Okay so like so many of us on here, I've not had the best luck with doctors. If they weren't saying "you're too young to have fibro" or "even if you do have fibro at so young an age, you cant possibly have it so severe" then they were saying things like "yup, you have fibro, now go get high" like my first (and only before this guy) Rheumatologist told me to do.
Since we moved here to Phoenix, I have dreaded having to find a new doctor - PCP or otherwise. Thankfully, after fighting the healthcare system, I managed to get in with a PCP who is an amazing family/general care internal specialist PCP. She is fabulous for everything (except fibromyalgia...she is 100% blank on it). I honestly have never had a better PCP. So with that down, I had to find a Rheumatologist and after 9 months of calling, fighting referrals, etc etc with the system, I got in to see one here in Phoenix. His name is Dr. Posner and HE IS BRILLIANT. OMG SERIOUSLY! He was patient, he listened, he was knowledgable and clearly an expert on not just Rheum Arthritis but Fibromyalgia as well.
He is a BRILLIANT doctor who really does know what he's talking about. A true expert. First he asked me what from the paperwork was the stuff that was the worst/most impossible. I talked about the restless legs at night giving me pain and not restful sleep (despite the fatigue which at time forces me to sleep lots, creating a bad cycle). Talked about the shooting pains and flares up, the fingers and toes hurting, the spasms. The rest of the stuff like mind fog and sensative skin and fatigue, etc, he asked if I had and seemed pretty sure of what my answer would be - yes.
After we talked through it, he had me change into a paper gown and then he felt my pain points (some I didn't even know I had but god they hurt when he landed on them). What really floored me is that he had me walk away from him and then back and just by that he told me that he bet my pain points were "here, here and here" (which he pressed on) but he knew how bad they were before he pressed them because, I guess, he expected me to fall to my knees in pain and lack of control and he fully caught me when I did just that. It amazed me by walking he could see how bad it was and then prove his theory for confirmation. Dont know how but...wow..I'm just....floored. Amazed.
After all that, we sat and discussed the two types of fibromyalgia (the kind that just is and the kind caused by an autoimmune disorder and he said he wasn't going to even consider changing or adding meds until I got blood work done to give him more information on what we're dealing with all around: fibro, general body, etc. He's not going to do a scatter shot with treatments under an umbrella diagnosis. He's going to find out what is exactly wrong or as close to as he can. He even made sure we discussed non-rheum things to give him a full picture like my type 2 diabetes, recent surgery, med regiment and getting in to see a psychiatrist to help with my anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. He wants me to make an appt ASAP to get that dealt with with my primary doctor (meds, referrals, etc) but also because, and this is where the not so great news comes in, I have a lump on the back of my neck that feels like it could be cancerous or a calcification so he wants my PCP (primary) to take it over and follow up on that, biopsy, etc.
He said he's testing (or going to post-blood work) for autoimmune disorders since I have all the points for a few of them, including MS and Lupus so suck there but again, not going to stress till bloodtests come back.
So yeah, lets see....oh and he has me doing Tai-Chi once a day every day to significantly reduce my spasms, help a bit with pain and work to bringing all the symptoms down a touch :) so yeah it went really well. He listened, was straight forward, never questioned/second guessed me once. I trust him. He's a good doc. <3 <3
I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY AND RELIEVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!