"They dont know much about Psoriatic arthritis", said my physical therapist. During my next appointment I said,"I know a lot about Psoriatic arthritis. So does my doctor". My P.T. said,"Well I guess we'll have to disagree about this. The Rhuematologists that I've talked to say that they don't know much about PsA or Rheumatoid Arthritis either". What do you all think of that? Should I let it go... or bring my "PsA, The Facts" book in for him? His therapy is good. So I could just let it go and "take what I can get" out of it.
I suspect it depends on your definition of “Much” you and your Rheumy probably accept that you know a lot that can be helpful, whilst someone more ‘on the outside’ might consider that since we don’t know definitively what triggers it, which combinations of genes cause it, or even which meds might work for a given person, it doesn’t seem we know much about it after all!
Ok... I just learned/realized that I should keep my mouth shut when I can help somebody...bc I may need to learn a few things before I can do that. What goes around, can come around....
I'm thinking same as Jen.....they know some, but not enough to come up with a prevention or cure. So, you could interpret that as not knowing "much". His comment would be more accurate if he said they don't know everything about PsA.
Hi Cheryl, I had a similar discussion with an occupational therapist about a year ago. She was very interested in 'The Facts' book and took the details down so that as a department they could order it for their reference library.
Thanks Jen and Jules. When I mentioned enthesitis (sp?) he kept putting different words out there and hadn't heard of it. Since I probably wasn't saying it correctly, I thought I'd just show him the definition of it and see if he's interested.
I just get the feeling that he doesn't believe that I have this condition. Like he's trying to show me "it's just tendonitis" in my elbow or just "busitis" in my hip, or "it's from an old injury/car accident" (neck), etc.
I have been grumpy with the pain & fatigue the last two times that I went to see him. The treatment that he did on my arm/elbow made it feel better and increased my ability to grip right away. As I start to feel better, and do the exercises that he suggests, maybe I'll be less grumpy and able to be less defensive and communicate better with him.
This is so hard. It took so long to get someone to take this seriously, and then I have to explain it again and again to the doctors/therapists around here. I don't think my GP or Physiatrist believe that I really have PsA either. I'm not sure my new Rhuemy was sure until an X-Ray showed the tip of my finger was "disappearing" (my translation). Her words, something like "reabsorbing" into the bone. Anyways, that X-Ray convinced me also. Now that I feel a little better from the Stelara I remind myself how that finger looked different on X-Ray than the other parts of my body that "only" have osteoarthritis.
Thanks for letting ramble. Woke up from pain and couldn't get back to sleep even tho I'm exhausted. The alarm for work just rang. Tah tah for now! Thanks again. This is a place where I know people get it!
My rheumatologist has inexplicably started to believe that I have RA- I guess it's not totally out of nowhere, because I have the sort of PsA that resembles RA, but still... I've been kind of ambivalent about whether I should bring him "the facts" book (this would be a very passive aggressive act, as he has PsA himself), and I think that after reading this thread, I might do it. If only to attempt to remedy one potential source of confusion for people like myself.
Tendonitis and bursitis are very much a part of this disease... how frustrating! Maybe you could bring it with... if you really have bonded with this therapist, and want to keep using him, it would be good if you two were on the same page. I know that I can't get as much out of PT if I'm not relaxed, and being misunderstood that much would stress me out. I got lucky with my PT and OT, they seem pretty knowledgable about RA and PsA and the differences between them.
Cheryl (CLR) said:
Thanks Jen and Jules. When I mentioned enthesitis (sp?) he kept putting different words out there and hadn't heard of it. Since I probably wasn't saying it correctly, I thought I'd just show him the definition of it and see if he's interested.
I just get the feeling that he doesn't believe that I have this condition. Like he's trying to show me "it's just tendonitis" in my elbow or just "busitis" in my hip, or "it's from an old injury/car accident" (neck), etc.
I have been grumpy with the pain & fatigue the last two times that I went to see him. The treatment that he did on my arm/elbow made it feel better and increased my ability to grip right away. As I start to feel better, and do the exercises that he suggests, maybe I'll be less grumpy and able to be less defensive and communicate better with him.
This is so hard. It took so long to get someone to take this seriously, and then I have to explain it again and again to the doctors/therapists around here. I don't think my GP or Physiatrist believe that I really have PsA either. I'm not sure my new Rhuemy was sure until an X-Ray showed the tip of my finger was "disappearing" (my translation). Her words, something like "reabsorbing" into the bone. Anyways, that X-Ray convinced me also. Now that I feel a little better from the Stelara I remind myself how that finger looked different on X-Ray than the other parts of my body that "only" have osteoarthritis.
Thanks for letting ramble. Woke up from pain and couldn't get back to sleep even tho I'm exhausted. The alarm for work just rang. Tah tah for now! Thanks again. This is a place where I know people get it!
