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Help with understanding test results
Autoimmune Diseases | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (79)Comment receiving replies
@rebaba Don’t you just hate all the hoops you have to go through to get a diagnosis. On question that I would like to ask a doctor is, have they improved medical education with respect to AD diseases? I sure hope so.
Have you given any thought to going to a university medical center or a large, comprehensive medical center? I had to go to a university hospital when my local hospital had no idea what the problem was (even though I was non-responsive). At my husband’s insistence, they called the university and were told how to treat me. Shortly after, we went to UCH for a formal diagnosis and treatment. It might be a good step for you.
What about the rheumatology office that doesn’t take insurance? Have you talked with them?
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@becsbuddy I appreciate your continued support. Reading your bio about the "clippers" informed me about how serious some of the auto immune disorders can be, especially if undiagnosed and unresponsive. Geeeez! While "googling" the "clippers" (out of curiosity) I came across the GARD site-they tell a bit about MCTD which (I believe) my antibody tests "flag" for.
Currently. I am considering trying to get an appoint at nearby John's Hopkins Rheumatology dept. They have 7 disease-specific Centers for rheumatology-but I would need a dx first in the general Rheumatology, before being seen in one of the centers, I suppose. But they also don't list MCTD though-which (I believe) my antibody tests "flag" for.
Another option is to see an Allergist/Immunologist in the same office as my kind and caring ENT and maybe she could recommend how to best get my auto immune blood test results addressed (for real). The appeal of this plan is that I DO have extreme allergy/sinus/eosinophilic problems-but DON'T have joint/arthritis issues. And the Rheumatology practices near me all seem to specialize in joint/arthritis auto immune issues-the "kind" I don't have.
Another option still could be to see a (real) Pulmonologist. I did see a NP in a Pulmonology office a few years back for breathing problems (a new symptom). She did lung and allergy tests (but no auto immune tests) and suggested I had "something like an overreactive immune system problem" but looked no further. Maybe a Pulmonologist doc could take this further, in light of my new test results.
Fortunately, I am not in critical condition and can take my time trying to figure how best to move ahead. What I wish to avoid is wasting my time, effort and health care resources on "do nearly nothing" office visits.