When is a flare not a flare

[Cagsie]

Recently I had increased morning stiffness, pain which seemed to be everywhere and complete and utter exhaustion. My GP and Rheumy nurse where of no help, just told to ride it out with my analgesics a combination of Tramadol and Paracetamol. I am loathe to take too many as they make me very sleepy and I don't want to sit in a doped world. i seem to get this about twice a year and on occasion have had Kenalog injections.

Just wondered what the rest of you do when this happens. Thanks x

[oldtimer]

This does seem to be a case for having a steroid injection!

[Cagsie in reply to oldtimer]

Giving steroid injections now seem to be frowned upon. Great reluctance to give any

[Beverley-NRAS]

Hi Cagsie,

I have put a link below to an article on managing flares:

painfreelivinglife.com/pain...

I hope this may be of some help to you

Regards

Beverley (NRAS Helpline)

[Hidden]

I recommend seeing a rheumaologist Doctor, not a nurse. Pain meds are supposed to be only temporary. Why haven't they had you try Enbrel, Orencia, or Actemra. Enbrel worked great for me. Also, my experience is a lot of GPs don't know much about RA.

[Cagsie in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, I am on Enbrel and leflunomide and it really has been great, made a big difference. It's every six months or so I seem to have a flare and it's miserable. Like everyone I end doing too much some days and and need to rest others. I felt let down by my GP when I wrote it, all my GPs have changed and they don't know me. They seem to have different views on the treatment of RA. I got back to my car after seeing him and just cried. A small pat on the shoulder and told to just take more painkillers is not good enough. Thank you for replying x

[shareasmile]

Last time I had a flare, my Rheumy thought I had failed with enbrel and diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I, too, went to my car and cried. I was terrified he would take away my enbrel. Thankfully he ordered an MRI of my hand that showed edema and bone marrow edema. (Although the office has still not called me about it.) Sometimes I think these doctors just don't know what to do when their patients have a flare. Frankly I think I had a bad batch of Enbrel, because the flare lasted about 4 weeks (through 4 injections) and then I got better.