Just registered after 20 plus years with OA

Wombatjames

Hi all,

I have thought for a long time about joining a forum where like suffering folk are listening.

My OA was first diagnosed as degenerative disc disease, in my lower neck,in 1994 and over the years has hit every joint badly. Some days I just dont want to get up as I know the pain and discomfort will constantly be in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I am active and still work three days a week but I don’t think I can carry that on for much longer. Do others feel the same at only 63 years old?

[Deleted User]

Hi Wombatjames,
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you've been suffering with OA in the lower neck for so many years.
You may find this page on our website has some useful information to help with pain management https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/neck-pain/

Do join in elsewhere in the forums.
Best wishes
Chris B

stickywicket

Hello wombatjames and first of all well done for holding down a job when you feel so rough. It can't be easy.

My situation is different so I don't know how much help I can be. I got RA at 15, OA a few years later and now, almost 60 years on, am worth my weight in titanium

I'm fortunate in that, although my neck barely moves, the rest of my spine isn't too bad.

The main things, with OA, are to exercise, keep to a healthy diet and weight, not smoke and have a decent bed. Mattresses shouldn't be more than 10 years old. I prefer a well-sprung one with a layer of memory foam on top. I also use a shaped, memory foam pillow. And then it's distraction - not thinking about it as it is a fact that, the more we think about pain, the more we feel it.

Please join in anywhere on these forums. Living With Arthritis is the most popular one. We don't bite

dreamdaisy

Hello, I have OA all over the shop thanks to my other arthritis, psoriatic, which began when I was 37. I was automatically promoted to granny status by ignoramuses and now, aged 60, I'm nearly there albeit minus the grandchildren.

I do the best I can with what I have and always have done: luckily I was a sickly child so was well-prepared for what was to come. There is no doubt that arthritis of any kind can be life-limiting if we allow it to be so, it's down to us to make the best of things. I fully accept there will be days which are worse than normal so cater for those by keeping myself occupied as best I can without expending too much energy whilst on the better days I try not to do too much so I can avoid payback. I am very pleased to be no longer working simply because I would be an unreliable person. I was fortunate when I was working that I was self-employed so could tailor things to suit my needs.

I hope you find the forum to be of interest , we all get it because we've all got it. DD