I was super anxious about going but the appointment went well, I think. My doctor seemed to take my pain seriously, which I appreciated. He asked me, on a scale of one to 10, where was my pain and I told him, honestly, if giving birth with no pain meds and no epidural was a 9.5 on that scale, my pain lately has been about a 12 or 13. He seemed suitably impressed.
He thinks I might have rheumatoid arthritis or possibly fibromyalgia. He seems to be leaning more toward the RA while I think it's more likely fibro. At this point I don't really care which it is, or if it's something else, though. I just want a diagnosis so I don't feel like it's all in my head or that other people will think it's all in my head and so that we can formulate a treatment plan.
He ordered some blood tests to check for antibodies that would suggest RA and some x-rays of my back. He said he will probably want an MRI of my back but that he would order x-rays first because my insurance probably would not want to pay for an MRI unless I had x-rays first and those were inconclusive. My last MRI was about 18 months ago and I told him I had it on a disk but he said my back has probably changed since then so he thought some current images were warranted. I plan to get the blood work and the x-rays done Monday and then I will see him a few days after that.
In the meantime, he suggested increasing my Tramadol, which I take for pain, and my Flexeril, which is a muscle relaxer, and taking them on a regular schedule instead of just as needed. He prescribed Tramadol four times a day and Flexeril three times a day. It's probably too soon to tell how much that will help but I think I have had fewer muscle spasms today.
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