steroids

My GP doesn't want to inject my knee joint because my ankle and elbow are swollen as well, so it's looking like a general steroid injection into my butt. She said she would do it for me next Wed or Thursday when the surgery re-opens but she's also wondering whether a change of the disease modifying drug (DMARD) I'm on would be useful. I've been on this DMARD for 14 years so I guess my body could be 'used to it', so to speak. But the DMARD I'm on is one of the least toxic there is so not sure about changing. She also suggested that I go back and see my rheumatologist but he only saw me at the start of March and was happy to leave the joints as long as they weren't causing me problems. And he was happy for my GP to inject it if she and I thought necessary.

I also asked her about changing the anti-depressant I'm on (as per psychologist's suggestion). She said she'd be happy to try a different one and suggested pro-.zac which I've already tried and also wondered about seeing a psychiatrist. I don't want to see a psychiatrist. Anyway we've left that discussion until the joints are settled. She did ask how bad I was feeling and whether I was going to do anything stupid, but I'm not. I did admit that I had been hoping she would inject the knee so I would get time off work to rest it and she was a bit shocked then that I would go through that for time off. So she offered me a note to sign me off if I wanted seeing as my joints were playing up. But I'm reluctant to do that simply because I don't think people understand joint problems. In addition my work is so flexible that I would be getting signed off just to miss something like 5 hours teaching the first week back after Easter. And I've never really used my sporadic joint problems as a reason for not going to work or class or similar.

So a bit further on but not much either. Looks as if it will be steroid injection next week, wait and see if that works and then take it from there.