Just been diagnosed but blood says otherwise

[Vixaria]

Okay so.... I have had pains in my joints in the past and my doctor gave me blood tests which came back clear so he just sent me away with naproxen.
Over the past several months, the pain has been getting worse (mainly in my fingers, hands and wrists)
I found info on fibromyalgia on the Internet and suggested it to my doctor. He agreed it was likely and referred me to a rheumatologist.
I went last week and after a quick exam, he said I have fibromyalgia.
BUT.... Because my most recent bloods were taken when I had Pneumonia, the results were inconclusive so he wanted new samples taken just to rule out anything else.
He said he was expecting them to come back clear and discharged me there and then saying when he got my results he would write to my doctor with a diagnosis of fibro and I could get prescribed some medication.
Turns out, my blood results came back showing inflammation.
The rheumatologist now wants to see me again next week.
What could this mean?
I am sure I have fibro, I have every symptom... pain in joints and muscles, painful pressure points, memory problems... etc.
Please help

 

[Loftpat]

Hi Vixaria,
Fibro is not diagnosed thru a blood test. Typically a doc will run a bunch of blood work to rule out other diseases or syndromes to make sure there's nothing else on your plate. Some of these tests can come back with inconclusive results and may require additional testing. Your doc sounds like he is being thorough and wants to follow up on the inflammation, which can be caused by many different things. Yay for that. He may want to run some more tests.
Take care and try not to stress. Hugs
Pat

 

[Pollen]

Your doctor is concerned that the inflammation may be causing your pain in which case it might point to another reason for the pain like rheumatoid arthritis. Typically with Fibromyalgia there isn't a large increase in inflammation because it is your brain that is reading signals as pain vs you actually having a physical ailment causing the pain. That said you could have both too and Fibromyalgia would increase the pain caused by something else. Lots of things can cause inflammation so unless it's abnormally high indicating some sort of severe inflammation you could have just got a paper cut, a cold, certainly the pneumonia could all cause you inflammation counts to rise. Also everyone's inflammation numbers very so motoring is the only way to know for sure if it is an on going problem. Fibro is a rule everything out but still have a list of symptoms that fall into Fibro category kind of diagnosis. That is why it takes so long to be diagnosed and you often have to see multiple specialists to get a proper diagnosis. It is also possible to have Fibromyalgia not know but then be diagnosed after an injury because the combination of injury and Fibro makes the pain enough for you to seek medical attention. In the mean time I'd ask for a referral to a physiatrist , aka chronic pain doctor as it can take time and the sooner you start getting some relief the better. It is good to find a doctor who has experience in treating chronic pain and fibromyalgia. Unfortunately there is no cure all the pain doctor will suggest you make lifestyle changes as well as recommend treatments and medications. Some pain specialists will monitor you closely and prescribe your meds and some you will have to get the meds through your family doctor under the pain doctor's recommendation.