Do you think it's significant if your 'alternative' therapy practitioner tells you to go & see your GP?

[KatyMac]

Or am I being silly?

I may take the list to my counsellor to see if she can add anything; she has been angry/upset at the way I was treated last year

I agree brushed off is wrong, so I'll work on an alternative phrase

I do wonder if my CFS was never that in the first place or if this is a re-occurrence then I need to see a consultant now (last saw one in '95)

in the time you have ruminated have you booked gp appt yet?i would prioritise a gp appt rather than discussed symptoms with strangers online

online dialogue is no substitite for face to face consultation

you are clearly seeking answers but you wont get them on line, and to an extent this prolongs any clinical discussion if you have not seen a gp yet. potentially further adding to your anxieties about gp

I think the exact opposite

The more prepared I am before I go, the better. These symptoms have been around for years & have worsened over the last 2 (or so) years a delay of a week or so will make no difference to any potential 'cure'

Clarifying and describing these symptoms will help the GP diagnose what the actual problem is, rather than presenting him with vague abstract descriptions.

Absolutely - if you have all your symptoms and thoughts marshalled and on paper so that you can't be flustered in the face of an anxiety attack, you'll get on much better and it may help you to be more confident in the future when dealing with medics.

Another knockback now is likely to cause further loss of confidence - although if you DO get a load of shite from the GP, can you find a different one?

Well it's difficult

It's a practice of about 6-8 doctors and I think there are some things on my notes about last year, so anyone I go to has pre-conceived ideas about me

So I worry about being taken seriously, however there isn't much choice around here as we are rural

I'm taking the list to see the counsellor today

I will also be able to make an appointment (I'll make sure my diary is up-to-date so I don't double book & have to cancel

The thing is, if I go expecting to be dismissed/brushed off I probably will be. I am very good at 'coping' and 'dealing' with things (eg I had an ectopic until 13weeks because I thought it was bowel pain & something I had to deal with & even when in hospital I kept saying 'well I'm sure it will be OK now' & 'it's died down a bit shall I go home')

Good- hope your counsellor can imbue you with the confidence to march into the GP and say "look. These are my symptoms, I am sick of having them, can you please work out what is wrong and try to fix it, thank you". Or something like that. :)

Go with the expectation that something WILL be done, even if it's "just" blood tests for stuff. They really should test your blood glucose/glucose tolerance (again), they should test your ESR (for inflammatory conditions) - if they haven't already tested you for vitamin B12 deficiency, they should do so (another cause of pins and needles and numbness in fingers and toes). These are things that should be done for information and elimination processes. If they're testing your blood for B12, then they should also do a full blood count (FBC) so that the blood cells themselves can be checked for size and density; and also to see what your white blood cell count is. No doubt there are other tests they should be doing as well - but these are the ones I know most about. Feel free to write those tests down so that you can ask about having them done, if the don't offer any, and if they DO offer, you can check which ones they're doing.

HTH. :)

& I have made an appointment (although I may change it as I'm not sure I like the GP) but it's not til next week & it was nly by whinging I got one that soon

She could see my thumb joint from across the room & she says it's hot to touch

Will co-codamol or diclofenic affect any blood test results?

well cocodamol won't affect most of them, no. But the diclofenac, as a NSAID, might change some of the inflammation markers.

However - if you are in pain, and need to take it, do so (the diclofenac, that is). There is no point in suffering needlessly while waiting for blood tests! I would suggest you don't take them the day of your appointment though. Bear in mind that you are supposed to take them every 6-8 hours, so that's roughly how long they are effective in your body.

thanks - I do need too atm

My sciatica is awful, & my leg has collapsed twice

But the swelling n my thumb joint has really reduced

My reflexologist has added for my periods to be added (to exclude the 'change') & more information concerning my diet and the way I 'control' my diet

So I'll have a think

Well, I explained that there wasn?t a day since Christmas when I hadn?t taken a pain killer (either paracetamol ? 4/5 days with diclofenic or co-codamol) & while I didn?t feel it was very positive taking them I didn?t think just stopping was a good idea.

& that I didn?t think it was likely that I had 3 or 4 separate things.

He is happy with me taking the pain-killers and that my attitude to them is a bit contrary, he is also quite happy that the co-codamol ?cures? my IBS. We discussed how to take the diclofenic with me asking questions and suggesting how I feel it works best, without him offering any information, just confirming my impressions.

He accepted that I had had blood tests for all of the things before but that he would like to do them again, before referring me to a CFS consultant.

My results are back

The only one that is slightly out of range is ESR which is 55

& my Rheumatoid is satisfactory (still wonder if the diclofenac affects that)

Hi KatyMac

New to mumsnet - hope it's OK to jump in and comment on your thread.

Just wanted to say that normal range for ESR is up to 10, so 55 isn't just slightly out of range!

Also, apologies if i'm telling you something you already know, but you can have inflammatory arthritis without rheumatoid factor - it's called sero-negative arthritis.

The symptoms you describe re: general pain/joint pain/bone pain and cold hands/feet are very similar to how my arthritis started out.

Apologies if you've already been down this route, but with your symptoms / ESR result you should really be referred to a rheumatologist as they have the specialist knowledge to evaluate you properly for arthritis.

For example, you can have almost normal blood test results for ESR/CRP and still have inflam arthritis - I have been crippled to the point where I cannot walk by my arthritis and only had ESR / CRP results in the teens and twenties. I've been told that people with sero-neg arthritis do sometimes have limited changes in their inflammation markers (CRP/ESR) which can make it particularly hard to diagnose.

I was seeing a doctor for months with what I know now to be quite obvious symptoms of arthritis and they couldn't work out what was wrong with me - that doctor was off sick when yet another set of my blood test results came back and I was incredibly lucky to have a different doctor at the practice, who had more knowledge of auto-immune conditions, review my results - he worked out what was wrong with me and got me off to a specialist ASAP. Seeing a rheumatologist was just the begining for me - took a long time to find the right meds, but at least I was on the path to getting better!

I hope you can get the help you need - there are so many meds to try these days that there's a good chance if it was arthritis you could get it under control and get off the painkillers/lead a happier healthier life!

Comment away trope

I agree about the 'slightly' btw but that is what the nurse said.

I think it will be attributed to 'being a bit poorly with a cold' which I think is daft (but we will see on Friday)

I have CFS btw (not sure if I said on this thread) so I'm expecting it all to be blamed on that (makes a change from it being 'depression' or 'anxiety' I suppose)

Hi KatyMac!

Well if they blame the cold you should push them to re-test! 55 seems high for a cold anyway (in my experience). I know there aren't clear cut guidelines for what constitutes a normal rise for someone with a cold/flu/more serious issue, as everyone is different. But it's certainly high enough to merit a re-test when you don't have a cold imo!

I read a few of your earlier threads today and saw you mentioned a hot red swelling on your thumb, and then another finger; that's another classic sign of inflammatory arthritis and afaik actual swollen joints, instead of just painful joints, is not a symptom of CFS - so you really do have grounds to push to see a rheumatologist. You can also suffer very severe fatigue from inflam arthritis, so your diagnosis of CFS may indeed be blinding your doctors to another likely diagnosis!

I know it's easier said than done - but sometimes you just have to be damned bolshy with doctors and tell them what you want. If this is inflam arthritis, with the right meds you should be able to get it under control, which in turn should help your other conditions. If I were you I would ask to be referred to a rheumatologist asap.

Good luck for Friday - I hope it goes well.

Thanks Trope

I am quite bolshy (if you look at threads during last year (Feb-Nov) you will see how bolshy I can be