Evening all,
A little update from my post the other day I was so anxious about seeing this new rheumatologist! I took my notes which he scanned over (not sure he read) but I used them to help me explain everything he confirmed it is lupus and diagnosed the Raynaud’s - he was mentioning maybe a bit of fibromyalgia too but he quickly went off the subject but then said hmm lots of symptoms maybe lupus/UCTD he wants to see how my symptoms progress.
I was prescribed methotrexate which I will start when the doctor’s processed it, he also said I have to take a folic acid tablet with it (not sure why? If anyone knows could they let me know) and prescribed nifedipine for the Raynaud’s. He did a physical examination of my hips and thinks the joint range is good but this was very painful he’s booking me in for an MRI to rule out I think he said hip dysplasia my notes say AVA but he thinks it’s probably bursitis, they will scan both sides...
I can say honestly I am very overwhelmed with the appointment I think it’s going to take some time to sink in what happened especially with the lead up to everything not knowing but I will see him in 6 months time but in 3 months I’ll see the specialist nurse. They also took a urine sample for kidney tests due to my pain there so should get something back from that. He said my ANA was near 400 which is a shock as in February it was at approx 140 but in November 2019 it was 360... not sure what’s happening there but I hope now the treatment plan helps a lot more and there isn’t as much struggling.
Thank you for reading this far hope everyone is as okay as they can be - sending love to you all!
Leenie xx
Glad it went well.take your time to process it all.folic acid is taken with methotrexate to help prevent side effects and to protect against some cell damage.you should be on regular dmards blood tests .mine are every month . Take care sending hugs X SML X 🤗😘
Thank you for your kind message hopefully they do the tests with everything going on, did you have to stop hydroxychloroquine before starting methotrexate or take it in addition to? I’ve been trying to contact the specialist or nurse helpline but no answer at the moment so I have my new meds but worried to take them at the moment until I’ve had an answer xx
I take mycophenolate and hydroxchloroquine together. mycophenolate is also a drug that needs monitoring. I started off on weekly then fortnightly bloods now I'm on monthly bloods.my consultant prescribed my mmf until my bloods were stable.i have a shared care agreement now so my gp has taken over my script.dmards bloods need to be done before every script is issued. Xx
You should of been given blood forms or are they digital ? X
No they didn’t give me any blood forms but I did get a call from the secretary this morning saying they need to be taken together so I’ll start that today then I’ll have the weekend to chill in case of any new side effects. I wonder if the doctor’s will just arrange them? I don’t know really they didn’t say anything about blood tests just that I’ll go back in 3 months xx