Just had a call of my consultant to check how i am and how im doing on my new tablets. He asked if i had received a a txt i said yes 7 weeks after lockdown he was shocked and said thats not very good i said thats what confused me more as i had gone from low risk to high risk to getting a txt 7 weeks in to shield he said alot of people got them that shouldnt have he said you dont need to shield you score 2 on the charts we use which is high risk but you are not at the highest risk of needing to shield you are asked to isolate and work from home if you can i said i work in retail so cant work from home and thats what confused me more as i had to fill out a form to say if i can go back and one question was asking i had a txt to shield so didnt know if i should be saying yes he said click no, the call came too late as i had to fill the form out weeks ago i will just have to let work know he said tho if you cant work from home you need to get work to put in extra measures for you to be away from people and provide ppe if needed so i will need to be able to keep the 2m apart for all my shifts. He said the government have made a few rules themselves which dont comply with what patients actually need to do. It was a very quick call im assuming he was busy so didnt fully get to say as much as i wanted which whats happened and how confused its made us all i think it was a call more to just check how my new tablets are doing With them avoiding as many face to face appointments as possible. I take mxt hydroxychloroquin and started baricitinib a week before lockdown. Not sure if this will help but thought it might be good to share if anyone else is on the same and got a txt he said some patients are only on mxt and got a txt to shield which they shouldnt have
Shielding txt update: Just had a call of my consultant... - NRAS
Shielding txt update
Confused....you will be !! 😂😂
Very confusing I am on methotrexate benepali and hydroxchloroquin I was told to self isolate which I have done so far letter I received was till 22nd June 🤔
Yeah he said to me to isolate when i can but dont have to shield like the txt message said. He said most are not in the shielding category we are in the high risk category which means to take extra measures when going out or going to work, wearing PPE and keeping 2m from anyone outside your house at all times
I guess with anything new, things change with data collection.
I’ve moved to a lower category now too. Taking Mtx and benepali and inflammation levels have been very low consistently over 18 months and not had a single infection since having RA four years ago.
Whereas, my colleague has Crohns and takes same meds. However, she’s had a raised temperature for six months as disease is active and remains in the shielded group.
As time progresses exceptions are being made and things are more nuanced. It would have been impossible at the start to have exceptions as it would have been even more confusing. It’s definitely eased my anxiety that I’ve moved down the risk scale slightly. I always found it hard to understand how we would be as high risk as someone with a donor organ transplant.
I had been really bad for Up to 9 months or prior all this thats why im now on baricitinib but he said even with that i should never have had the txt as i dont fall into the shielded group he said most RA patients are at an increased risk so need to just take extra measures when leaving the house and working from home if you can but i work in retail so thats a no for me ill have to go back and just tell them i need extra measures put in place for me. He said alot of the txts shouldnt have gone out especially with how late they was sent from what he was telling me is the same as whats on the nhs website
Looks like you and me both! 🙄😂
Shielding from Virus? 
Have the guidelines for RA shielding letters been changed?
Shielding letter 
I love my rheumy team and my GP
