help.!

i need help with my pain ive maxed out on meds but i need more any ideas please.?

Comments

  • Mike1
    Mike1 Member Posts: 1,992

    Ask your GP for a referral to your local Pain Clinic, they are more experienced and will be able to try out different meds and treatments.

  • dean68
    dean68 Member Posts: 27

    thanks Mike i will try but getting an appointment with my GP is near on impossible i need some sort of assistance i can’t cope with this pain but thanks.

  • Mike1
    Mike1 Member Posts: 1,992

    If you go onto your surgery's website you should find an on-line form that can be sent to the surgery instead of a face to face appointment; they read them and then contact you within a couple of days. Failing that email the surgery asking for a referral. Living with pain is not easy but there is nothing that I have found which gets rid of it, merely knocks the edge off, I have been on Morphine for years and even that is not that effective.

  • dean68
    dean68 Member Posts: 27

    i will thank you and i’m sorry for your pain ive only been diagnosed 2 yrs biggest painkiller is methotrexate..tramadol it numbs me but this time my swelling and seems like bones have moved in my elbow and the swelling is like i’ve never seen before is actually grinding me down 3 day’s so far and no sleep hardly i’m at the end of my tether .!

  • nicholaj
    nicholaj Member Posts: 64

    Assume you have RA…as I’ve got OA, I don’t have pain in the way that you do. However, I do know that pain is very wearing and I sympathise.

    Regarding getting GP to listen….I write a letter and take it to the surgery. That makes sure it reached a doctor rather than trying to get through reception. Make sure you say that you are at the end if your tether.

    I am getting a call tomorrow following leaving a letter asking for a referral to a pain clinic.

  • dean68
    dean68 Member Posts: 27

    yes seropositve rheumatoid arthritis pain is constant swelling is painful thank you for sending this to me Nichola i will try their website is that what’s to be asked for just referral to pain clinic..and i do hope that you get what your after and it helps you i need to try something anything to get on top of this thanks .

  • dean68
    dean68 Member Posts: 27

    mike how do you find morphine do you suffer side effects and or does the pain go when you take it .? thank you.

  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697

    Dean, as Mike has explained, the trouble with all painkillers is that we develop tolerance so we need more and more for them to be effective. If your RA is so bad I think you need to ring your rheumatology helpline. It might be that your methotrexate is no longer cutting the mustard. How are your recent blood tests? You might need more methotrexate, a change of DMARD or another one adding. Only rheumatology can do this.

    In the meantime, for me, with all too many years of RA behind me, I'd say gentle exercises and distraction are your best friends. Try to fid things that absorb you so that you're not constantly aware of the pain. It has been proven to work.

    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Mike1
    Mike1 Member Posts: 1,992

    If I have too much I giggle, other than that no side effects unlike other painkillers I have tried and NO it does not get rid of the pain, it merely knocks the edge off but is better than nothing.

  • Hi@dean68

    Thanks for your post to the Helpline. I'm sorry you are in so much pain with your Rheumatoid arthritis. If your arthritis is active and not properly controlled (or that's a possibility) then it's something which may need to be looked into at rheumatology.

    Sometimes your immune system may flare up, and you may need some medical help. You sound really fed up with feeling like this. The medical options seem like hard work - difficulties with getting through to someone.

    I wonder if you'd like a bit of a chat about the whole situation? You'd be most welcome to ring us at the Helpline and we can give you time to really get to the bottom of things.

    I do hope we can have a chat and try to offer you some ideas.

    Managing your pain | Treatments and self-help (versusarthritis.org)

    All the best

    Guy - Helpline Team