Hi! I have a follow up with rheumatology next month to discuss my test results after my first visit last month and I have a lot of doctor anxiety, so I want to make sure my thoughts are clear and I know how to advocate for myself without sounding needy.

For reference: I don't know what's going on but I suspect it is some form of spondyloarthritis. I was referred to rheumatology because I had reoccurring Episcleritis, random joint pain mostly in back and hips and shoulders, and when my PCP did blood work, I came back with a positive ANA and elevated CRP and ESR. This was back in January. I had also had one episode of what I'm pretty sure was pleurisy with a fever, and then other less-painful situations of rib and chest pain, but I didn't mention any of this to my PCP because I didn't think about it.

My rheumatologist appointment was last month, and they did xrays and blood work. My xrays were normal except some osteoarthritis in my SI joints (which I'm told was normal)(even though my hips were on FIRE that day; I was surprised it was all normal). All my blood work was normal, and my ESR and CRP had come down to normal. The only thing of note was that my HLA-B27 was positive. My rheumatologist said this could be significant because of my eye, but I don't know what that means. We will discuss it at my follow up.

So because the majority of my pain is in my back and hips, and also shoulders, knees, and my heels, and because it's significantly worse when I spend a lot of time sitting or laying down, and the fact that I've read the HLA-B27 gene is linked with spondyloarthritis, I suspect that's what's going on, and the episcleritis is related. But since my xrays didn't show anything significant, I'm nervous about the joint pain being ruled out. I've read that early stages don't show damage on xrays, and I'd assume my doctor would consider that, but I'm not sure. And I don't want to come out and say, "hey, could it be this?" because they'll think I'm trying to diagnose myself.

So my question is: what specific questions do you all think I should ask? Is the fact that my CRP and ESR went back to normal a sign that this is not autoimmune related? How likely is it that all of this is just a coincidence? If my doctor doesn't think they're related, what do you think I should do then? Am I blowing this all out of proportion lol?

I should also probably specify I'm F/mid-30s for reference.

Thank you I'm advance for any advice!