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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staff
Whom to see
Make an appointment with your family doctor or a general practitioner if you have signs or symptoms that worry you. If your doctor suspects that you have vasculitis, you may be referred to a specialist. What specialist you'll see depends on what type of vasculitis you have.
Specialists who treat vasculitis include:
- Brain and nervous system doctors (neurologists)
- Ear, nose and throat doctors (otolaryngologists)
- Eye doctors (ophthalmologists)
- Heart doctors (cardiologists)
- Infectious diseases doctors
- Joint and muscle doctors (rheumatologists)
- Kidney doctors (nephrologists)
- Lung doctors (pulmonologists)
- Skin doctors (dermatologists)
How to prepare
Because appointments can be brief, and because there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared for your appointment. Try to:
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. At the time you make the appointment, be sure to ask if there's anything you need to do in advance, such as restrict your diet.
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Make a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements, that you're taking.
- Take a family member or friend along, if possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to absorb all the information provided during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
Questions to ask
Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For vasculitis, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What type of vasculitis do I have?
- What's causing my vasculitis?
- Will I need more tests?
- Is my vasculitis acute or chronic?
- Will my vasculitis go away on its own?
- Is my vasculitis serious?
- Has any part of my body been seriously damaged by vasculitis?
- Can my vasculitis be cured?
- What are my treatment options?
- What are the benefits and risks of each treatment?
- Is there one treatment you feel is best for me?
- How long will treatment last?
- Should I see a specialist? What will that cost, and will my insurance cover it?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take with me? What Web sites do you recommend?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
- What is vasculitis? National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/vas/vas_all.html. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
- Khasnis A, et al. Update on vasculitis. Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. 2009;123:1226.
- Stone JH. The classification and epidemiology of systemic vasculitis. In: Firestein GS, et al. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/156758625-2/0/1807/0.html. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
- Vasculitis. American College of Rheumatology. http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/diseases_and_conditions/vasculitis.asp. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
- Questions to ask your doctor. Vasculitis Foundation. http://www.vasculitisfoundation.org/vasculitisquestionstoaskyourdoctor. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
- Chang-Miller A (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Sept. 2, 2009.
- Lee RW, et al. Novel therapies for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. Drugs. 2008;68:747.
- Search of mycophenolate and vasculitis. ClinicalTrials.gov. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=mycophenolate+and+vasculitis. Accessed Sept. 4, 2009.
