Newly diagnosed and scared

Izzle

Hi everyone
New and scared so please bear with me...
I've been living with some kind of back pain since childhood as I have a double scoliosis plus lordosis (diagnosed as a teenager). Yesterday, due to worsening pain in lower back and hip I had X-rays of my spine for the first time in about 20 years and they showed "predominant" arthritis along my whole spine. I live in France and the healthcare system is very good but taking the X-rays to my gp yesterday afternoon, she did the Gallic shug and told me my youth was over!!!! (I'm 45!)
I've been given some NSAIDs to deal with this current bout of pain and have 10 sessions of physio starting on Monday but am feeling scared about the future but living over here I didn't know who to talk to. Thank goodness for the Internet!

[Deleted User]

Welcome to the forum Izzle, I am sure you will find support, advice and light relief.

I am one of the moderation team & we all have one or more arthritis conditions or look after family with the same. If you need help with the technicalities of the forum just get in touch via a personal message.

I look forward to reading your posts on the forum
All best wishes
Mod B

stickywicket

I'm glad you found us, Izzie. Any kind of pain can be scary and a diagnosis of arthritis even more so. One of the great values of this forum is that we all understand the basic problems even though our types of arthritis may differ. (I have RA and OA, the first since I was 15 and the second as a result of many years of RA before the disease modifying meds arrived.)

I guess, with you, the scoliosis and lordosis have put pressure on your spine over the years and it's quite common for OA to set in where joints have been damaged. None of us, with or without arthritis, knows what the future holds though we instinctively plan as if we do :roll:

Try not to get ahead of yourself worrying about the future. Just do what you can to make it as good as possible. The physio will provide information and useful exercises. Exercise is important for all of us as strong muscles support our joints better. We can't undo damage done but we can, hopefully, slow down future damage and help to keep pain at tolerable levels.

France, as you say, has an excellent health system so that is good news for you. We are here to sympathise and empathise. I hope you'll feel you have found some forum friends