Too Manu painkillers

[poppykhanom]

Hi all i just have a question about painkillers, i seem to be taking them more or less everyday. This does worry me. I have been taking metroxate And zamene (steroid) for a year Now. I am seeing my specialist no the 17th of july for test results and i am going to speak to her about changing meds. I take enantyum or paracetamol 1g for pain im trying not to but its hard when in pain... My results have been ok so far but im worried about the long térm effect of painkilliers. Poppy

[Hidden]

Hi Poppy, what a beautiful name.

I hav been shocked by the amount of pain meds I now consume ever since I first became aware of the fact I possibly had RA... Now a year on I have simply had to accept that to function and survive I have to take them. 1 gram of paracetamol is not really so bad, on a bad day I can easily take 4g and 3 g of Ibuprofen ...so , my advice would be, if you feel the quantities you are taking are not really achieving what yo need go to your GP and discuss. Another a lot native may also be your local pharmacist- mine is amazing and she gives me so much opinformation regarding my meds.

I hope things do improve for you

Katie

[helixhelix]

Sometimes there's no option but to take lots of painkillers, but if you're on MTX and steroids then I think you should be asking your consultant about whether this is working enough for you. I'd be more worried about long term steroid use myself, as if you still need it then the MTX alone may not be doing it' s job? When you say results have been ok, do you mean blood results? As also if your levels of inflammation etc have dropped then you should be feeling a reduction in joint pain, and perhaps also need to ask whether there's some other reason for pain levels? But as KatieC says, GPs can also be v good re pain. Polly

[Hidden]

I still take co codamol 3-4 times a day & Tramadol as well as MTX & other drugs

[Hidden]

Poppy I don't take a thing at all apart from MTX by injection, Ranitidine for my tummy, four folic tabs and my levothyroxine. I take one amitriptyline at night to help me sleep. I rarely take pain meds, sometimes take naproxen but only if I have to because I'm flaring. My RA is fairly active just now but I reserve pain meds for when I really can't cope and that's not just now. My tummy doesn't do well on them either. I certainly avoid steroids because they make me go bipolar so only if necessary and that's only been twice pre diagnosis. I think you need to talk to your rheumy about introducing more effective DMARDs or anti-tnfs into your drug regime urgently. I wouldn't trust my blood results if I was on steroids because you can't tell if MTX is actually doing its job or not? Tilda x

[poppykhanom]

Thanks everyone for your responses.i Will speak to her about my meds its always difficult when in another country.they love to dish out drugs here in spain.

Its always helpful to Get some advice thanks Again. I'm not sure about my disease factor i dont completely understand it but Will Again speak to my specialist.