why would i be sent to a rheumatologist?

Question

I've been to 3 different doctors. The first to sent me to a rheumatologist. I saw the rheumatologist. He says I'm fine but come back if I have a symptoms . But I don't know what symptoms to look for. I can't get a straight answer from anyone. I know i was positive for two antibody tests one the doctor didn't explain the other was a GI problem and me being B12 deficient but my other bloodwork says my B12 levels are fine. My cholesterol is a little high. I can't get anyone to give me a straight answer and its frustrating. I've been online looking for why someone could be sent to a rheumatologist and there's a variety of answers. Any advice or insight would be welcomed.

Answer 1

Rheumatology considers a complex breadth of disorders that involve rather obscure mechanisms and etiologies -- that is, it's really difficult to pinpoint what causes them, and thus difficult to determine how to treat them. Most rheumatological disorders are considered to have an autoimmune component that mediates chronic processes of inflammation that may be episodic, or more recurrent. You were likely referred to a rheumatologist because you had symptoms that were consistent with a rheumatological disorder, and it's sometimes best to let a specialist handle those cases, since they are likely to be more familiar with treatment options and such.

However, I'm disappointed to hear that no one has adequately explained your treatment plans and disorder to your satisfaction, because that should also always be a goal of primary care. I would request from your doctor that whatever procedure is being done be explained sufficiently to you, such that you have a good understanding of what everything means and why things are being performed.

The antibodies you referred to might have been anti-nuclear antibodies, which is a common thing to look for in some rheumatological disorders.

Answer 2

It sounds like your first doctor may have been a little too thorough. You don't mention the reason you started this journey through the minefields of medicine, but you must have had a large number of tests, and when that happens, there are almost always some positive tests even in healthy people. Deciding which are "true positives" and which are spurious findings is often a difficult clinical problem. If you went into this thinking tests were objective "either it is or it ain't" things, as most people think of them, then welcome to the much more complicated world of real medicine, in which skim milk masquerades as cream. I'm sure they'll let you know when they figure it out themselves, but things are often not as simple as we'd wish.

Answer 3

Without more information, it's difficult to specifically answer your question. I can answer what most rheumatlogists specialize in treating.

A rheumatologist is a specialist in arthritic and rheumatic diseases and conditions. Diseases diagnosed or managed by the rheumatologist include:

rheumatoid arthritis
lupus erythematosus
Sjögren's syndrome
scleroderma (systemic sclerosis)
dermatomyositis
polychondritis
polymyositis
polymyalgia rheumatica
osteoarthritis
septic arthritis
fibromyalgia
gout, pseudogout
spondyloarthropathies
ankylosing spondylitis
reactive arthritis (Reiter's syndrome)
psoriatic arthropathy
enteropathic spondylitis
reactive arthropathy
vasculitis
polyarteritis nodosa
Henoch-Schönlein purpura
serum sickness
Wegener's granulomatosis
giant cell arteritis
temporal arteritis
Takayasu's arteritis
Behçet's syndrome
Kawasaki's disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome)
Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans)

I hope this helps.

Rick the Pharmacist

Answer 4

You wouldn't be the first person they couldn't diagnos right. But if you have pain from rheumatoid arthritis I would suggest you go to healthquest.peoplesway.com and look at the products. Especially PROTEC. If you do not have this condition protec will just make you feel better and build your immune system and help alleviate problems you might not even know you have yet. If you go to youtube you can search peoplesway and see some videos on the products.