New to this...

minnie18

I've never done anything like this so here goes...
I'm 26 and only being diagnosed with RA for about a year (does it get any easier with time?) I'm trying to work full time run a house i.e get through the mountain of washing that is created each week, keep my home clean and tidy and still have a social life.
I have good days and bad days, nights being wide awake with burning, swollen joints, tears rolling down my face thinking what on earth could I have done to deserve this
If anyone has any advice or tips I'd be very grateful for anything!
Thank you to anyone that has read my ranting.

[Deleted User]

Hi Minnie18
Welcome to the forum sorry you are going through a lot at the moment we understand what you are going through as everyone here has a form of arthritis and go through pain aswell.Everyone is friendly and will try and help in any way to make you feel part of the forum the most popular forums are Living with Arthritis and Chit Chat.
All the best Christine

dibdab

Hi there, sorry to hear that you're struggling. RA is all consuming , particularly when it's New and you're trying to get your head around it. You ask does it get easier, I think for me the real answer is you get used to living with it. Gradually you work out what's achievable, what's worth struggling to keep going, and what drains your energy.

For me I discovered that folks are generally happy to help, I just had to get to grips with asking! I discovered the local ironing shop...ironing has always been a pet hate. The occupational therapist suggested useful aids to help with some tasks, and my employer made some adjustments to my working area and responsibilities following a work place assessment.....lots of little things that made life better. I began making my life easier by buying ready prepared vegetables, and occasionally ready meals on the bad days. Most importantly I gradually learned to pace myself better.

It can take some time to find the best combination of medication for you, but when you do it helps to make life better.

Talking helps, sometimes we try to hide just how much we struggle, but certainly our nearest and dearest can help life better, but they don't know if we don't tell them. Also there are lots of useful downloadable information leaflets on here to share with family and employers explaining some of the things you are coping with. And talking on here c an help, most of us have struggled with similar things at some stage, and it really helps to know that others understand and we're not alone.

Life is a challenge when you live with a chronic disease, but it's really important to find things that make you happy and build them into your days, perhaps a hobby you enjoy, a walk in the sunshine, a lovely warm scented bath to ease aching joints, a meal out.....anything that makes you feel good about yourself.

We're here when you need to unload, and no doubt others will be along soon to share their experiences and wisdom.

Deb x

barbara12

Hello minnie18 and welcome to the forum
I can only imagine how hard things hard things are having to work full time..I don't think it gets easier, more like we learn to live with it,even talking to us can be a big help.. there are many meds out there that can make things more bearable , hopefully your rheumy will go through these for you..and like debs says ask for help ..people don't always like to offer..I do wish you well..x

minnie18

Hi guys

Thank you so much for your support it’s nice to know that I’m truly not alone in all this. It’s just so frustrating sometimes that at work I have to be the one to sit down and rest when my colleagues (who are older) work perfectly fine without some what of a break.
I’m trying to find my happy-medium in something that I can start as a hobby but won’t affect the RA any ideas/thoughts??
Just had a steroid injection too on Tuesday (my second one, since being diagnosed) doesn’t feel as effective as it did the first time unless i’ve Not given it enough time to work round my body??

Thanks for reading!
X

stickywicket

For a start you have done nothing to deserve it, Minnie. None of us have. Life isn't fair: it's just a lottery and we have to deal with the roll of the dice.

Dealing with it, for me, (I have RA too. And OA) means accepting that I can't live as if I didn't have it. You must be utterly and permanently shattered if you're ” trying to work full time run a house i.e get through the mountain of washing that is created each week, keep my home clean and tidy and still have a social life.” I'm wondering how difficult is the work, why you need to 'run a house' (is there no-one else to help?), if the washing could be re-organised (ie Why 'a mountain'? Again, can anyone else help? I iron very little these days). I soon learnt, when my sons were young, that tidiness, small children and RA were incompatible. Either the tidiness had to go or the kids. I opted to keep the kids Even with cleanliness I'm nowhere near as fanatical as I used to be. Social life? No, I'm afraid that was quite a casualty for many years.

RA is stressful enough. We don't need more stress. Why not take some time out to sit down and work out which areas of your busy days can be pared down a bit, which areas others can help with (If we seem ultra-efficient they often daredn't ask) and which could be improved in other ways. You don't have to be Superwoman, you know. Living with arthritis is a qualification, all on its own, for Superwoman status.

Yours wasn't a rant: just a sharing of the bad bits. We all need to do it. It helps and we need all the help we can get. I hope you'll find you've found people here who do understand and with whom you can share the good and the bad of arthritis any time.

dreamdaisy

In some ways my arthritis has got better with time in that I know what it does, when it is more likely to do it it and what to do about it. I am still at the mercy of its temper and interference (despite the meds) but I am better at dealing with it. I am one of the lucky ones with both an auto-immune arthritis and osteoarthritis, the meds for the first do nothing for the second but the second is far more predictable and responds better to the actions I take to minimise not.

I began with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) when I was 37, not given any meds until I was 42 because no-one knew what was going on, it wasn't accurately diagnosed until I was 46 and then when I was 52 osteoarthritis was diagnosed. I was born with eczema and developed asthma when I was 7 so the PsA was not great surprise unlike the OA: I naively thought you had either one or the other, I never realised that both was a possibility.

Because I have always had health issues I am very used to tailoring things to make the most of what little energies I have but if you are new to this it must be a complete culture shock. I am very thankful I have never known good health, it prepares you not one jot for , as I see it, real life and the hard living of it. DD