Hi all. I have been seeing a rheumatologist for some time now & she has given me steroids injections including injections straight into my

[dawsden]

hand. Today I go & I get seen by another consultant (but in the same team). He was completely dismissive, refused me injections saying that you should never be given injections into joints without a scan. I asked him why his colleague had be giving me these, he shrugged his shoulders & said she shouldn't have done. I left in tears & in severe pain, yet another blood test and awaiting an appointment for a scan. I suffer with osteoarthritis throughout my body, rsd and have recently had a positive lupus test. I am feeling so deflated and just cannot stop crying!!! This whole situation is exasperated by the fact that the rheumatology dept that I attend is in another health trust & despite my pain consultant contacting them several times they just do not respond......so frustrating! Has anyone been told this re: steroid injections? Does anyone have the same problem re different health trusts?

Kind regards

[misty14]

Hi dawsden

So sorry to hear of your nasty experience with seeing a different Rheumy Consultant. It happened to me a few years ago, I saw a different dr but member of the same team and was so dismissed that I vowed I'd stick to my usual Consultant like glue which I did, even to the point of ringing the Hospital first to make sure she was doing the clinic . I had to change Hospitals when she left on maternity leave. These dismissive dr's don't realise the hurt and damage they do! I don't think all joint injections need a scan first. Is there a way you could move Rheumy clinics to be in the same health trust as your pain clinic or vice versa?. Would make it easier for you who has enough to deal with with all the pain!. Hope you feel better that your not alone ! Hugs X

[dawsden in reply to misty14]

Thank you so much for yr kind words....means so much xx

[Carcrashgal]

I think Misty14's right: see if you can change clinics - and if not, try to make sure your previous consultant's on. You're right about not recognising the harm they do: a pain clinic registrar once told me, 'You are quite bright enough to do the research and probably to convince a surgeon to do any procedure you think might help but you have to accept you suffer from chronic pain so it's not going to go away) - this when I went in with severe pain in my hip and coccyx (my chronic pain is in the neck, due to a series of car crashes, so *nothing* to do with what was going on in the hip or bum). I asked him if I broke my arm would he not bother putting it in plaster? He got all huffy and said that wasn't what he meant, but it was, pretty much. Unluckily for him, I was friends with the actual consultant, who told the registrar he was not suited for a career in pain management. I wonder, had I not said anything, if he would have gone on making lives as miserable as he did me? (I went home and cried for an hour.) The pain in the hip turned out to be as a result of stem cell removal for a neck op and it did eventually wear off; the coccyx turned out to be Weaver's bottom (!) - and curable with steroids, and that was the start of my journey to lupus diagnosis and Plaquenil. Even if it's only partial control, on a good day, it's being able to understand what's going on in my body that's worth a fortune. And all that is a long-winded way of saying it may take trial and error to get to a consultant you trust, but it is well worth the effort, believe me. I wish you all the very best of luck.

[dawsden in reply to Carcrashgal]

Thank you x

[Slowmo]

Hi there, I've been given steroid injections into joints on two separate occasions, by rheumy and GP and never had scans. It's awful when medics dismiss you, this illness is so hard for lay people to understand never mind when professionals treat you in this way.

All the best, I hope you resolve your treatment between trusts soon.

[dawsden in reply to Slowmo]

He was awful. I knew as soon as I walked into his office what kind of response I was going to get! Thank you for yr reply x