newbie very frightened

peggiesue

hi all, i was diagnosed with osteoarthritis when i was 26 and been on co-codamol and tramadol and ibrobrufen then got took off ibrobrufen, i have it in all my joints including my spine and i have learnt to deal with what i can and cannot do, but have been suffering with swollen face and pain and this morning was told the arthritis had moved to my jaw on the left hand side. well me being me can only see the black side of life like how will i be able to eat and drink when it gets bad, the docs are no help they want to get you in and out with no questions answered so any help you can give me will be gratefully received x

sue

[Deleted User]

Welcome to Arthritis Care Forums peggiesue from the moderation team

As mods we are here to help with any problems you may have on the message boards.

There are lots of lovely people here with a wide range of experiences with arthritis and the problems of living with the condition. Just join in wherever you like you will be made very welcome.

I look forward to seeing you posting on the boards.

Best wishes

Mod John

stickywicket

Hello peggiesue and welcome to the forum we'd all prefer not to qualify for :roll:

I'm sorry you got OA at such a young age. I suppose you have, at some point, seen a rheumatologist just to ensure it is OA and not an autoimmune type of arthritis? Do any family members have it?

I think, from looking on here, that the course of jaw arthritis is quite difficult to predict. I've had it in my jaw for years and, although I can't open my mouth at all wide, I have never had a great deal of pain there. Others have different experiences, of course.

I think docs can be a bit dismissive with OA because there is little they can do other than prescribing pain relief and physio. Perhaps you could ask to be referred to a Pain Clinic?

My own favourite weapon against pain is distraction. Anything which you find absorbing and can take your mind off it will help, albeit temporarily.

Not many do have jaw pain so here are a list of former threads about it. I hope you'll find them helpful. http://tinyurl.com/jzauetr

barbara12

Hello peggiesue and a warm welcome from me..
I do feel lucky getting to my 50s before starting with arthritis..I was just wondering at your age have you seen a rheumy at all..I think you need to have bloods down to se if this is OA and not one of the inflamation ones...especially with you being so young..

peggiesue

yes i last saw the rheumatologist about 6yrs ago bout my arthritis as they just wanted to check i was on the right tablets, i don't know if any members of my family have it, as i dont know my family since i was 12yrs old and dont really want to go looking for them as i was a neglated child and the memories are still very painfull and when i was told i had arthritis the doctor at the hospital said it was probably caused by my up bringing or in my mind not being cared for properly. i looked on the black side of things as that is how i cope with things but feel better about it all today, just keep postive and manage my pain when its bad and if too bad have slim fast or soup
thanks for all your help i can always go back and ask to see specialist if need to.

dreamdaisy

No wonder you are feeling so down about things, you have a great deal going on with your joints and that can be very hard to manage on a day-to-day basis.

I began with an auto-immune arthritis when I was 37 (that was back in 1997) then come 2011 I was diagnosed with OA as well: that was a bleak time for me. I went to the GP and she prescribed anti-depressants which I was happy to take for around three months, just to get me through, but my rheumatologist insisted I kept taking them because they keep me on a more even keel.

Rheumatologists deal only with the auto-immune varieties which are more complex in cause and need more complex medications. My GP deals with my OA and gives me pain relief and an anti-inflammatory medication (which I rarely need to take thanks to the meds for my other arthritis). Have you ever been given blood tests to check for an auto-immune condition? They are many and varied but that is usually the first step. Any form of arthritis is degenerative and progressive, do your joints become swollen and hot to the touch or do you find that heat helps to ease the discomfort? I wish you well. DD

stickywicket

I'm so sorry you had an unhappy childhood. We lucky ones are inclined to take things for granted. Life must have been an uphill struggle for you from a very early age.

The causes of any kind of arthritis are still not very well understood. I'm fairly sure that unhappiness can't cause it (though it would make it feel far worse) though poor nutrition might be a factor.

I can well understand you'd not want to trace your family members but it might be worth asking your GP to refer you again to a rheumatologist just to check.

If necessary, surgery can be performed on the jaw. 'Starburst' has just started a thread on the Living with Arthritis forum as she's about to see a surgeon about her jaw.

Why not give our Helpline people a call? You could talk things through with them.

stickywicket

stickywicket wrote:

I can well understand you'd not want to trace your family members but it might be worth asking your GP to refer you again to a rheumatologist just to check.

Sorry, just to clarify that. I meant to check if you have an autoimmune type of arthritis NOT to check up on your family.