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Jul. 23rd, 2003 10:35 ami've left my Dr appt. knowing almost nothing more than i did when i went in *sigh*
while the general test for lupus came back positive (that's what started this whole mess back in april), the more specific/accurate test came back negative. The test for rhuematoid arthritis (RA) was also negative. the test for Sjogren's disease came back mildly positive. so Dr E can't say "yes, you have Lupus", but he did say "yes, you have some sort of connective tissue disease". He's starting me on two different drugs to treat me as if i had either RA or lupus, and see what happens. the drugs are both slow-acting, so it could be months before i see any results. the sound effects sound like fun, too (not!)
but the fun doesn't stop there! looks like i'll be getting to have an endoscopy done sometime here soon. This whole "having trouble swallowing" and "food gets stuck" thing is apparently Not Good. and i totally forgot to ask the doc about getting help with sleeping (i don't sleep for shit these days), so i'll just take that one into my own hands, and try either melatonin or valarian. benadryl dries me out too much, and makes me too groggy.
wait! it gets better!! i had the horror of having to get on the scale, only for the nurse to have to move the bottom-slidey-thing over a notch *cringe*, and the doc said i must lose weight... he wants me down 4-8 lbs by my 2-month follow-up. being overweight is NOT helping my joints. (i tried! i joined TOPS and gained 10 lbs!!)
so my day's off to a fabulous start. gotta leave work in about an hour to let the mutts out, eat lunch, and meet M for my EMG. I see this turning into a "get NOTHING accomplished" sort of day.
while the general test for lupus came back positive (that's what started this whole mess back in april), the more specific/accurate test came back negative. The test for rhuematoid arthritis (RA) was also negative. the test for Sjogren's disease came back mildly positive. so Dr E can't say "yes, you have Lupus", but he did say "yes, you have some sort of connective tissue disease". He's starting me on two different drugs to treat me as if i had either RA or lupus, and see what happens. the drugs are both slow-acting, so it could be months before i see any results. the sound effects sound like fun, too (not!)
but the fun doesn't stop there! looks like i'll be getting to have an endoscopy done sometime here soon. This whole "having trouble swallowing" and "food gets stuck" thing is apparently Not Good. and i totally forgot to ask the doc about getting help with sleeping (i don't sleep for shit these days), so i'll just take that one into my own hands, and try either melatonin or valarian. benadryl dries me out too much, and makes me too groggy.
wait! it gets better!! i had the horror of having to get on the scale, only for the nurse to have to move the bottom-slidey-thing over a notch *cringe*, and the doc said i must lose weight... he wants me down 4-8 lbs by my 2-month follow-up. being overweight is NOT helping my joints. (i tried! i joined TOPS and gained 10 lbs!!)
so my day's off to a fabulous start. gotta leave work in about an hour to let the mutts out, eat lunch, and meet M for my EMG. I see this turning into a "get NOTHING accomplished" sort of day.
