Just diagnosed

[Garry208699]

Hello all, first time on here so thank you in advance. Have severe pain in my hands, feet and elbows and just had my blood tests back. One that concerned me was the RF of 625. I know this is very high as the GP was quite shocked. Have an appointment with the rheumatologist in August but the GP wants to start some steroids to ease my symptoms. Do they help? I suffered a serious injury which left me on blood thinners for life so use of NSAIDS is not recommended, how else can I help ease my symptoms. Thank you

[Funswim]

Hello Garry. Steroids can be a huge help if they suit you. I have them by injection and I, also cannot tolerate any anti inflammatory drugs. Don't expect them to work instantly. In my experience it can take 5 to 7 days but they (with me) reduce the swelling down and then ease the pain. I wont take steroid tablets, but that is my choice. For me, personally, I wouldn't be without them if I start to flare. I am not a medic and only going on personal experience, but if you don't try them then you won't know. My son has the damned disease starting as well and tried an injection but for him he couldn't sleep and didn't really help much at all.

Also, your rheumatology department will have an advice line where you can leave a message and someone will get back to you with advice. It is a long time until your appointment, so I wouldn't hesitate to ring if you have concerns before then.

[Garry208699 in reply to Funswim]

Thank you, I will try and make contact with the department and get some advice/help. I have to say, all the replies on here have made a huge difference to my outlook on this. It’s not so bleak so thank you.

[springcross]

They do help but can sometimes take a while to come off of them as it has to be done gradually. If you are not seeing a Rheumatologist until August. it may be just as well to go on to steroids for now but don't take my word for it, there are a lot more people on here that can help you more than me and they will respond eventually. You may have to wait until the morning so can you take some Paracetamol for now?

[Garry208699 in reply to springcross]

Thank you for the reply. I take oxycodone for the injury but it doesn’t seem to touch the RA, have tried paracetamol, it does make a small difference, and will keep going. Felt at my Whitt’s end last night but the replies on here have made a huge difference. Thank you again.

[Lolabridge]

Hi Garry

I'm sorry you are suffering but welcome to our select club!

I could not have coped without steroids as I tried various RA drugs to find the right one for me. I had both oral steroids (Prednisolone) and steroid injections as well at times when I had a lot of pain and poor mobility. You will have to reduce the steroid dosage gradually (called a taper programme) when your RA drugs are working well at controlling your disease. You will also probably need to take paracetamol for pain relief but your GP may suggest something stronger if it's needed.

As you are in a lot of pain now I would be guided by what steroids your GP recommends as you have a long wait until you see the RA consultant in August. The injections can be intramuscular or into a joint but relief with an injection can be fairly quick (within a few days). There's no reason why you should have both if necessary. I would also ask the GP if he can request your appointment to be sooner than August if possible.

[Garry208699 in reply to Lolabridge]

Thank you for your reply and welcome to the club welcome. Reading what members have written it appears that steroids is the first step. I really hope they help. Thank you for taking the time to reply, knowing that other people are going, or have gone through where I’m currently at is certainly helping my feeling of being alone in this. Thank you again.

[Hidden]

Hi Gary, I would take your doctors advice as he knows your medical situation. Steroids do decrease inflammation therefore decreasing your pain. I think you'll find all of us with RA will have taken steroids at some stage of our disease and had great relief . Wishing you well 🌈🌈🤗X

[Garry208699 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you,

[hicksville]

Hi Gary, yes steroids help immensely. If your worried about the effects with blood thinners I would call the help line. You could try a small dose at first. I take 5mg a day with other medication and have trouble moving without them. But as with every thing else they do come with side effects.

[Garry208699 in reply to hicksville]

Thanks, id take anything at the moment just to get some sort of normality back. Thank you for your help

[stbernhard]

Hello Gary, when I was first diagnosed the two steroid injections I got were manna from heaven. Of course we are all different and react differently to medication. A big help in my road to remission and a life where I don't really think about having RA anymore was to learn as much about this illness as possible, mainly from the NRAS website, which is probably the best source of reliable information you can get, and adopt forms of self management early on to get control back over my life. I hope your pain eases after the steroids and you find a good combination of drugs for the long term. Stay in touch. All the best.

[Garry208699 in reply to stbernhard]

Thank you for the reply. I hope something helps ease the pain, I’m sure it will. Just a bit overwhelming at the moment. I guess the more I learn about RA the better I’ll be able to start managing things better. Thank you again.

[Leics]

Hi welcome to the club and this fabulous forum. Steroids in my opinion are a must to help with pain and inflammation. They don’t have to be long term but as others have said need to be tapered and reduced slowly. Your doctor will know what dosage would suit you best. I cannot take anti inflammatory’s either of any kind due to allergy but I have to say I find soluble painkillers much more effective than pills if you can get them in the current climate. As others have said maybe see if your GP can get you started on some form of treatment ASAP as long as you are monitored. At this point until you can get a treatment drug plan through rheumatology you probably need to reduce your current inflammation as this will help in the short and long term. Good luck.

[Hidden]

Hello Garry. My experience of oral steroids (Prednisolone) is that they worked very well and very quickly and changed my situation from crying on the phone to an answering machine on Easter Monday 2019 to being able to go to France to a family wedding about a month later. I was kept on a low dose for about three months while methotrexate started to work. It then took four months to taper off them very, very gradually.

I have no regrets about taking them and would do it again. Apart from anything else they lift your mood - a kind of chemical happiness, but better than a "natural" hopelessness. I have not had such a good effect from injections, but responses vary from person to person.

I do feel August is a long time to wait to see the rheumatologist. Can your GP get you in any sooner? The earlier you start treatment the better the outcome. Another thing you could try is ringing the consultant's secretary and explaining the severity of your symptoms. Offer to go at short notice if there are any cancelled appointments. If you can get the secretary on your side, you may find the path a bit smoother. A good one can really help you.

Let us know how you get on. All good wishes.

[Boxerlady]

Another vote for steroids to tide you over until you're settled on a Dmard regime. My GP gave me Pred tablets to tide me over until I saw a rheumy and then the rheumy gave me an injection while I was waiting for the Dmards to kick in - both were invaluable.