No not more!!

[allanah]

Well i went to the podiatrist yesterday who was lovely and said he would make me two pairs of special shoes and insoles and let me choose a lovely pair i like!! So i was pleased and thought great i can tell work that i will be able to walk better as i have new shoes.

Today i went to see a physio who was lovely. I asked him about my shoulder and if i could have hydrotherapy cos i want to get back to work.! He said WHOA!! and started to examine me, two hours later I have RA, impingement in both shoulders, triple crush syndrome, cervical spine nerve root. patella femoral syndrome, sphenous nerve impingement, carpal tunnel syndrome both sides and to have xrays and a mri and physio and acupuncture. I am no expert on musculo-skelteal problems and am wondering if any of you have any of these, i know a lot of you have had wrist or shoulder or knee problems.

I'm now worried bout what to say tomoro and what to do about work, will these get worse and impact on my RA more or get better quickly? Any ideas helpful guys.

Thanks Axx

[Gina_K]

Hi Allanah,

Great news re podiatrist, you wont know yourself with new insoles and shoes

I really cant help with all those diagnosis, but guess they are caused by the RA? Whats on Tmoro? Re work, I would always say go by your gut instinct, keep going if you are able, but stop if thats what your body is telling you, sometimes, you need to take a break from work as it takes you all the time to manage the RA. I am sure you will get lots of help and advise re your itemised damaged joints.

Regards, Gina.

[allanah in reply to Gina_K]

tmoro is just a typo! I am seeing the rheumatologist tomorrow and the physio said i could tell her about all my problems and wrote them down for me but i feel a bit cheeky as though i'm telling her what to do, but then again it will save her a lot of time and effort and the physio says he will write her a report but i wont be ready for tomorrow!! Also the rheumatologist will discuss me with occupational therapy and im not clear whether these are long or short term problems and worrying about what the mri will find? mmmmm fed up of listening to myself. thanks today i think it will take the pressure off me forgetting about work for a while but i know i'll never get such a good job again.

[Hidden]

What is the nature of the job Allanah? I wouldn't give it up too readily if you feel like that - wait to see what the rheumy and OT have to say about the prognosis. At least your physio obviously knew what they were doing - I have to point at things to get mine to take interest but then my RA is obviously not as aggressive thankfully. The shoes might make a really big difference to your life and make you feel you can do a lot more than you can at present. TTx

[allanah in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Tilda if you see my reply to LL it will explain more but thaks so much for your reply. I am a nurse ( but unfortunately never did Rheumatology!!) i mainly did lung health, intensive care, operating theatres and anaesthetics,then changed track to health visiting. So not many of my clients asked about RA!!!|Most of them wern't even awake !!! lol Axx

[LavendarLady]

Good grief Alannah - the physio diagnosed all that! I am surprised. They don't usually do that sort of diagnosis - that is best left to the Rheumatologist who will conduct various tests if needed. Suggest you mention it to the Rheumy when you see him/her and see what they say.

My physio concentrates on my shoulder - she doesn't examine me or tell me that I have 101 different problems!

I have a large rotator cuff tear in my right shoulder and a wobbly collar bone which she is treating with gentle massage and exercises. Also trying to correct my posture as well. I see her every 4 weeks.

I do have problems with my feet and knees and the Podiatrist told me I have arthritic changes in my feet. My knees have a combination of RA and osteo (just can't win). I have had ultra sound and x rays but couldn't cope with the MRI machine as I am claustrophobic. Don't worry about work at present - that is something you can deal with later.

Also problems with hands and elbows which flare up from time to time.

I have special insoles for my shoes except they don't fit most of my shoes! But they do help with walking and standing. See how you get on with the Rheumy and the OT and go from there. No point worrying about something which may not be happening! Best wishes. LavendarLady x

[allanah in reply to LavendarLady]

Hi LL

Thanks for the reply, I was just hoping someone on the site had had some of the syndromes like carpal tunnel and tell me a bit about it.

I think the physio is a guy who is working for the musculo skeltal service and the Rheumies asked him to do a "technical assessment" so i've obviously been lucky they have this in our area and the Rheumy says he os very good. I saw the Rheumy consultant this morning and got xrays of my shoulders and knees and she agreed with what the physio said so she said , hang on for now get physio and acupuncture, and a bone densitry scan done. Then might need carpal tunnel surgery but will change my dmaads today to see if it helps.

She also said i have Enthritis or something like that its inflammation where the tendons join the bone.So all in all not brilliant but at least they are gonna work on me. She said she would tell my work that my Ra is unstable so guess that wont go down well.

But thanks for thinking of me at least i now know whats happening and she feels i'm not fit for work. Oh well cant wait on my new shoes though!!

Axxu