Hello to all

frank50

Just joined and so glad to be aboard.
I just turned 50 and discovered after painfull walking for three months I have rheumatoid arthritis in the knees and wrists.
I had to see a private doctor as my own could not diagnose it believe it or not.
Well with no medical insurance this nice doctor refered me back to NHS for steriod injections.
I got one on my hip allready and is working fine.
Before I was taking 100mg tramadol with an NSAIDs as it was soo painful to walk and the tramadol was awfull as it made me feel nauseous.
Please can you tell me what can happen from here...shall I be on the steriods for life or can I make a dietery change.
Im hearing so many storys and worried as I walk a lot in my job so thats why I joined.

Thank you.

Frank.

[Deleted User]

Hi and welcome - there is a wealth of knowlagable people on here and I'm sure you will get the answer you seek,if wee moderators can help just ask.
Al

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you but I am sorry you have had to find us. I started arthritis aged 37, I am now 59 and have both an auto-immune (psoriatic) and osteo. My rheumatologist ignores the OA because that is the remit of the GP, who likewise ignores the psoriatic (PsA). In my experience diet makes no difference whatsoever, the OA is weather-related, the PsA is controlled by drugs to reduce the activity of my immune system. They don't affect the OA.

It is not surprising that your GP could not diagnose your RA because they do not deal with this kind of arthritis and, in fact, may not know too much about the various treatments. I presume you have been referred to a rheumatologist, what did your blood tests show? Unlike osteoarthritis the auto-immune kinds such as RA are diagnosed by blood tests and the first course of treatment is usually a DMARD (disease modifying anti rheumatic drug) such as methotrexate. Steroids can be given - which may or may not work - but they do not address the underlying cause of the arthritis and are not a long-term treatment because of the havoc they cause with the rest of the body: they thin all body tissues, not just the badly-behaving ones.

I was born with auto-immune troubles so for me the PsA is just more of the same, do you have a history of auto-immune nonsense in your family? These things run in families but can also start out of the blue.

Having a creaky foot in both camps is not fun but it is what it is, it is never going to get better (or away) so I make the most of what I have whilst I have it. I began with one affected joint, now it's around forty but so what? There are around ten million arthritics in the UK, the majority have OA which kinda works against it, arthritis as a disease lacks 'glamour' because it is so common and doesn't end lives, just spoils them. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, if you have had the luxury of good health until now getting to grips with this change of circumstances is going to be challenging to say the least. Most people look in on the Living with Arthritis board, that's where we deal with meds, appointments, adjustments and try to give practical as well as emotional support. Arthritis is a complicated disease which affects every aspect of our lives. DD

stickywicket

Hello Frank and welcome from me, too, though, as we say round here, sorry you had to join us.

I do believe that your GP could not diagnose RA as diagnosis can be a complicated business best left to the specialists. However, from what you write, I'm a bit puzzled. Are you sure the diagnosis was Rheumatoid Arthritis not Osteo Arthritis? I have both and my RA requires Disease Modifying Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDS) whereas my OA is dealt with by pain relief. RA usually (though not always) starts in the smaller joints – fingers in my case.

I'm glad the steroid injection has helped your hip. Steroids are given for both RA and OA but, with OA, are usually given by injection into a joint whereas with RA they are usually given in tablet form or as a general injection usually in the bottom.

You certainly won't be on steroids for life as they can do harm as well as god if overused. I think the sort of injection you've had can be had up to four times a year (I could be wrong) but it won't necessarily last that length of time.

Diet? Eat and drink sensibly. A Mediterranean-type diet is good. Don't smoke. Keep your weight down.

Exercise is essential but so, too, is rest. There is lots of info on the header menu above.

Will you be seeing a rheumatologist again, either privately or on the NHS, or are you now just in the hands of your GP? If the latter, that would also suggest it's OA not RA.

frank50

stickywicket wrote:

Hello Frank and welcome from me, too, though, as we say round here, sorry you had to join us.

I do believe that your GP could not diagnose RA as diagnosis can be a complicated business best left to the specialists. However, from what you write, I'm a bit puzzled. Are you sure the diagnosis was Rheumatoid Arthritis not Osteo Arthritis? I have both and my RA requires Disease Modifying Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDS) whereas my OA is dealt with by pain relief. RA usually (though not always) starts in the smaller joints – fingers in my case.

I'm glad the steroid injection has helped your hip. Steroids are given for both RA and OA but, with OA, are usually given by injection into a joint whereas with RA they are usually given in tablet form or as a general injection usually in the bottom.

You certainly won't be on steroids for life as they can do harm as well as god if overused. I think the sort of injection you've had can be had up to four times a year (I could be wrong) but it won't necessarily last that length of time.

Diet? Eat and drink sensibly. A Mediterranean-type diet is good. Don't smoke. Keep your weight down.

Exercise is essential but so, too, is rest. There is lots of info on the header menu above.

Will you be seeing a rheumatologist again, either privately or on the NHS, or are you now just in the hands of your GP? If the latter, that would also suggest it's OA not RA.

[Deleted User]

Hi Frank,

When you want to reply to a post you can choose reply to topic at the bottom of the thread and then you won't need to copy the previous post and we get to see your reply.

Don't worry we're here to help any time

Take care
Yvonne x