Glad to have found this website and forum

webman

Hello Everyone,

I am 76 and have been living with intermittent claudication for about 4 years. Over the past couple of weeks my right foot has been painful at times but is now very painful all of the time. I have spoke to a locum doctor a number of times and he now agrees that it is probably RA (which I told him I thought it was, a week ago). Unfortunately for me, the NHS in my area is not doing blood tests, r x-rays or other scans. I have spoken to your help line and they gave me some helpful advice. Paracetamol is no longer effective in reducing the pain so the doctor has now prescribed cocodamol, which should be delivered to me later today.

 

I am taking cider vinegar and tumeric but would welcome any suggestions from other members on how best to lead a normal life until I can get a positive diagnosis and appropriate treatement.

YvonneH

Hi @webman

How lovely to meet you, welcome to the online community. That's interesting as intermittant claudication is usually a uscular type pain but caused by circulation problem. What a pity it couldn't have been sorted out before all the COVID lockdown started. I'm glad you got helpful advice from the Helpline team, they are reallly brilliant, and I'm glad you have extra pain relief.

Here is our information on Rheumatoid Arthritis

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/

which is quite comprehensive and should give a couple of hints and tips that will help you.

Many people take suppliments which are very helpful,

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/march/complementary-treatments-and-arthritis-from-turmeric-to-cannabis-oil/

others find they don't lead to any improvement which isn't as useful as it could be. Basically if you are keen to test out a complementary treatment check it out with your chemist or doctor and then have a try. Personally I've not found any foods which trigger my arthritis but I do have a Tens machine which I find very useful and acupuncture has helped with pain relief in the past too.

Do visit the rest of the community, and post to offer support and advice, and maybe check out the ChitChat area where we have discussions on many subjects that take our minds off arthritis

Take care

Yvonne x

czkd

Hi webman. Firstly I'm so sorry to hear that your in so much pain at the moment. It's so difficult to suggest things that will work.
I have arthritis in my spine and my mum has arthritis in her knees and hips. She does take CBD oil and she says it helps her a lot.
At the moment paracetamol and ibuprofen seem to work most of the time for me but other than that hot showers, relaxation are the other things I do.
Sorry that's probably not a lot of help. However it's been nice to talk to you and if you ever want a natter it would be nice to hear from you. Hope you get some help soon.