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Home > Services > Rheumatology > Patients > My rheumatology medication

My rheumatology medication

Here you will find some information about rheumatology drugs and medications which we hope you find helpful.

How to order a repeat prescription

Your GP will prescribe most of your usual medications and some of your rheumatology medications. Please follow these steps to request a repeat prescription if we have asked you to do that.

  1. Ring prescription line (0191 213 7967)
  2. Please then leave a message on the answerphone clearly telling us:
    • Your name
    • Your hospital (MRN) number/NHS number
    • The name of the medication you need
    • The dose of the medication you need
    • When you would like to collect you medication (at least 7 working days later)
  3. If your medication is one of those listed below the prescription will now be issued to your local community pharmacy (the same pharmacy that you use to collect prescriptions issued by your GP for you to collect).
    • Methotrexate
    • Hydroxychloroquine
    • Leflunomide
    • Mycophenolate
    • Azathioprine
    • Tadalafil
    • Dapsone

Repeat prescription for Sildenafil, Folic Acid and Prednisolone should be issued by your GP.

All other rheumatology medications will be dispensed by the outpatient pharmacy at the Freeman Hospital for you to collect or delivered by our Home Care Service.

Opening times: 8.30am – 6pm Monday-Friday and 8.30am -12pm Saturday.
Delivery is available under certain circumstances.

Monitoring

For almost all medications used in rheumatology, some form of safety monitoring is needed. Your doctor or nurse will make sure you understand what you need to do and what we will be looking for before you start your treatment.

Blood monitoring – is done regularly by our monitoring team. Here we describe the steps you will need to go through when you start a new treatment. Your doctor or nurse specialist will discuss any new treatments (and why you might benefit from taking it) during your clinic appointment.

After that you will be guided through the following safety steps:

  1. One of our nurses will go through a structured discussion about the safety and side effects of your new drug straight after your clinic appointment. You will be given an information leaflet. You will also have your first monitoring bloods done.
  2. You will then have a nurse advice appointment and a 2nd blood monitoring appointment two weeks later in the Minor Procedures Room in our musculoskeletal unit (MSU) outpatient department.
  3. Your next blood monitoring appointment will be FOUR weeks later. After that, bloods tests are done monthly for 2 months by a phlebotomist in the monitoring rooms within MSU outpatients.
  4. After this, you will need monitoring appointments every three months. If you are a Newcastle resident, these appointments will be at a community-monitoring hub (CDMS). For all other patients, these appointments will be in the monitoring rooms within MSU.
  5. Once you are stable on your treatment, we will ask your GP to take over your blood monitoring and the prescribing of your medication.

If you need to rearrange a blood monitoring appointment, please ring the appointments service ABC on 0191 282 4444

It is very important you make appointments to have your bloods checked. This is to ensure your saftey. If you do not attend your blood monitoring appointments, we will not be able to prescribe a repeat prescription of your medication, as we cannot be sure they are still safe for you to take.

Blood monitoring is done to check for side effects of treatment. We will contact you by phone to tell you what to do if your blood tests become abnormal.

Anti TNF Alpha

Patient information is available below for each of these medications.

Azathioprine

Visit the Versus Arthritis website for more information on azathioprine.

Hydroxychloroquine

Visit the Versus Arthritis website for more information on hydroxychloroquine.

JAK Kinase Inhibitors

Patient information is available below for each of these medications.

Leflunomide

Visit the Versus Arthritis website for more information on leflunomide.

Methotrexate

Visit the Versus Arthritis website for more information on methotrexate.

Mycophenolate

More patient information on mycophenolate is available on the Versus Arthritis website.

Other biologics

Patient information leaflets are available below for each of these medications.

Rituximab

More patient information on rituximab is available on the Versus Arthritis website.

Steroids

Steroids can be given in tablet form, by deep intramuscular injection, by infusion (drip) or directly injected into joints. Your nurse or doctor will explain why you need steroids and what the benefits and side effects might be for you.

More patient information on steroids is available on the Versus Arthritis website.
If you are taking steroids for a long time, you will need to know about the ‘steroid sick day rules’. Your doctor or nurse can give you a leaflet about this.

Sulfasalazine

Visit the Versus Arthritis website for more information on sulfasalazine.

Tocilizumab

Visit the Versus Arthritis website for more information on tocilizumab.

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