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Originally Posted by Bryant
It is Medrol Dosepak (methyIPREDNISolone Dose P 4 mg. PO Tab
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Thank you. So a short pulse course of steroids had tremendous therapeutic effect. I think Dr. Ramos should be able to find an answer with the right lab tests.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NotGolfer
If it's rheumatoid or in that family sometimes (early on) it's hard to get a definative answer. Doctors order blood tests for it...one VERY good one is the Vectra DA test to measure the particles in your blood. Then they'll do another lab where they check your sedrate and some other things as well. Plus will order x-rays (most times of your hands) to check for joint damage. This is one of the 1st places RA will strike. People often confuse RA with OA and they're nothing alike!!!! A person can have both however, which makes it doubly not so fun. I hope you get your answers and good treatment.
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My apologies in advance, however.....
1) Early rheumatoid arthritis or an auto-immune arthropathy really isn't all that hard to diagnose in 99% of the cases.
2) Vectra DA is essentially a useless test. It is a proprietary combination of various inflammatory markers combined to give a "score" of disease activity in patients ALREADY diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and is not approved to guide treatment or diagnose RA. Most insurances will not even cover it as it is considered "medically unnecessary", and since the company advertises financial assistance in paying for their useless test, I suspect it isn't cheap either. Number of Vectra DA tests I ordered in 35 years = zero
3) Yes, they will do appropriate x rays, especially the hands. Certain erosive changes are radiographically characteristic of RA
4) confuse RA and OA??? I can tell the difference from 10 feet away, a rheumatologist could probably do it from 30 feet
Sorry, don't shoot the messenger.
Also, until you get a diagnosis, I would avoid the herbs and creams that have been suggested by people who want to help. Those remedies help many people, but need to be tried after a diagnosis is established. Good luck, but I am pretty optimistic that your husband will improve with treatment.