Rheumatologist Referral

[Sassyt318]

I am new here and the struggle is real with FM! I am finding it very hard to get a referral to a rheumatologist! Why is this so very time consuming? How do you speed up the process? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Went to my PCP’s NP on this past Tuesday and they want me on mobic for 8 weeks, then follow up with them for next step… really? What do you tell the medical professionals that you hurt and they just keep dragging it out bc all testing is being drawn out for months now. Any suggestions would be WONDERFUL! God bless everyone who’s trying to live a normal life without so much deep discomfort from FM while self advocating for the medical field professionals so you can start living.

Kindly,
Tara

 

[sunkacola]

Hello @Sassyt318 and welcome to the forum.

The process and time to get a referral to a specialist vary greatly from place to place. I do not know what country you are in, so that makes it impossible to give any advice on how to speed things up, or if speeding it up is even possible. We have people on this forum who are in the UK, the USA, and Australia, among other places, and someone will tell you their experience if we know what country you are in.

Mobic is meloxicam, which is a strong NSAID, and most people with fibromyalgia are not helped all that much by NSAIDs. But it is worthwhile to give everything that is offered to you a try, since that's the only way to find out if there's a medication that will help.

If you are interested in some suggestions for other things you can do that might help, you can read the post that is pinned at the top of the General Discussion forum and see if there's anything there you want to try. It is worthwhile to work on the process of finding out what non-medication things you can do for yourself to support your body.

I hope the forum is useful to you. We are here to help.

 

[Radmun]

Hi @Sassyt318. There are so many FM sufferers that are having a tough time with their doctors taking them seriously an not being very helpful.

There is a doctor that I accidentally found, by mistake, on YouTube and his name is Dr. Daniel Clauw and works for University of Michigan. He has been studying FM for years and was asked by JAMA (well known medical journal) to write an article.

I am going to attach part of his article below. If there is a way you can print this article and give it to your doctor, it may be quite helpful because doctors have the highest regards with research that is presented in JAMA. It also informs the doctor what type of medicines are used and dosage.