Questions for Rod Hughes

[Tiggy70]

Hi, I have a consultation booked with Prof Rod Hughes next Monday. I have prepared a brief background to my illness and a few questions to ask him. I obviously want to get the most out of this appointment. Any hints or tips please? I don’t want to come out regretting that I’d not asked any pertinent questions. Thanks Tiggy

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I suppose you have to ask yourself why you have chosen to see Rod - how do you feel your current medics have failed you. What DON'T you know.

[Tiggy70 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks. I think I might be clutching at straws as I already get so much valuable information from the forum. I’ve been going through a difficult patch from late June whilst trying a slow taper from 8.5 to 8 mg Pred. It didn’t work and I’ve been yo-yoing dose up and down and now I’m back at 10mg. I’m also having issues with my diabetes control. If nothing else I’m looking forward to a couple of days away around the Chertsey area!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Tiggy70]

I think the point is, he can provide backing for your GP that you need more than 8mg to avoid the yoyo effect, And having a stable dose is likely to improve the diabetes control.

[piglette in reply to Tiggy70]

Say that to him and he can then advise you. You have been very concise, so I am sure you will have a have a good appointment with him.

[Tiggy70 in reply to piglette]

Thank you. My local NHS Rheumy is not the best. He just pushes me to reduce my pred dose quickly and take Methotrexate !

[piglette in reply to Tiggy70]

Sounds par for the course!

[Grammy80]

Reading your posts as well as the responses from the forum...I'd say you are well-armed. Don't be afraid to assert yourself about what works for YOU. I had to taper slowly...I see no gold medal in rushing to zero, for what? So you can go higher and higher. Your body will deliver the symptoms and tell you what you need. When I got to 10 this year, it was 1 mg drop per month and at five, it became .05 per month. We are all so unique. My best, you'll do fine, you are the boss.💞

[Tiggy70 in reply to Grammy80]

Thanks for your reply. It will be interesting to get his perspective on things. I’ll do a short post on the forum after my appointment to let you all know how I got on🌸

[Griggser]

having recently seen professor Hughes I don’t think you’ll be wasting your money. Remember it’s not a ten minute GP appointment and you are paying him! He was very friendly, listened well and got all the salient points. After a good chat about my history and what I was hoping to achieve he drew a mind map of three routes I could take. These were very concise and relevant to my situation. He sent a letter to my GP, copied to me, with the options laid out and his recommendation that we had agreed on. Good luck and enjoy Chertsey.

[Tiggy70 in reply to Griggser]

Thanks Griggser. Coincidentally I was just reading your follow up post after your appointment with Rod Hughes. If nothing else it will be nice to be listened to and not rushed out of the door! I doubt my GP will be interested in anything in a letter from Prof Hughes as I’m under an NHS rheumatologist and normally told to contact him.

[Griggser in reply to Tiggy70]

The letter to the GP was suggesting I had a depo-medrone injection every three months to help me reduce the oral prednisolone. When I said this to the GP he would you like it now and reached to the top drawer of his cabinet. Two minutes later I had my first injection. No need to see an NHS rheumatologist.