Hi I’m gill feeling like my arthritis is taking over mylife.

Gill

Happy new year everyone x

[Deleted User]

Good Morning Gill and welcome to the forum from the Moderating Team Happy New Year to you too.

I am so sorry to hear that you feel arthritis is taking over your life.

If you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your arthritis I am sure our members will want to support you in any way they can.

Best wishes,

Ellen

stickywicket

Hello Gill and welcome from me too. I echo all that Mod Ellen has written. We'd love to try to help but it's difficult without any insight into your circumstances.

I have RA and OA and have had for many years. I think I've learnt how to cope over time but it's not easy especially if one has children and / or is working.

Please tell us more and we can try to help you, too, have a happy new year. newyear01

dreamdaisy

Hello, your post is very scant on detail so it's hard to know what to say. Arthritis tries to dominate my life but it meets resistance from its host. I am twenty-one years in (I started aged thirty eight) and have psoriatic plus osteo: some joints have one, some the other and others both. There are times when its petulance needs attention, and I have made many changes to how I live my life to accommodate its demands, but it does not define me, it is not me, I am not it. There was, is (and always will be) more to my life than arthritis. DD

barbara12

Hello Gill..sometimes arthritis does seem like it is taking over, but talking about things will really help, so hopefully we will see your name around the forum..x

Gill

Thank you all for your words of support..I guess oa has been there mildly for about 10 years but I didn’t really know what it was but wondered why my aches an pains were not getting better. I was diagnosed with oa in my elbows hips hands 4 years ago. I don’t know if it’s connected but I badly bruised my leg 4 years ago it took ages to go away and left a swollen thigh. I mention that because the doctor said my oa appeared to be getting worse quite quickly for someone of my age 58. I gave up work 3 years ago because I was struggling to do my job and feel that since then every thing I do has become harder an harder.. every time I went out I found it more difficult than the time before..I literally mean everything is getting harder day by day. Now I can only walk 20 ish steps before pain is terrible..I need a bath lift and am struggling to get upstairs. So sorry everyone I know people are worse off than me but I feel like I haven’t really come to terms with it even though I’ve been suffer for years.

Gill

Thank you all for your words of support..I guess oa has been there mildly for about 10 years but I didn’t really know what it was but wondered why my aches an pains were not getting better. I was diagnosed with oa in my elbows hips hands 4 years ago. I don’t know if it’s connected but I badly bruised my leg 4 years ago it took ages to go away and left a swollen thigh. I mention that because the doctor said my oa appeared to be getting worse quite quickly for someone of my age 58. I gave up work 3 years ago because I was struggling to do my job and feel that since then every thing I do has become harder an harder.. every time I went out I found it more difficult than the time before..I literally mean everything is getting harder day by day. Now I can only walk 20 ish steps before pain is terrible..I need a bath lift and am struggling to get upstairs. So sorry everyone I know people are worse off than me but I feel like I haven’t really come to terms with it even though I’ve been suffer for years.

stickywicket

Thanks for getting back to us, Gill, and please don't apologise. There will always be people worse off in the world than any of us but that doesn't make our own pain any easier to handle.

It seems you've been so used to putting up with the pain that you've hardly noticed how much it has been dominating your life until recently.

I don't know why it seems to be getting worse more quickly now but I think we just have to accept that it goes at its own pace. I don't think it's much, if anything, to do with age and, in any case, there's not much we can do about that. I prefer to concentrate on what I can do.

You say you have a bath lift. Me too. They make a big difference, don't they? As for stairs, what about a stair lift? We moved to a bungalow eventually.

There are all sorts of gadgets on the market to help with everyday tasks. Look online at any disability store.

But, of course it's better to do what we can. Have you been given any exercises? I've no idea where I'd be without mine. Arthritis Care does a booklet on them and also has lots of useful info about living with arthritis. Just check out the menu at the top of the page.

I've always found there are things I have to give up in order to 'save myself' for the more important things. The important things are sometimes what's important to me personally but sometimes just the boring exercises which help me to keep what mobility I have.

How do you get about? Can you use public transport? Do you have a mobility scooter? When did you last have any x-rays done? Perhaps you might qualify for a joint replacement.

Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to help.

Gill

I had X-rays about a year ago and was told although I could qualify for hip replacement they wouldn’t want to do it as I am too young and would likely need another in 10 years or so. I saw a Pysio who gave me exercises but I was to weak to do them ..I have poor muscle strength. I don’t really get about I haven’t been out for months .. apart from to my son Christmas Day for a few hours. I find it really hard to get in an out of cars an can’t lift my leg to get on the bus. I literally do nothing. I’ve lost interest some days even the tv doesn’t go on I just sit. I know I’m not doing myself any good but when I walk and feel my joints rubbing and grinding pain an sore that feels like it’s very damaging so I tend not to do much.

stickywicket

I'm very much afraid that "You need a new hip/knee but are too young" is a regular story on here. It's a shame.

It sounds to me, Gill, that you are very down about things and no wonder. Arthritis can isolate us and make us quite depressed. We need hope and right now it sounds as if you have very little.

But there are things you can do. You worry about the damage that exercise might do to your joints. Actually, the opposite is true. It's lack of exercise that damages them. It allows muscles to weaken and go slack so that they don't support the joints properly. That hurts.

You don't need a physio for exercises though it's better but, if you don't want to try with a physio, just download Arthritis Care's booklet on exercise and read it carefully first. It's essential to go very gently at first until strength is built up. Little and often is the beat way. Why not give it a try?

Another thing which might help would be to ring our helpline people for a chat about things. They're very kind and it really does help to talk to people who understand.