Ok, so what was that about?

That last post came out of nowhere, right?  Well, so do autoimmune symptoms, sometimes.  It's really hard to draw the line between the 78th day of a bizarre symptom (just some abnormality that is ok to remain unexplained and probably goes away on its own) and the 79th day (when you decide it's an autoimmune thing and start to panic).  The big difference is that when you're in "ok, it's autoimmune and time to get help" mode is the DOCTOR PARADE.

I have come to hate the Doctor Parade more than the symptoms themselves.  For example, if I point out that my alopecia has become the most severe that it's ever been, and that it happened fairly quickly, I will get referred to a dermatologist, who will tell me that I have alopecia.  Great, thank you.  Repeat this sequence with the rest of the symptoms, and we're finally ready to address this as an autoimmune issue.  Like, 2 months and $1,000 later.  

And what makes me feel powerless in this situation is that I DON'T KNOW if this is the normal or correct response when I show up in the rheumatologist's office with a few new symptom flare-ups.  Do I seek a second opinion at the risk of delaying treatment even longer and complicating things even more?  Can I even handle one more specialist appointment without completely losing my mind?

  

Thought much appreciated, folks.  Thank you for reading...