Hello All,
I am 46 and have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 38. I have tried methotraxat but this was not effective and also caused a side effect of very severe headaches. My NHS hospital gave me leflunomide instead about five months ago but it is very ineffective. I have severe pain and swelling in one hand most days and have pain and/or tightness/locked feeling in my shoulders and upper back, waist, legs and feet.
I am currently taking leflunomide, sulfasalazine, folic acid, hydroxychloroquine and prednisolone. Apart from the leflunomide which I have been on for about five months, I have taken all the other medications for several years.
When the pain is even worse than usual I am sometimes referred to get a steroid injection. This helps reduce pain for about 2 weeks and then I get the pain back as before.
I was referred to a scan of my hands as I complained that the pain and swelling in my hands caused me difficulties as regards working.
I had this scan on Saturday and the doctor said that the scan showed bad structural damage in the left hand and the beginning of similar damage in the right hand.
A problem is that although I clearly have (as my nurse openly says) very active rheumatoid arthritis even with the medication my DAS 28 score is consistently lower than the threshhold required for getting a biologic medication.
I have heard that this may be because I regularly take prednisolone which may lower the DAS 28 scores. I am reluctant to stop the prednisolone ( in order to get a higher DAS 28 score and qualify for a biologic) as I am worried the pain would get far worse.
Could a scan showing structural damage to my joints be used as evidence of the ineffectiveness of current treatment and enable me to qualify for a biologic?
Does anyone else have any advice for me as I am in pain and very worried about long term structural damage to my joints.
Many thanks for your help.