first dr. app.

[Anonymous]

Hi, my name is Chandra and I have psoriatic arthritis. I have been reading The New Arthritis Breakthrough and am seeing an AP doctor in three weeks. I was wondering if anyone had any questions that I should ask the doctor at that appointment or any other information that might be useful to a person considering this treatment. Also, is there anyone out there that has used this treatment for psoriatic arthritis that I could ask some questions to?

Thanks!
Chandra

[Todd WI]

Hi Chandra,
 
You can talk to me if you?d like. I have psoriatic arthritis and have been on AP for 5 months.  It hasn?t been very long, but it has done wonders for me (for more details see the thread ?time for an update? on about page 3).  I certainly don?t know everything, but I?m here and certainly willing to try to answer any questions.

 
As for additional information (at the risk of stating the obvious) I found the information on the RBF main site (i.e not the bulletin board) very helpful (https://www.roadback.org/).   I read it all, started with the newcomers section under education and branched out from there. 
 
As for questions for your doctor, I really can?t think of any.  I know I had a bunch of questions, but most of them came up as part of the discussion with the doctor.  The first meeting for me seemed to be more about the doctor learning about me, vice me learning about AP. 
 
Todd

[Cheryl F]

Chandra:

It is very good that you are trying to be very proactive about your upcoming appointment and beginning AP therapy.  I have a couple bits of “if I knew then what I know now” that you might want to consider.

As far as questions go, what I would want to know from the doctor is what type of antibiotic protocol is offered.  Is this a rheumatologist that will only do the minocycline at the same dose as the MIRA trials?  Do they use any combination of antibiotics?  Will they consider the IV Clindy?  What about treating for potential yeast issues?  Probiotics?  Anti-Fungals? 

As you study the information in the New Arthritis Breakthrough, you will gain enough information (over time, not all at once) to make good decisions for yourself.  The main thing you need to know about this doctor is how much s/he will be willing to adjust your treatment or if s/he takes a more “one size fits all” approach.  Don't get me wrong, the one size fits all approach has helped many people recover.  You should just try to get enough information to determine what this doctor has for a mid-range and long-term plan.  Of course s/he will not be able to tell you time frames or give any guaranties on your future wellness, but I think it would be good to get the overall plan as you are starting.

Also, regarding information from others who have your same diagnosis, I recommend that you do a search on this bulletin board and the archives of the old RBF bulletin board.  This way you can read 5+ years worth of posts by others who have your same diagnosis.  Let me know if you need help using the archives of the old RBF BBoard.

Good luck with your appointment.

Cheryl Ferguson

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