Okay so the neuro wanted me tested for RA. Went to the lab, they pulled the blood... Labs are no where to be found... Went to PCP, had them pull the blood, got most of the results, but instead of an RA factor test, I got a Uric acid test... Good news I don't have gout . I do have a minor vit D deficiency, not uncommon with MS so I was expecting that. But I also do certainly have active inflammation. (Again, kind of a 'well duh') but the white blood count and increased neutrophils (almost double what they should be on the neutrophils) is consistent with RA, but also muscle spasisty (I take three different muscle relaxants throughout the day...again "well duh")

Has anyone else had issues with getting the wrong tests pulled, missing labs and just think it's silly sometimes with the labs they do pull on occasion? I mean joints are swollen, they know I have tendonosis, MS and a host of other issues that will show up on a CBC differential. So why bother with it? Especially when the doctor is going to hold my hand and explain gently what the tests mean is I'm still exactly where I was last time I saw them, but thanks to not getting the right tests drawn, they don't really have an answer for me.

Grrr....I might not be as disgruntled right now, but every time I see the PCP or the neuro they ask for a CBC with differential and every time it shows the same dang thing....everything is fine great and dandy except for the neutrophils which are elevated quite a bit. It gets tested about six times a year, and every two months shows the same thing (seven or eight times a year if I go to the ER for anything). And the same thing it shows is the same thing one would certainly expect it to show given MS, muscle spasms, possible seizure disorder and potential RA.

Gah! Impatient for answers, I'd love to know if I am seizing in my sleep, if I actually have RA on top of everything else, and honestly if at some point they can try to fix some of my issues. Like surgery for the back that spontaneously combusted over ten years ago, or maybe for the ankles, the knees, the neck, the shoulder, the hand.... Or if nothing else give me an answer so I know when I can push myself and to what point and when I just need to stop for a bit and rest.

I'm just so tired of doing the same thing everyday and going backwards rather than forward in terms of health. Sure MS is degenerative and backwards progression is expected, but honestly the muscle relaxants I'm currently taking are beginning to slide off from working and any stronger of relaxants could stop my heart. So do I try to force the muscles to a state of atrophy to weaken the spasms or should I look into Botox, surgery....lobotomy?

The current response from healthcare providers is....patience... My patience is snapping and fraying as quickly as the tendons in my ankles as they continue to waste my time with their silly CBC differential each visit...

Hello starznight, I am relatively new to the board and do not know your background, but I remembered your name from a post you made on another thread about correlation vs. causation.

I don’t know to what extent you have added supplements to your regimen, but if you are having troubles with your muscle relaxants, have you tried taking magnesium? I take magnesium citrate daily and it has definitely relaxed some of my muscles to the point where I am able to walk a little better after taking it.

You also said you are mildly deficient in vitamin D. So was I, and I am now taking a large dose of D3 daily to get my levels up to the acceptable range. Vitamin D is supposed to help with muscle strength but I have not been taking it long enough to notice any major difference yet.

I was also very low in B12 and am supplementing with 5000 mcg of methylcobalamin each day. In my case it has already greatly reduced the spasticity in my legs.

I'll keep the magnesium in mind, will probably ask the doc to check the levels first though, I have a hard enough time with high iron without adding another metal to the mix.

And my PCP called me back yesterday, wants to see me ASAP, which won't be until Friday, so no doubt she's having kittens over my sedimentation rate (38! Should be less than 20). But without the all important RF test that I was supposed to have drawn, it means nada. That is they can't say the reason for it, it only signifies that there is significant inflammation in my body. But hopefully now they'll draw the right labs, not lose them, and maybe by next week I might know if I have to see a rhuemy or switch DMDs. Either way I'm at least two weeks out from getting an answer I should have had two months ago

It's so hard when you know you have other things going on than just MS and getting a diagnosis takes time. I am in the same boat right now. I've had tons of tests and no answers yet as to why my blood work is "interesting" and why my joints and tendons swell up so much that what ever joint is swollen is useless.

Have you had an ANA done or any testing for Lupus and other autoimmune diseases other than RA? Those might be helpful to have done. If I remember correctly, don't you also have hemochromatosis? I think that can cause joint issues as well. I got tested for it but the test came back normal.

I hope they find out what else is going on with you soon so that you can be treated. Some DMDs can be used for MS and other autoimmune diseases. My neuro and I had a talk about it and he said some of the RA meds help people with MS too. My goal is to find out what is going on and use one of the crossover meds. If that happens, I'll let you know what they determined is going on and what DMD they decide to put me on to calm this whacked out body down.

Good luck on Friday and let us know how it goes.

Awesome memory, yeah hemochromatosis anemia is on top of the MS as well. Too much iron in the blood while the body doesn't store any (well hardly any) but the doctor did order an ANA as well. But hooray! This morning they found my rf factor test and the ana tests came back too

Okay I say hooray!!! Just because they got the tests, not for what the results are unfortunately. Negative on Rf factor! Yippee, positive ANA, boo... Negative anti DNA! Yippee! So it's probably not RA, pretty completely ruled out lupus... So if I had a crystal ball it'd probably tell me my PCP will send me to a rhuemy where the rhuemy will set down the dx of scleroderma (possibly systematic) which of all the possibilities of dx from a positive ANA without anti-DNA it fits where the others don't.

Aggravating pain in the .... Anyways, it also falls in line with an old potential dx when I didn't have health insurance. My doctor at the time had thought of it, but without insurance the cost to get the dx that I wouldn't be able to afford treatment on anyways, he decided what you couldn't afford to treat anyways might was well kill you slowly rather than living out of cardboard box eating leftover ramen noodles.

At any rate, Friday its back to the doctor to once more play pin the tail on the a...donkey. Hopefully when I turn 40 the body doesn't decide I need yet another disease/disorder. At this rate I've got at least one for each decade of my life.