[superloopie]

Hi everyone. I was just curious how often you all have blood work. My rheumy has never ordered blood work. He has only looked at what my pc had requested back in June. No other work has been ordered and I don't seem him again until mid December. he didn't mention though if he would be doing blood work then, he only said if the flares are unbearable, he will put me on methotrexate. All my blood work came back good at that time except the high FA factor, the positive sm, rnp, and centromere antibodies. he also never ordered any other kinds of tests that I see many of you have had done, such as heart, lungs, etc. he says it was because my blood work was good. Anyway, just curious as to what you all have to say. Thanks so much!:wink2:

 

[cath]

Hi!

I think that probably varies quite a bit between us - partly because some people are dealing with a complication or bad flare at the time, or because others are generally stable, or because they only see the rheumy rarely.

I usually have bloods done every visit, and the visits are usually every 3 months. Once I went 6 months, and there have been times where I've been more frequently.

The absolute minimum of WHAT should be tested is blood pressure and urinalysis, a full blood count, renal function (U&E's) and liver function (LFT's). Many rheumy's will do the full lupus panel of antibodies, and this is certainly essential for a first work up or if there are doubts about the diagnosis.
In the long term, especially if things are stable there isn't really anything to be gained by repeating the ANA or ENA. Changes don't reflect disease progress. The DNA can however reflect disease activity so for people who have it, it is worth serial testing.

My rheumy did a full set of organ function scans early on to get a baseline, but I believe this is not usual practice. Mostly tests like ultrasounds or lung function or MRI's would only be ordered if there is a suspicion that there is something wrong.

All the best,

X C X

 

[x_claire_x]

Hiya.. I have full blood work up every three months, but am in the first year of diagnosis, so think they are being careful. I had all the scans when I flared and ended up hospitalised, pretty poorly. I do my own urinalysis every month now and when I go to to see my Rheumy, though he didn't check last time as he knows I do it and would report any abnormalities. He will move my appointments to 6 mths I hope soon if he is happy that my hands/fingers are not suffering from too severe raynauds.... always something!!!
Claire XX