RA question from a new member

Zoe S

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum I have recently been diagnosed with RA affecting just about everywhere. I am currently off sick from work and was wondering if anyone can tell me if they think I will ever be able to go back to working full time. My job is not that strenuous I work in a shop but there is only a little standing I am mostly sat at a desk doing computer work or writing. I really don't know much about this condition and what the future holds for me so any knowledge from someone who knows more about this condition than me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

skezier

Hi Zoe,

Welcome t the forum flower but sorry you have had the diagnosis.

The answer to that really is hard to say... I don't have ra but I do have oa ad pa and I still work..... self employed cus be honest I would never be able to hold this job now if I was employed.....

Once the have sorted out some disease modifiers and pain control for you I promise you will start to feel better. Then you might well find you can return to work.....

It does get easier flower, it really does. Nice to meet you. Cris x

dreamdaisy

Morning Zoe S, it's nice to meet you. I am sorry you have had to find us, this must be a bitter blow for you. I don't have RA, I have PA (psoriatic arthritis, it is very similar to RA with the added benefit of skin trouble) but I am treated with RA meds. Unfortunately no-one can tell you how things will pan out for you: every person on this forum has a slightly different version of this disease, and each is affected individually. You say you are affected everywhere: how long did the diagnosis take and what meds have you been given? I hope that they start to have a positive, noticeable effect soon. I take life day-by-day, as my health can vary quite rapidly. I am self-employed, which helps, tho I will be stopping soon I think, thanks to the arthritis - I start my 15th year of it in April, and things are definitely getting more challenging! I wish you well. DD

julie47

Hi zoe
welcome to the forum.
As it has been said before everyone is different. And hopefully the meds are now better than when it started for me 23 years ago this april. Thus allowing you to work a long time.
I also worked in a department store for quite a while with the RA but I was on my feet for a long time so left and went back to a previous job working in an office.
This lasted quite a while too. Until I got to where I was unable to keep up with everyone else and at that time there was no support to help make things easier for me in the work place.
I hope your meds get you under control and you get support from your employer so that you can stay i work a long time.
take care
juliepf x

Zoe S

Here's a little more information about me getting my diagnosis. I initially went to GP with pain in right wrist and left knee saw a gp in my practice who said straight away it was some form of arthritis and was given diclofenac but this made no difference so went back and saw another gp in my practice who said it can't be arthritis and sent me for an x-ray. Whilst waiting for x-ray results I got really bad, every morning I was waking up with another joint affected. I went back to docs for x-ray results, by this point I could hardly move, and saw gp who I saw in the first instance and she confirmed it was arthritis and suspected ra so was sent for blood tests and changed my diclofenac to naproxen. When blood results came back confirmed it was ra. So up to this point it had not really been that long to get a diagnosis, probably only about 5-6 weeks and probably only about 3 weeks of being in a really bad way but when you are that bad every day feels like a year. I was told I would need to see a specialist to be able to get anything stronger than the naproxen I was already on. I knew this would take a while on nhs so asked if I could see the specialist privately and was told that was not a problem and they would write me a letter of referral. This letter took them 6 weeks to do! I kept ringing the docs every day and I don't know how it can take them 6 weeks to write a letter. When the rheumatologist finally received the referral letter from my gp they gave me an appointment in 3 days. Went to appointment in Nov 2010 and explained that I was only there for a one off private consulatation cos I was desperate but couldn't afford any more and was told gp would also need to refer me on nhs. Rheumatologist gave me some sort of injection in my bum and told me I would feel a lot better the next day and started me on Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate so now on that and naproxen and still waiting for gp to do nhs referral. I do feel a lot better than I did and can do a bit for myself now. Sorry this is probably the longest post in history but I didn't know how to make it shorter cos I thought it was all relevant to where I'm at now.

Colin1

Hi Zoe i have RA and PA first of all we are all different and there are many grades of arthritis some people have it all over otheres in just a part of the body but it effects us all different
so its a bit like how long is a peice of string. You can normaly tell how bad its getting because as well as the pain it can make you feel sick. Its in the lap of the gods my love talk to your rheumy when you see her. Make notes on the things you need to say and know otherwise you forget.
The Injection you had in your bum was probably Depot Medrone injection, its sort of a cocktail of steroids and can take away the pain for up to three months. Only problem is you cant have it to offten and coming down off it it hard as your pain starts coming back.
Take care if theres anything you need to know PM me
Colin

cherrybim

Hello Zoe and welcome to this wonderfully supportive forum.

You don't say how old you are but I'm thinking that you're young?

I want to offer you magic on a plate and believe me it can happen

I've had RA (and the rest of it, lol) for 32 years now. I had such luck in the first instance that my Rheumy was a brilliant man. I was in remission for a number of years. I'm now 66 and it's come back to pay me an unwanted visit

I consider myself most fortunate that I have no deformities and my best wishes for you would be to make sure you have the best possible help, it's so much more widely available these days.

Keep posting, we'll all be rooting for you

Cherry x

Zoe S

Thank you to everyone for making me feel very welcome. It's so nice to talk to people who really understand. Just to let you know I am 37 years old.

seamonkey

Hi Zoe I am new to the forum also and the people on it are informative friendly and helpful and caring.
Im in the process of being diagnosed as to what form of ARthritis I have but I am 32 working at mo and have 4 kids. Its very hard when the pain is bad but on days when its not so bad it can feel like a huge weight has been lifted. If you want to chat about anything at all, work, family, health etc then please message me. Im not as insightful as some on the forum but were both kind of at the same stage of being diagnosed.
All the best and rest while your able.
Seamonkey

barbara12

Hi Zoe
I just want to welcome you to the forum, you will get lots of support off everyone, and like you say talking to people that understand is priceless.
Hope to see you posting more very soon.
Love
Barbara x

dreamdaisy

That's pretty good from initial problems to diagnosis, so in that respect you are lucky. Naproxen on its own probably won't be enough, there are a few front runners about what they might recommend but that's for them to say, not me. Hopefully, as they are getting in early, the drugs will have some effect in slowing the RA, which would be a good thing. Keep a diary of your symptoms, what hurts, when what aggravates the pain, what eases it, any other things you notice such as extreme tiredness, all of this will give the rheumatologist a better picture of you and how to treat you. I agree with Colin1, it was probably a depo they gave you, a steroid shot that is designed to give you a general belt of good feeling all-over. They can be good and can last for up to three months - he was wrong to say it would make you feel better tho, they don't work for everyone - three days was a good result for me, I don't bother with 'em now if offered. Rheumatologists make lots of promises, believe you me. You are doing all the right things and things have moved quickly for you, believe it or not! I hope you get to see the rheumatologist soon, and do let us know how you get on, please. I wish you well. DD

Zoe S

Thanks for your advice DD. I will keep a diary for when I get to see the rheumatologist. I know my diagnosis has been quick and I know I am really lucky with that and believe me I am very thankful for that. I just don't understand how it can take six weeks for my gp to write a letter and now I have to wait six weeks for him to write another one then another six weeks on the waiting list. Sorry for the moan.

dreamdaisy

It's tough, I know, but we are not our GPs only patients! At least yours is listening to you and doing something. When I began my problems, many moons ago, all my then GP said was 'It will go away.' I listened to that refrain for a couple of years, believing her. Eventually I went to see the physios at our local football team, 'cos as my friends pointed out 'If anyone understands knees, they do.' They (obviously) hadn't seen anything like my left knee (it was then about 24" round) and THEY were the ones who referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon. I then lost another year while he said 'You ain't my problem, you belong in rheumatology' and rheumatology denied that and said 'No, you are an ortho problem.' Hah! They were wrong on that front, weren't they? Nett result for me was four years with no meds then a very feeble fight back from something called sulphasalazine (which I still take). I wasn't accurately diagnosed until October 2006, which considering the 'problem' began in April 1997 was a very, very long time. You are doing OK, weeks is nothing, they will pass, and I am sure they will get cracking with you. Hang on in there Zoe S, things are moving for you and I am sure you will hear soon. If not, chase up. DD

Zoe S

DD, sorry to hear you had all those problems getting a diagnosis back then, I know I am very lucky really and thanks for pointing it out to me. I feel so much better now. Its nice to know I can come on here and have a moan when I need to and I am sure there will more times in the future.

frogmorton

Hi Zoe

hello from me too

I am taking hydroxy too and find it ok - it takes agood while to work and use it with arcoxia (like naproxen) and amitriptyline (to relax muscles and help you sleep at night).

I also have pain killing patches which help and am trying something called colchinine.

When you go back to the rheumatologist you will be reveiwed and if the meds aren't doing enough they may add more to the mix (hydroxy is a milder disease modifying anti rheumatic drug).

Let's hope you do feel able to get back to work soon. It does you good mentally doesn't it - as well as financially!

Lovely to meet you

Toni xx

jassie

Hi Zoe. Sorry to hear you've been diagnosed RA. I have RA and have had a long working life, only retiring at 61 - and I still hope to be able to do a bit more work before I give up. It's not easy and you have to make sacrifices that 'normal' people don't - and don't expect them to understand either. But you can have a long and productive life, especially now there are all sorts of new treatments available. Given the speed of scientific discovery, I haven't given up hope of a cure before I depart for pastures new even.

We are all different and RA is unpredictable at the best of times. I was told, aged 20-something that I could expect to be in a wheelchair at 40. I wasn't and still am not, though I find it difficult and increasingly harder to walk. No one really knows.

My advice would be to accept that you have it, grab as much info and help as you can, adjust your life as well as possible to take account of it then go for your life, goals and ambitions as you would if you didn't have it. All the best. Jassie.

Bookseverywhere

Hello Zoe, and welcome.

I too have RA, and I run a business, working full time. The key thing to remember is that once you feel able to work, you are covered by the DDA, which means that any employer has to make reasonable allowances for your RA.

As others have said, RA manifests itself differently for different people. Some people are able to work full time, others can only manage part time and for some regular work is out of the question.

I hope you manage to get the pain under control and I hope you get your referral through soon.

Best wishes,
Kevin.

ironic

Hi Zoe,
Welcome to the forum, although I am sorry that you have had to find us. I am on Hydrox it took a good while for it to make any difference but once it did I improved over the months so do not give up yet.
You have had some good advice already re: - keeping notes etc. You could contact your doctor and see if could enquire what the waiting time is at your rheumy clinic.
Hope you hear something soon,
Lv, Ix

Zoe S

Thank you to everyone for making me feel really welcome. This is all very new to me and I guess I am just fustrated at not being able to do hardly anything but its nice to hear that I should be able to get back to some sort of normality, I just need to learn to be patient.

traluvie

Hi Zoe,

I'm late replying to your post(sorry).. you told your story so well and i found it very interesting.. so don't be worrying about ranting lol..xx
I am new to all this too and am still waiting a diagnosis, but i understand how you feel in regards to not being able to do things.. i am currently unable to work at the moment and have days where i can't do much at all.. this week hasn't been too bad so i grateful...
I am learning to take each day as it comes..

Take care
Tracy
xxxxx

magenta

Hi Zoe S and welcome!

I just wanted to ask if you've been put on a stomach protector med like Omeprazole?
Hopefully, you'll enjoy using the site and we'll see you posting lots!
Magenta x

Zoe S

Hi Magenta, the answer to your question is no I do not take any stomach protector, just hydroxy and naproxen. Do you think I should be with this medication. I thought I only needed a stomach protector if the medication made me feel sick and it doesn't but this is all new to me.
Zoe x

dreamdaisy

The stomach protector is there to guard against developing ulcers - a lovely little side line of most anti-inflammatories, I believe. Ask your GP about omeprazole or lanzaprole, they should have prescribed them for you as soon as they offered the nap. DD

Bookseverywhere

I have been on lanzaprole for years, and find it effective.

Best wishes,
Kevin.

Zoe S

Thanks all, I will ask my GP next time I go.

Zoe

tjt6768

I'm also on lanzoprazole, its for the diclofenic I think, maybe the tramadol too..
Hope you get some good results from the gp...

Be well hun..