jennifer,
welcome! sorry you have to be here, though.

insist on a referral to a rheumatologist. that's essential for an
accurate diagnosis and treatment.

diane

If he thinks it might be RA he should be giving you a referral to an
RD and the RD will order any tests you may need with regard to
arthritis.  Don't be afraid to ask the RD if it could be Lupus.  I
don't know how frequently it happens but I know a woman who was
diagnosed as having Lupus for 15  years.  She recently went to another
RD and he diagnosed RA, put her on Enbrel and she feels like a new
woman.  Many of the drugs used for Lupus and RA are the same so an
early mis-diagnosis of moderate RA shouldn't be harmful.  Some of the
newer nsaids and immunosuppressant drugs are used for RA and not Lupus
so far.  Severe RA mis-diagnosed can be very harmful.
Thumper

Jennifer I had some problems convincing my PCP that there was something
wrong with my wrist. He thought I had sprained it or something. After
two weeks it kept getting worse so he ordered an MRI on it. Turns out I
have a ganglion cyst (which is non cancerous type of cyst) under a bone
on my wrist and it is putting pressure on the bone and nerves.

Before I got the test results back though I went and made me an
appointment with an orthopedic surgeon because I already knew what the
problem was. My doctor was surprised by that but seemed glad to know
that I'm willing to take the initiative.

Even if your doc refuses to give you a referral maybe you can find one
on your own and schedule an appointment. Don't wait around for some
doctor to decide several months down the road after many expensive
tests.

Thank you all for you encouraging words, I don't know sometimes whether to
be scared to death of all this or roll with the punches.  I have 2 small
children as well to care for which I have not been able to do, I am only 30.
My oldest will be 3 in august and my youngest turns 1 sunday.  My mom told
me that my aunt's lupus didn't really trigger til after she had my last
cousin.  Then she started having flare-ups about a year later.  This is what
makes me think that the primary is mis-diagnosing me.  Some days are better
then others, as soon as I wake up in the morning before attempting to even
get out of bed I have to take a percocet to relieve the pain and stiffness
from sleeping.  I usually wait til after breakfest before I take the
celebrex, Atentolol (blood pressure meds) and water pill.  sometimes I wait
to take the water pill til in the evening seems to work better that way.  I
go back to my doc on monday.  I do know I have arthritis in my L2 of my back
as well that was diagnosed about 2 weeks ago before all of this started
happening.  at the end of March I started to have severe pain in my back and
could not left my son.  Still have lots of pain there but not as bad as what
I feel in my ankles and the bottom of my feet when I try to walk.  (feels
like I have a million tiny little blisters).  As things go along I will let
you all know how I'm feeling and what my doctors are saying.

Thank you all for listening

Jennifer