I have been really dissatisfied with my rheumatologist. And I ve been only seeing my primary care physician for it. I recently got spinal x rays done and the primary care physician said she didn t see anything abnormal about it. I m concerned about my spine though. And I ve been diagnosed with o.c.d. In my knee. Have had 5 knee surgeries. And then got diagnosed with r.a. I was put on hydroxychloriquine and Prednisone and they have not helped. No other doctors are helping me. I am exhausted and tired of searching for answers. I just want to be out of pain. I m only 21, I thought I was going to live a normal life and live out my dream as a wild life conservationist. Now that dream seems unreachable. I just want any answers any information. I m tired of waiting. I ve spent half my life in and out of surgeries and I m about ready to throw my hands up and give in. Please help
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. Ok, there are two broad categories of drugs for RA--those that modify the disease and those that are for pain. Anti-inflammatories are the best drug for pain and have non-zero effect on the underlying disorder. In addition there are a lot of basically chemotherapy drugs that should be used to halt the disease. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.