Rheumatology appointment- what to expect?

[oogleboogle]

Hi all,

So you may or may not have seen my previous post, thank you to the many of you who provided such useful information.

I now have an appointment with rheumatology at the hospital for October. Could anybody give me any idea what to expect? Will they be ruling out other illnesses e.g. osteoarthritis, lupus, Lyme etc or will they just focus on whether or not it is likely I have fibro? I also have strong symptoms of ME/CFS, are they likely to be able to diagnose this or are they more pain based?

Is there anything I should do to prepare or is it likely to be like my gynae referral which was a quick 5 min chat and out the door!

I'm thinking of keeping a diary of pain/tiredness and writing all symptoms down.

Many thanks to all of you in this supportive community x

[phlebo123]

Hello,

Yes, that is a great idea to write a list of your symptoms, and maybe also make a list of questions you may wish to ask and what you are hoping to get from the appointment. I would also suggest that you take a friend or family member with you for support (because I tend to forget what I want to say, when under pressure!!)

If your doctor has not already asked for blood tests then they may want to take blood tests to rule out other conditions. Or maybe even some scans or xrays.

Hope it goes well and you get some useful answers xxx

[oogleboogle]

Thanks for your replies both. I'll do what you've said, good ideas. I'll put an update when I've been x