quadrant ultrasound. In that they found that my spleen was enlarged, so I had to go to a hematologist. He felt the need to run every test under the sun to find out why. End result = I have a big spleen.
Hopefully they will find the cause quickly (and cheaply) for you and your numbers will come back down quickly!
You should keep in mind that Rheumatoid arthritis, like type 1 diabetes, is an autoimmune disease. While some people get celiac disease, others get other happy diseases caused by a dysfunctional immune system. Let's hope this one is easier to manage than diabetes (usually, the answer is "YES") assuming, of course, they can identify what is going on!!
george,
I was actually asked what medication I was on by my nephrologist for my Rheumatoid Arthritis during a phone appointment two weeks ago. I told him "i don't have RA". He says "oh yes you do, I can see that from your labs!" So he put me on celebrex, and I have an appointment for a Rheumatologist now also. At least I now know that my hands aren't all sore from just tip-tapping away at this keyboard all the time!
ain't it always something?
landileigh
I'm happy to hear that your doc is at least being aggressive about it and referring you to another specialist. I would be bummed if he just blew it off.
I'm sure that they will find whatever it is, but I know it can be a lot of work and time working through the possible options with them. Be patient.
And don't all docs think any A1C above perfect is out of control? Did you see one of Kerri's Joslin twerps thought her post-meal reading of 137 mg/dl was too high? I say we remove their pancreas and see just how good they can do. :-)
George-
I actually had some joint pain and some family history of Rheumatoid Arthritis so I had my doctor run some labs to look for inflamation. They found it and sent me to a Rhematologist. I'm now taking Sulfazalazine 1000 mg twice a day and am feeling great. There are a lot of other diseases that can cause inflamation. Going to see a Rhematologist can rule a lot of them out. Plus auto-immune diseases don't like to live alone for long. They tend to bring at least 1 other buddy along for the ride. Hopefully it will be one that you can live with and won't cause too much aggrivation. Diabetes provides enough of that!