Originally Posted by Idiopathic PN

You dont realize how grateful I am to all your replies.

Yesterday, I had my visit with the rheumatologist. It was a very frustrating visit that I cried after the doctor left the room. (I hate it when I lost grip of myself.) My emotions have been building up for several months now for getting no definite answers from my doctors.

My pulmo is basically passing me on to the rheumatologist for finding nothing from the inflammation and scarring in my (right) lung. He said that the specimen has been tested for all kinds of stuff that is possible to cause an infection in the lungs but I am negative except for a little Klebsiella. He assured me that this kind of bacteria is not causing my lung any harm but just to make sure I am on Augmentin for 10 days. He said that he has a suspicion that it could be an autoimmune related. When I called in later to ask if there can be any alternative other than Symbicort, his PA said the other 2 available medicines are teh same as Symbicort. If Symbicort does not work, the other 2 will not possibly work as well.

When I mentioned this to the rheumatologist, she said: "Your pulmo keeps on saying it could be autoimmune, but I dont see anything on your results that says you have autoimmune. Dont label yourself with Sjorgren''s unless it shows".

I am fully aware about the difficulty of diagnosing autoimmune diseases, but my frustration is more like a feeling of 'I am boxed against the wall'. The doctors could not see anything. It would have been easier if the bloodworks show something. The on-going pain of neuropathy, the shortness of breath and stomach problems, well, fill my day.