@betsyhase
Maybe you should consider calling another rheumatologist. I know it can be difficult to get an appointment with a rheumatologist, but you have already been waiting and suffering more than two months. I was initially diagnosed with a pinched nerve last October but I was lucky to have doctors with solid contacts and have been seen by specialists for pain management, neurosurgery, rheumatology and hematology/oncology within 2-3 weeks for each referral. Two things to consider...your hand symptoms don't sound like classic PMR and you are on a low dose of prednisone. You may have seronegative RA or something else. You don't mention your symptoms or blood work. I was started on 15mg prednisone in February because my initial blood work came back with inflammation markers. After the rest of my blood work came back I was increased to 25mg. Because my symptoms reacted to the prednisone and there were no indications of other autoimmune disorders, I was diagnosed with PMR. I'm still being tested for a blood disorder. I know that if I hadn't been seen by a rheumatologist in a timely manner, I would have been in the ER looking for answers. Waiting in constant pain was not an option I was willing to consider.