RA PAIN RELIEF AND PIP ASSESMENT

HI i have just got my pip assessment form ,and after reading some terrible stories of refusal of pip because of petty reasons i admit i am quite concerned.
i have had Rheumatoid since 1999 been on methtrexate since.. in the beggining i was put on celebrex and steroid injections when required .. i do have really bad foot damage i have no bone in bottom of my feet now i just walk on pads which is very painful my shoulders and wrists are very painful as well as the finger s, although i have minimum finger damage i do have the large knuckle and wrist damage and shoulder pain .i was awarded life time DLA in 2009
without medical because of my rheumatologists report,
what my concern is. since 2002 i have not taken the celebrex nsaids as i was sick of feeling light headed and drugged up . i took a more gentle approach and started on high doses of omega 3 oil. deep heat gel, ibrufen..parecetamol . which i can tolerate more and feel like i am feeding my body with minerals rather than mask the pain my rheumatologist
fully supports this,
i do have trouble walking because of feet damage i mainly use my chair which my husband pushes if i go anywhere
i have read your report concerning what i need to put in my form which we are carefully getting it done.
i have got another report from my rheumy which is rather short
saying i have long term pain in my shoulders hands and considerable damage to my feet which makes it hard for me to walk he is also sending me my hand and feet x rays from 5/6 years ago to send to pip
what i am concerned about is the approach the accessor has to my drug regime might they think i am not as bad if they see i am not on a heavy drug cocktail i do get a lot of pain
in the mornings but my gel helps with my ibrufen that i do ease up during the day my joints are more damaged as the years have gone on my feet are a mess
i feel like i am more in control.with my regime i go for hospital steroid injections a couple of times a year to top me up sometimes more .. any help would be appreciated

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Yes, the assessor might be of the opinion that the lack of powerful painkillers is evidence that you do not suffer from significant pain. However, people on high doses of analgesia are often considered to be free of pain because of the medication - so it is difficult to 'win' in this situation!

All you can do is await the decision letter. Meanwhile you can be thinking of how to rebut these assumptions at MR if necessary.

You might find out PIP guide helpful

PIP help for claimants

May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your PIP without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one topic - and I hope you will find it useful too