I've been having pain in my lower back for about a week now. I went to my G.P., saw his P.A., and was diagnosed with "probable slipped disc." I asked the Physician's Assistant whether he thought I should see my rheumatologist about this, since I have PsA. He said that he didn't think it would be "necessary", that I should just take the pain med and muscle relaxer he prescribed, and take a week off work. R&R would take care of it.
Well, now it's been a week. I'm supposed to go back to work on Saturday. I work 10 hour days, 4 days a week.
My real question here is: What do you folks think would be the thing to do? Rheumatologist? If so, does that mean I should see rheumy when I get an Iritis flare also?
I'm just trying to figure this out. Any input is welcome!
Hi, I am newly diagnosed, but at this point, if there is pain in my body, I'll call my rheumatologist. Last year my back went out and it was so bad I went to the emergency room. The doctor wanted to do an MRI, but the machine was down for maintenance (eeeesh, my luck), he figured I slipped a disc and sent me home with pain meds and muscle relaxers. My GP agreed and didn't feel an MRI was needed. My back kept going out and I kept having pain. To make a long story short, I finally got a doctor to do an MRI and they found I had sacroilitis, which is guess is part of PsA.
If you are feeling better (and I hope you are) I would let your rheumatologist know about your episode, and if you aren't feeling better, let your rheumatologist know and hopefully he'll do some tests and see what is wrong. I wish you the best. Sheila
Hi Lar, it’s always hard to tell, my first flare started just after what was clearly a mechanical injury to my back, and i had this gut feeling something wasnt right. It was actually my physio who started looking for something odd.
I must say though, that my back’s a bit dodgy, and ive had numerous mechanical injuries, so I’m kind of used to how they feel - the straight inflammation of PsA does actually feel different to me.
What does your gut tell you? From your post, it seems you think it’s from PsA. So I’d say trust yourself and head to the Rhuemy.