advise please

kare47

hi guys off work now 6 weeks was taken into hospital as could not walk at all was unable to weight bare on left hip, had scans / x-rays ect bloods spent 5 days in hospital before they let me home on crutches so far i;ve had about 3months off so far this year.i work for family run company and they are great but only on basic sick pay i just dont no which way to turn for advise and to make matters worse
i have really bad pain in toes and it stops me walking they are so painfull regards kare

stickywicket

I think the first thing you need to do is get a clear picture of what's wrong. Is it OA or RA? If RA, what medication are you on? What was the diagnosis of your hip problem when you were in hospital? What did the scans, x-rays and blood tests show? I think you need to know exactly what's wrong before you can decide where to go from here.

kare47

stickywicket wrote:

I think the first thing you need to do is get a clear picture of what's wrong. Is it OA or RA? If RA, what medication are you on? What was the diagnosis of your hip problem when you were in hospital? What did the scans, x-rays and blood tests show? I think you need to know exactly what's wrong before you can decide where to go from here.

hi so about 6 weeks ago was in hospital and been diagnosed with ra
x-rays /mri/blood tests /ultra sound
prednisolone 4x5mg 1st week 3x5mg second week 2x5mg then 1x5mg fourth week
methotrexate 6x 2.5mg and folic acid 2x5mg
naproxen/morphin

stickywicket

Thank you. That does make things clearer. I remembered you saying previously that you had been diagnosed with RA. I thought the hospital stay was something more recent and sounded more like OA rather than someone in the early stages of RA. I think it's fairly unusual for RA to start in a hip. Well! You have been through the mill, haven't you?

I think maybe you're wondering how you'll cope with work or cope financially without work. I can't help with the latter as it's so long since I was capable of paid work. Citizens Advice might be a good place to start. However, you've not been on the methotrexate for long and it will probably continue to improve your situation for a few weeks yet before levelling in out. But the help from the methotrexate might be masked by the effects of decreasing the prednisolone. Unfortunately, sometimes all we can do is wait and hope. As for feet – wear strong, supportive shoes (Trainers are good) and get some comfy insoles. You might be referred to an orthotist for orthotic insoles once everything has calmed down a little.

When do you next see your rheumatologist? It might be that he / she will increase your methotrexate dose or add another med into the mix but it really is early days yet and things could improve a lot.

kare47

no don't think it did start in hip I,ve suffered from joint pain for years hands /knees /neck /shoulders and hip but ever time time it was quite bad only saw gp and they say its bit of arthritis the last time I went to gp was about 1 week before I went into hospital then she sent me for blood test for gout ,then they phoned me while in hospital and said I had raised rheumatoid factor I think it was
next appointment with rheumatology is this Thursday

stickywicket

I see. I suggest you make a note of any questions you want to ask and, if possible, take someone with you to help remember the answers. I hope it goes well.

kare47

so quick update went to rheumatologist today , had blood test last Thursday only been on mtx for 4 days and they said liver reading was higher than it should be ,said go round for another blood test and stop taking mtx they will phone me before Monday

Airwave!

Hhmmm, you need some help!

1. Go to a Union rep or Citizens Advice, someone that knows employment law.
2. The rheummy may be able to offer advice for the long term and work, and what they expect to happen.

Then you can start to make choices and organise your life.

grid

Hi Kare

Sorry to hear of your illness (RA).

i have been diagnosed with reactive arthritis which is similar to RA but usually go away after a while, there isnt much to distinct one from the other, i am still not convinced what i have at the moment. i have had it almost a year now.

reading that you had pain for several years with pain in fingers and other places, that what i currently have now, i have it in the fingers and hip. how quickly did you go from being able to work to being so bad you can work? was the pain that bad previously? my pain is not that bad, fingers stiff in morning and painful for 5 mins but ok until around 9 ish in evening and starts to get painful again.

i am on steroids at thr moment so masking the true pain but i think i got another month before the steroid wears off so i will know soon enough.

hope mtx works ASAP for you and gets you back on your feet again.

Dave

stickywicket

That's the importance of our regular blood checks. They highlight potential problems before they can do any damage.

Sometimes people can just take a week or two off and then resume the same med but sometimes it has to be changed for a different one.

Please keep us in the loop.

grid - I'm not sure it's helpful, whatever form of arthritis we have, to compare timelines. Some people just seem to get more aggressive versions than others. Patience is a virtue - or so they keep telling me

kare47

grid wrote:

Hi Kare

Sorry to hear of your illness (RA).

i have been diagnosed with reactive arthritis which is similar to RA but usually go away after a while, there isnt much to distinct one from the other, i am still not convinced what i have at the moment. i have had it almost a year now.

reading that you had pain for several years with pain in fingers and other places, that what i currently have now, i have it in the fingers and hip. how quickly did you go from being able to work to being so bad you can work? was the pain that bad previously? my pain is not that bad, fingers stiff in morning and painful for 5 mins but ok until around 9 ish in evening and starts to get painful again.

i am on steroids at thr moment so masking the true pain but i think i got another month before the steroid wears off so i will know soon enough.

hope mtx works ASAP for you and gets you back on your feet again.

Dave

hi dave mine started to get really bad at xmas i woke up in the night to go to toilet but could;nt move my leg for the pain, then it done it again was in bad position on the bed but could;nt move for pain had to wee in bottle and wait 3 hours for ambulance and 2 hours for them to get me out gas/air/morphine still could;nt move i never had so much time off work in my life. but i;ve suffered lower back pain for years so in January 2018 went to physio but the more he touched my back the less i could walk he thought it was reffered pain to hip but think it was other way round so reffered me back to gp then a Cpl of days later could;nt walk at all walking ok at mo but fingers are still sore
hope to back to work in weeks time fingers crossed

kare47

another thing the pain always starts at night never through the day
strange

dreamdaisy

My pain levels appear to increase at night but I don't think they do: what is missing is the distraction of daylight, the general noise of the day, having things to do such as chores and the general daily timetable: these things distract my mind from the pain. Come night time the world is much quieter, there are no chores, no distractions so my focus can drift towards paying it more attention. Over the years I have learned how to stop this happening. I also take some pain relief an hour before I settle down for the night, this helps me to go to sleep. DD