Your Rheumatologist

My rheumatologist is a woman she is very good at her job I can leave a message on her hospital phone and she would get back to me the same day I feel sorry for the people that have to wait for diagnosis when mine first started it was a living hell pain sleeping deprivation , inflammation to name a few but if you don’t tell your rheumatologist how your feeling they cannot help you so always be upfront and honest with them talk to them if you have a bad flare up tell them they are there to help you hope this helps the members of this community take care of your self

I am 33 jusy finishing a full time degree, work 16 hours to be able to pay for my daughters childcare until I'm studying. I was diagnosed in 2018 after 18 months of constant swelling and pain with Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis. My rheumatologist was great at the very start when she diagnosed me 5 years ago...However over the last 3 years I've barely seen her due to covid backlog and because i was in remission during my pregnancy 3-4 years ago. The last couple of years I only ever seen nurses who were pretty unhelpful, even though my RA is getting worse day by day. Current waiting time to be seen ad outpatient is 11 months which is disgraceful. I was pit on methotrexate injections 7 months ago by an intern as my max.dose sulfasalazine stopped working and supposed to have a check up to see how I am coping but still nothing. By my next appointment in April it will be almost 9 months without any support. I had my PIP taken away as I couldn't submit any medical evidence and they didn't believe I'm in pain as I attend university. I'm seriously at the end of my patience with the whole autoimmune thing and the only thing getting me through the days is Sertraline (antidepressant)....Sorry for the vent but I don't often get asked this question and it felt good to let it off my chest.