Living with Arthritis

butterfly
butterfly Member Posts: 17
edited 26. Jan 2018, 06:43 in Living with Arthritis archive
I had been posting on 'Is this psoriatic arthritis' and given support, it was suggested I move my post to this forum.
After being diagnosed with Psoriatic arthritis and then spending most of the last year quite lost and unsure, are they right, is it really what they said, but I don't have the symptoms (Psoriasis) etc etc.

This last week after asking the question 'Is this psoriatic arthritis' and received some interesting replies. I have slowly become more accepting and with the support received more understanding!
I don't see my Rheumatologist until the end of February and my steroid injection has run out, so now in pain Neck, shoulders, back and feet!

This will not interfere with my life its just sometimes you need to get rid of the negativity that is crippling in its own right. Sorry, what a read for you dear people. I'll keep smiling :)

Comments

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    It doesn't matter how long one has had a diagnosis or got on with stuff, it gets us all down every now and again and that is where the forum is useful, it is a place to let off steam.

    I think you are still relatively new to it all so it must be harder (especially if you have a background of better health, I know I should remember your story but currently don't as my arthritic cosh is repeatedly slamming down) and it is not unreasonable to feel low. Every day is a challenge (event the better ones have their moments) and quite why we feel we have to repeatedly slap on a brave face I don't know. This is where the forum comes into its own. All those who read your post will empathise - we all get it because we've all got it. I think the steroid comedown is one of the worst things to endure, you have had the nice time and then comes the horrid reminder that all they have done is con you into feeling 'better'. Nasty little b*gg*rs.

    When things hit me (and they currently are) I make a fuss of myself: lots of Johnson's baby talc, wearing my better clothes to lounge about, a favourite nightie if stuck in bed, tea lights everyhwere, sparkly fairy lights - all combine to eventually make me feel better about myself and things generally. I keep reminding myself that it will pass because all things do but I have had a lifetime of practice at dealing with this dross. Over time you will develop your strategies but that does take time. In the meantime we're here. ((( ))) DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello again! I've seen your latest post on 'Say Hello' and I do hope things are a little easier today. I'm afraid it's the nature of the beast that it bites from time to time. Steroids can convince us that this isn't really happening but, although that can seem helpful and useful at the time, it's not really.

    One of the main values of these forums is that they provide a 'safe place' for us to tell it like it is. Indeed, sometimes we need to tell it like it is in order to convince ourselves that it really is that bad :roll:

    I'm a tad concerned about your statement 'this won't interfere with my life'. It will. It really will. I think unless we accept that, get on top of it and try to minimise the ways it does than it will interfere with life even more. I allow my RA to win the minor battles so that I can win the war. There is a great deal that it won't let me do but I make sure I can still do the really important stuff and enjoy life.

    It's difficult (referring back to your post on 'say hello') to know how much to tell our nearest and dearest. We don't want them to suffer as a result of our pain but neither do we want them to feel we have excluded them from a quite hefty section of our lives. It's an ongoing learning curve but please do feel you can come here and just let it all out.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Airwave!
    Airwave! Member Posts: 2,458
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Arther is a state of mind, not true! But having a strong will and the strength to keep on buggering along have certainly helped me, try looking under the first two subjects on LWA and look for ' acceptance', it may ring a bell?

    The only real answer to arther in all his forms is medical intervention, it will come one day.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Arthritis has changed my life, and it has certainly affected how I live it, but the essential me is still there and that will never change. I am grateful that I managed to have 37 years without joint pain and am now thankful I cannot remember how that felt.

    The seven stages of grief can certainly be applied to receiving a diagnosis of arthritis: shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression and acceptance are the usual norms. They don't necessarily appear in that order and, indeed, not all of them may be felt. I have experienced anger, depression and acceptance, the first flares every now and again, the second is being managed with anti-deps and the third was always there, for me this is just more of the same. Kathy Lette once wrote 'Love prepares you for marriage in the way that lace-making does for round-the-world-yachting'. Good health prepares one for arthritis in a similar way. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • butterfly
    butterfly Member Posts: 17
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    When I look back over the last 12 months I certainly have felt shock, denial, grief, anger even bargaining. I think denial has been the strongest mind set and possibly still is. I want to get on with dealing with this but until I accept it, it is not going happen is it. Oh I do keep saying that it will not affect my life but your right it does doesn't it? Do we go through these stages more that once?
    I have shocked myself in the way I have felt, I always thought I would accept whatever life throws at me but clearly not.
    I suppose I will have to keep working through this until I reach a time when acceptance is finally here. Do we ever get to that stage, I do hope so.

    Butterfly
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Acceptance is an ongoing thing. Each new outrage has to be mourned but at least it becomes second nature. Try reading the 'acceptance' thread on the 'Topics with suggestion for living a positive life' above. It's interesting and useful to see how others deal with things and their sticking points.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • daffy2
    daffy2 Member Posts: 1,636
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    As Sticky says acceptance is an ongoing thing, rather than a destination. Regarding it as a goal to be achieved may be counter-productive. Your life has changed and will continue to do so, and some or many of those changes will not be easy and you will feel angry, resentful, depressed at various times about your situation. What can help is trying to find something positive, however small, each day. A smile, compliment or joke from friends or family, a random act of kindness from a stranger, a sunset, are things to savour.
    Denial is normal, and recognising that's what you are experiencing is part of acceptance. It's also worth remembering that acceptance is not the same as resignation. Accepting a situation gives you options as to how you deal with it, resignation tends to mean giving up or giving in which isn't helpful.
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    daffy2 wrote:
    It's also worth remembering that acceptance is not the same as resignation. Accepting a situation gives you options as to how you deal with it, resignation tends to mean giving up or giving in which isn't helpful.


    As usual, pearls of wisdom from daffy. That should be written in bold at the front of the 'acceptance' thread. I love it.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright