dr.'s appt.

[AnnieMarie]

I had another follow-up appt. on Friday. I did my bloods about two weeks ago.
The good news is my complement levels are finally borderline; they are usually quite low.
My dr. does not even run an ANA anymore he said it is not necessary, but he does still run the scl-70. That still remains positive.

We both feel the hydroxychloroquinne is doing some good and the altace is keeping my BP under control and protecting my kidneys.

He wants me to take protonix and the calcium blockers. I have been reluctant too take an additional BP med. because the altace lowers my bp to around 120/69.

My feet are purple almost all the time now upon sitting and or standing still. I told him about the intense burning and the buzzing feelings in my feet and that this happens now whether I am cold or hot. In fact heat makes them worse. There was no problem in my explaination as my feet were quite purple in the examing room. So this is still under investagation.

I still have an echo to do and a lung test but these are routine. He has referred me back to the GI but I think this is routine too.

He made me a copy of my blood works and something was on it that puzzels me,as we did not discuss it and I did not know about it until I came home.

My ALK phophatase was flagged at 35 normal being 42-124. So I leave it to the experts on the forum to clue me in.


Thanks for allowing me to update and for any info.

Annie

[lullrich76]

Hi Annie,

It sounds like your dr. visit went pretty well. I am not sure about the ALK levels and what they mean. Did you look it up under www.labtestsonline.com (http://www.labtestsonline.com)? That website is sometimes helpful with explaining things. I just received test results in the mail, my drs. nurse said they were normal, but there were a couple abnormals on the report. I don't understand why the drs. just don't mention it to us. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/shrug.gif

[alobreto]

Just my 2 cents:

A decreased alkaline phosphatase level can mean, among other things:
Hypothyroidism
Malnutrition
Pernicious anemia
Scurvy
Celiac disease
Excessive vitamin B intake

The level must be correlated with symptoms and physical findings to be meaningful. In the absence of other findings, a one time or intermittent low reading may not mean that something is wrong or in need of treatment.

This one can be like the ANA in that it can point the doctor in a direction but is not necessarily diagnostic.

Hope that helps some!
Angela style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/flowers.gif

[AnnieMarie]

Thank you for trying to help Angela. What you say makes sense in, that is why I was probably refeered back to the GI. my IGg'g's have been flagged in the past too But as lullrich points out, why do they not discuss it with you in the office?

I like my rhuemy except for one thing. He only works with me on the rhumy stuff. All other matters are refeered out and discussed very little in his office. I feel we should talk about everything as everything might be connected in some way.

I have never done an echo before. I was wondering how long it takes? I think he ordered it to be on the safe side because of my purple feet.

Thanks once again for all who respond. I appreciate your input.

Annie

[lullrich76]

Annie,

I had an echo done last year and I think it was about 20-30 minutes long. There was one point where they pressed the gadget down where your ribcage meets in the middle. The technician said that was the hardest view to get and it was a bit uncomfortable for a few minutes. Good Luck!

[alobreto]

Good luck with the echo. I had one about 5 years ago and it was done in conjunction with some other tests so I don't recall how long exactly the echo took. In total, I was in the testing area about an hour, so it's likely that 20 to 30 minutes for the echo is a good estimate.

I really just wanted to say I wish you well as you try to get some answers. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hugbetter.gif
Angela style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/flowers.gif