Pain relief ?

[sandyace1]

Im new here the only pain relief i get is paracetamol I have angina and on MTX and have been for about 4 months now.

I am in constant pain and fed up as steroid injections just make it worse.

What else can i try?

[Hidden]

Firstly, hi and welcome sandy ace, I too, am pretty new here, and I have found it a terrific site, with loads of helpful, friendly voices.

I sounds as though you have to be a little careful as to what pain killers you take. Surely your GP and consultant, are giving you support for this pain, and if not, why not. There is absolutely no need to be in bad pain, and they are the ones to advise you. Please don't suffer on your own, insist on an appointment to get your pain under control. Wishing you all the very best and let us know how you get on. Jennyxxxxxx

[sandyace1 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Jenny, I have an appointment with my consultant on Monday and i'm not leaving without a painkiller of some sort. he insists on steroid injections but i'm not having any more as they make me feel miserable for days after. Thanks for the prompt reply and i'll let you know how it goes.unfortunatly my GP and Consultant have poor comunication skills.

Thanks Sandy.

[Hidden in reply to sandyace1]

hi sandyace, thank goodness you have an appointment for monday,with your consultant, who I hope is more supportive than you GP. From personal experience, it took me a while to find a GP within my practice, that has been wonderful., and like Beth allows to me to self medicate most of my painkillers. I am on aDDmard called azathioprine, which is in the same sort of family as methotrexate, and I also take Naproxen (non-steroidal anti imflammatory) and codeine and paracetamol. Painn killers are a bit of a mine field. perhaps you can ask your consultant to write to your GP to explain your mood and unhappiness with your current treatment. They are usually very understanding. Also if you have several; doctors at your gp practice, don't feel that you can't change. Please let me know how things are. Wishing you happy, painfree days.

Jennyxxx

[Beth58]

Hi Sandyace

Sorry your feeling so low and in a lot of pain, sadly MTX can take a few month before you get the full benefit so don't give up on it yet. In the mean time do go have a chat with the GP and let him/her know the paracetamol is not enough to give pain relief and you need something stronger.

There's lots of different strength painkillers available as well as NSAID's such as Naproxen, Diclofenac etc. These combined with MTX can offer quite a lot of relief for some people.

I have a good relationship with my GP and keep a range of painkillers in stock (the kitchen cupboard) it gives me the opportunity to self medicate and I can alter what I'm taking depending on pain levels.

It has however, taken many years to build such a good relationship and to come to this arrangement with my doctor.

So persevere ask for the help you need and don't give up.

Good luck, hope you feel better soon.

Beth xx

[sandyace1]

Hi Beth, thanks for your fast reply, I am about half way through treatment on 8 Tabs of MTX at the moment and building up slowly.I have taken a note of these Painkillers and will ask my Consultant on Monday.

I wish i had a better relationship with my GP as he seems to avoid me and communication is hard work.

Thanks again.

Sandy.

[Beth58 in reply to sandyace1]

Hi again Sandy, just so you don't feel like a fool with your consultant, the tablets I mentioned are anti-inflammitories with painkilling properties.

I take Naproxen (anti-inflammatory), Leflunomide (which is the same sort of drug as MTX) but I also have a host of painkillers: i.e. Co-codamol, Codine Phosphate and Tramadol, mention one of these type of drugs to your consultant.

They have slightly different properties and strengths so I take different ones at different times depending on pain.

Again good luck with your consultant on Monday. xx

[Hidden]

Hi Sandy - welcome to this site.

I have been on MTX for 7 months and have had another DMARD, Hydroxichloraquine added in now. My pain isn't 100% gone away but on the whole I'm in a miuch better place than I was even a few months ago. Hang in there with the MTX it will probably work for you but can take a while I found. I'm glad you will get to see your consultant soon again at least. I've had to wait for 7 months to see mine and that was only on a telemedicine link but hopefully will see him in person end of July - 8 months since I was diagnosed.

I have the same drugs that Beth has in a drawer and use according to need - which is very rare these days. I did take Naproxen last weekend and it worked like a dream on the inflammation and pain but gave me terrible constipation and bloated me - which is why I personally only use when really desperate. I have the same reaction to steroids as you - I go off my head (bipolar) for the first week of taking them. TildaTx

[Hidden]

PS I think GPs sometimes find patients with chronic conditions such as RA depressing because 1. they feel that it's the consultant's job to treat us and theirs just to dole out the meds and 2. we don't seem to get fully better ever in the long term and I guess that depresses them just like it depresses us? Mine is very professional and perfectly nice and a good GP but tthat he never says "come back and we will see how things are going in a month" - just shrugs now. I think he hopes I'll just give up coming to him and just go to the practice nurses instead to have my bloods taken. He's more or less spelled out that he finds patients like me really frustrating to treat - poor chap! Tilda x

[helixhelix]

Yes do try to get a better conversation with your consultant and GP about pain meds, and maybe even ask if there's a pain clinic in your area that you could be referred to. But also don't forget about the non-chemical things you can do to help manage pain. I find that heat/ice packs, and other therapies like splints are very helpful, as are the approaches that tackle mind relaxation and so on. For me I also find hot showers and stretching exercises help, but everyone is different so your body might respond better to other things. Polly

[Hidden]

Hi Sandi Ace

The angina may preclude you from most anti inflammatories but do ask GP, But you could take maybe co-cocodamol tramadol or morphine type pain killers x