Hello

Philo

Hi,
I stumbled across this site via Twitter - Looks like fun.

I'm a 55 year old male. Broke an awful lot of bones 25 years ago & have been living with increasingly bad osteo-a ever since, due to trauma & wear & tear from the unnatural geometry I was left with when they put me back together. Spent the last few years in chronic pain. Problems with both wrists, knees (particularly the left), & both ankles. These days I don't notice the knees as much, because the ankles are so bad, I'm not often moving around enough for the knees to start complaining. I'm currently waiting to go back to orthopaedic clinic to see if they'll do something about any of this.

[Deleted User]

Hi Philo Welcome to the forum sorry you are going through a lot at the moment there are lots of friendly and sympathetic people who will understand what you are going through and they all have Arthritis of some kind so just get chatting our most popular forums are Living with Arthritis and Chit Chat
All the best Christine

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you and I am sorry you have had to find us. I have OA as a result of my other arthritis which I began when I was 37: that is one of the auto-immune kinds. Some joints have one, some the other and others both but they all hurt, all the time. Do you find your OA is worse in the cold and damp? Many of us do and I find that eating too much acidic foods also exacerbates matters. I can control my diet and activity levels but not the weather. DD

Philo

Thanks, both of you. DD I certainly do find things more difficult when the weather turns colder. Not sure about the damp, though - I don't seem to have a problem with hot & humid.

stickywicket

Well, hello Humpty Dumpty and welcome from me too. (Please don't take offence. It was meant kindly. Seriously, it must be horrible to have your life suddenly changed in that way. I've had RA for many years and OA for slightly less so I had a gentler ride into the world of non-functioning joints. I do hope the orthopaedic guys can help. I've had three new knees (No, I'm not Jake the Peg. One had to be replaced after 27 years of duty) and two hips. Every one has been brilliant.

Philo

Thanks. 27 years out of a knee is impressive. I was told I couldn't have one because I was too young & it wouldn't last me. I guess your knee must have been worse than mine. I'm hoping for at least one new ankle this time round but, if not, I'll probably have to go for fusion.

MarcusC

Hello ,everyone
This is my first post. I have been told I am having my first RA flare. Is there any way of knowing how long it will last.?

[Deleted User]

Hi Marcus C

Welcome to the forum, lovely to meet you. How long have you been diagnosed with arthritis? Usually people go to the doctor when their symptoms are affecting their daily life so this would be called their first flare.

Here’s a general e-booklet about rheumatoid arthritis

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/

Regarding flares in general it’s not possible to tell the whys and wherefores of a flare. Is there an obvious cause? Sometimes it’s over activity or catching a bug, sometimes there isn’t a cause. However looking after yourself during a flare is the best treatment, keep up on gentle exercise (but not of the affected joint/s), eat well and rest, avoid as much stress as you can.

I would guess everyone on here has experience of flares so keep posting and asking questions, we are here for you

Take care
Yvonne x

dreamdaisy

It's gloriously cold here today, Philo, and I can hear my bones squeaking against each other as I move around. My husband heard it too (and he's waiting for hearing aids :roll: ) It won't be so bad in heat and humidity - that is a different scenario altogether.

Hello Marcus, I have psoriatic arthritis and despite the meds still flare from time to time; they last for weeks, even months. I also have osteoarthritis, that does not flare as such but I can aggravate it by overdoing things. DD

stickywicket

It's not usual for them to last so long but I guess, owing to the RA, it's been treated kindly ie lots of exercises but no climbing or high jumping etc. I got RA at 15 and there were no modern disease modifying meds then to keep it in check. Hence the sudden decline. My left knee wore out after 27 years and was replaced again but a revision, as they call it, is a bigger operation with ongoing worries about infection. This is why they don't like to replace original joints too quickly . I've got away scot free but it's a different story with a replaced hip. It's pulled away from the cement but it's probably going to be two big ops to replace it and even then there's no guarantee.

My ankles fused themselves over the years. It was a painful process but I have no pain in them now. I hope you have as much success.

Hello Marcus. No, there's no way of telling, I'm afraid. It does its own thing.