Where are the 25%?

stickywicket

“Three in four people with arthritis and joint pain say pain stops them living life to the full”, according to a new survey carried out for Arthritis Research UK with The Daily Telegraph. - (See more at: http://tinyurl.com/jlhamhj .)

I want to know more about the 25% of people with arthritis who, therefore, ARE living life to the full.

Where are they?

Why don't they come on here and tell their secret to the rest of us?

Perhaps, most importantly, how do they define 'arthritis'?

Is this Arthritis Lite again?

Are they all on tripe therapy?

I think we should know because I, for one, fancy a game of cricket :bouncing-ball:

Slosh

They are the ones you see on the adverts for certain rub on gels etc that have people magically playing tennis
The ones who promote "natural" or alternative therapies that have cured them
The ones with a "bit of arthritis " on damp or cold days
The ones who make us look as though we are making a fuss

The ones we envy

daffy2

That was just my reaction Slosh!
I also wondered how many of the 75% were those who have unrealistic expectations of what their body 'should' be able to do, and so are in fact living what we might consider a full life, but find, for instance, hard sport more difficult at 50 plus than they did at 20 plus?
Whatever, I don't think knowing more about the 25%(or the 75% for that matter) would make any of us feel better and probably wouldn't do the blood pressure any good!

Slosh

I also fully agree with you about those who believe you should be able to do everything in your more "mature " years than you could in your youth. Again something which programmes about healthy living often seem to imply. I deliberately didn't watch the recent BBC series "How to live longer" for that very reason, not that I'm not interested in living longer but that I knew it would just end up depressing me.

stickywicket

I'm trying to think this through. My conclusions, all questions, are:

1. We constantly tell people on here (Well, I do :oops: ), that 'wear and tear' is a euphemism for OA. Is that really helpful? Might they cope better with a less threatening definition?

2. I am equally irritated by depictions of arthritis as either Slosh's leaping 'n stretching tennis players or a gnarled old pair of hands. Surely most people with arthritis fall in between these two extremes?

3. Do other incurable diseases attract those who claim to have cured themselves or do we cop for the lot?

daffy2

3. Do other incurable diseases attract those who claim to have cured themselves or do we cop for the lot?

Yes to the first and no to the second, I think the crass ignorance - oops sorry misguided helpfulness - is pretty universal. Cancer is a notable one and also conditions such as MS can be a target, not least because in both cases 'cures' can happen despite conventional medical prognoses, and those cases may be ascribed to alternative/selfhelp approaches. That's not to say that what an individual does may not have an effect but it is unscientific, unhelpful and in some cases plain cruel to put that forward as proven fact that works in every case. The worst thing I reckon is the the view that a cancer sufferer has brought the disease on him/herself and that a change of attitude can effect a cure - and if that doesn't work it's the sufferer's fault.

Helenbothknees

The worst thing I reckon is the the view that a cancer sufferer has brought the disease on him/herself and that a change of attitude can effect a cure - and if that doesn't work it's the sufferer's fault.

A friend of mine who had breast cancer kept being told that she'd beat it because she was so positive. Her response: "Does that mean if I don't beat it then it's my fault for not being positive enough?" It would stop people in their tracks, as they hadn't realised that's what they were saying.

dreamdaisy

I reckon the 25% are those who like to think they have arthritis because they cannot accept that they are ageing. It must be easier to attribute minor aches and pains to a disease rather than face the reality that they are getting old and can no longer do, aged 85, what they managed with ease aged 55. Diddums.

I comprehend that living with cancer is different to living with arthritis (our lovely Frog has proven that) but a) the emotive cancer 'language' irks me and b) living with another form of long-term health issues is apparently not comparable due to that dramatic language. Those with cancer 'battle', 'fight', 'overcome' and 'survive' whereas the likes of us merely 'have' arthritis, as do those with MS, Parkinsons and other long-term health conditions.

I dunno about you but I know I battle, fight and overcome on a daily basis and survive because arthritis is a slow killer. Death is the inevitable result of life, end of. DD

ELAINE55555

Hi everyone. I am one of the very lucky 25%! I was diagnosed 4 years ago with RA. I was initially given mtx and hydroxy which helped but 1 1/2 year in and things started to get more painful. I enquired at my hospital appointment about triple therapy and was then given leflunomide (spelling sorry!). To say it has been a miracle is an understatement. So yes It was triple therapy for me!

stickywicket

daffy – you are, of course, right. I think the real difficulty is striking a balance. The truth, as I see it, is that we really can help ourselves and make a worthwhile difference by a sensible diet and lifestyle. But not to the point of curing ourselves. And I get very worried about auto-immuners who are so scared of the meds they are all too willing to be talked into 'alternatives'.

Helenbothknees – a cracking response I like it. Mind you, I don't recall ever being offered cures when I had cancer whereas my earlier years of RA were plagued by them. (People seem to have given up now, given the state of my body )

DD – it would be interesting to know the average age of the 25%. And how long they'd been diagnosed.

I agree that cancer language tends to be – nauseatingly - emotive, presumably because, although many cancers are survivable, many still aren't. People fear cancer because they fear death but don't fear arthritis because other people's pain is unquantifiable and they, rightly in my opinion, don't associate arthritis with death even though auto-immuners are likely to die a bit earlier than we otherwise would.

Elaine55555 – thanks for that. It's interesting to know and lovely to hear you are doing so well. Keep it up!

I'm now pondering on the phrase 'living life to the full'. I consider I've had a good, full life despite the RA but, for me, living it to the full would have involved a lot more sport and physical activity and a lot less spectatoring.

bubbadog

I too would like to know who these 25% are, I have a feeling one of them is my mother who says she has Arthritis and yet goes to work full time, wears high heel shoes, rides a mountain bike most weekends and does other things I can't do but would to do! I agree about those adverts about cooling gels for Arthritis and joint pain! They annoy the hell out of me as if you could rub some gel in and go and play tennis I wish!! :x

theresak

I'd quite like to be in that 25%, if only I could lay my hands on some of that magic cream - it probably comes without a raft of possible side effects too, unlike our meds.

I,too, hate those adverts where people could do all sorts of wonderfully energetic things after a quick rub of the cream - lucky are they who can squeeze the tube in the first place!

My sister-in-law's answer to everything is "Get a new knee/hip" since she's "never looked back since getting hers."

barbara12

All very interesting ..its good to hear that Elaine is doing so well..long may it continue for you..I would like to know who added to the survey.. :?

ichabod6

Hello sw,

I always live my life to the full.
I have posted on here from time to time over the last
few years because I suffer from several forms of arthritis
together a couple of other blips. AND I must say I am
more than happy to be amongst the 25% you mention.
In your first post did you say tripe or triple. If you said
tripe I would tell you that I had tripe and onions for my
lunch a couple of days ago and enjoyed it very much.

dreamdaisy

I think the majority on here make the best of a bad thing but I have no doubt that I could live my life far better if I had a live-in cleaner who would also do the laundry and ironing, plus a live-in chef who would deal with all the shopping, cooking and clearing. Doing the basics involved in running a house is enough to drain what little energy I have so there's nothing left for things I might actually want to do. DD

stickywicket

theresak wrote:

I,too, hate those adverts where people could do all sorts of wonderfully energetic things after a quick rub of the cream - lucky are they who can squeeze the tube in the first place!

So true.

ichabod - the 'tripe' was a reference to a fun thread we had running a few months back. It was the 'latest cure'.

DD - Yes. I decided, many years ago, that what my RA really required was a wife :swim-shark: Maybe on prescription - three or four days per week. Of course, nowadays, I could have one but I think Mr SW might object

rayray

I think that the definition of 'arthritis' is so variable that there will be 25% of people who have been told that they have arthritis but they are largely unaffected.

I have arthritis in some joints which I have never asked a medic about but have just been told by a hospital dr in passing that the slightly deformed knobbly joint is arthritis. I ignore the slight pain in those affected joints as it is of no consequence.

The crippling life changing pain in some other joints though cannot be ignored and is entirely different.

These statements affect many conditions, not just arthritis. The term 'cancer' is hugely emotive but it can be so vary variable depending on the type and stage ... and yes the whole 'positive attitude' thing makes my blood boil after seeing loved ones suffer and pass.

I wish the term 'arthritis' could be dropped and more specific terms used depending on the type. How many of the general public actually understand the difference between OA, RA, PSA etc.? No wonder people make daft and unhelpful comments!

In the press there are always going to be sweeping statements and it is only when you are in a situation yourself that you completely understand the affect your particular condition has.

JamesFoote

I am one of the 25% it is I you are looking for.

Only today I was doing a parachute from 35000 feet to land on a moving motor bike that was chasing down a beautiful red Jaguar F type, doing 90mph, I opened the the car door pulled the driver from the car and positioned my self behind the wheel to my left was a stunningly beautiful blond who was quite ample in the lovelies department. She looked at me and said "Hello handsome my names is."

I then wake up and all the flippin pain starts again.

Back in the 75%. Blast


James

dreamdaisy

Oh James! That made me laugh, thank you for brightening my morning!

I find it saddening but not surprising that those who are doing well post so rarely, leaving it to the rest of us (who aren't) to advise, cheer and encourage others who are also struggling. I had the temerity to join the 25% on Sunday - I'm paying for it now, serves me right! DD

pot80

I count myself in the 25%. A year or two ago at my annual review with the rheumatologist I said that I was fed up because physically I could not achieve what I used to as far as walking was concerned. He paused a while and then looked me straight in the eye and said "I do not know quite how to put this to you, but walking is the very best exercise for you and providing that you are not suffering any form of flare up then I am afraid the problem is your age" I am now 82 and still go walking and find it is not so much the distance as the speed that I find demanding.At the other end of the scale I find the slow speed of bird watching almost more tiring. Yes, I wake up in the morning with stiff and aching hands and ankles but once up and going I carry on but achieve less than I used to.