I don't know what to do know more

Julie2711

I have recently been diagnosed with RA after 2.5 years of getting to believe me. Everything has been going perfectly until now. I have been talking my tablets, but when I went to repeat my prescription my Dr refused to give me any painkillers and said he didn't know what my medication was for. But he does has he was asked by the hospital to prescribe it. So now I haven't had pain relief and tonight I can really feel it. I am so fed up and getting so down I just don't know anymore what to do. I feel that the last 3 months of taking the medication has been pointless and I am back to square one again. I could ring rheumatology but it is an answering machine and they get back with you in 5 working days, but I work full-time and can't take my phone onto shopfloor with me so ringing them is pointless. I tonight feel so down, tired and fed up beyond belief

PeterJ

Hello @Julie2711 and welcome to the forum. We are a friendly and supportive group and I do hope that that will be your experience as well.

I understand that you have had RA for over 2.5 yeas and that you have now run out of painkillers and cannot get any more. I also understand your frustration in trying to get in touch with rheumatology, it never seems easy to contact the medical services, but you need to persevere. Is there another GP you can see? Most hospitals have a pain clinic which would help but you need to get yourself referred.

In the meantime have a look at our website which contains a lot of useful information and I've put a couple of links below which may help you.

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

https://escape-pain.org/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/april/coronavirus-and-managing-pain-at-home-your-questions-answered/

Please do keep posting and let us know how you get on, and I am sure that others will connect with you and share their experiences, and keep pushing your GP for help as well.

With very best wishes

Peter

Lilymary

thats awful, ask to speak to a different GP in the practice. The request from the hospital should be in your notes. You could also email or write to the rheumatologist asking them to sort this out.

stickywicket

Julie, I presume you're on DMARDS (Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs) as well as pain relief. These are the meds designed to keep your RA in check and, if they're not working well, your rheumatology team need to know. Depending on how long you've been on DMARDS, the GP might not be able to prescribe them. Consultants usually lke to leave these in the hands of the hospital for a while to ensure, from the blood test results, that all is going well. Your GP can certainly prescribe pain relief but might be unwilling to regularly prescribe strong ones unless given guidance by the consultant.

How are your blood tests going? What do they show as regards inflammatory levels?

I suggest you ring you rheumatology helpline but explain what you've told us as regards your lack of access to a phone while at work. They could leave a message on your answerphone. In the meantime you could buy over-the-counter pain relief from your local pharmacist but you must explain what other medication you're taking otherwise there could be interactions.

Good luck with it all.

helpline_team

Hi @Julie2711

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having a difficult time.

You may find that rheumatology can give you an email address to contact the rheumatology nurses, and that might make it easier to get to the bottom of things.

In the meantime, why not give us a ring here at the Helpline? 0800 5200 520 (Mon-Fri 9am - 6pm) We may be able to understand the situation and help you to phrase your questions in order to get some help.

If you do ring us, let us know what you've been prescribed for your arthritis, as that will help.

You can also just ring us for a chat, if you need some support.

very best wishes

Guy