Great, but gps also need to be more alert. It took over five years for my ra to be diagnosed and I will crippled with pain, housebound and hysterical before blood tests were requested by a locus dr. Despite having been to gp with extreme fatigue crippling foot pain for years.
A blood test showed that I had RA in my blood on February 10th......the Dr has referred me to see a Rheumatologist. I received a telephone call today from the hospital saying I have an appointment to see the Rheumatologist on 9th of May. That's around 6 weeks away. And I firstly telephoned the Dr due to symptoms in mid December. I was told during this appointment my symptoms were probably due to over doing it and the cold weather. I'm a bit concerned that so much time will have passed before I get any treatment.
Your doc can get you on steroids to stop the pain and progression until you see a specialist if your bloods confirm the disease, he can also ztart you on methotrexate which is the gold standard treatment and takes months to get up to speed
