Hello

islandlady71119

Hi all, I am new to these forum's,unfortunately not new to arthritis. I have osteoarthritis,Spondylosis in my cervical and lumbar spine.I've had this since I was in my twenties,and had to wait over 10 years for a proper diagnosis, the usual quote i got was"you are too young for arthritis" one doctor told me at age 35 "my god woman you have the spine of an 80 year old" I am now in my fifties and am finding life very hard, mainly due to pain as i can't take pain killers due to previous serious addiction in my 20's.I am fortunate to get acupuncture from my GP now, only for my neck and shoulder,which helps there.(I am struggling to type this as my fingers hurt).on the positive side i keep telling myself it wont kill me, the negative side is i feel no one understands people are kind, but nobody really understands the pain and discomfort 24/7

[Deleted User]

Hi islandlady71119, welcome to the forum!

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, I am sorry to hear you are in so much pain with the osteoarthritis & spondylosis. It is often hard for others to truly understand what it is like to live with chronic pain but please know you have come to the right place for support. All our members & moderators here have been impacted in one way or another by arthritis and understand what you are going through.

I’m glad to see you are getting some pain relief from acupuncture. I am sure our members will soon jump in and share their experiences and advice with you but in the meantime, I have provided a link with information on various pain management options. Different things work for different people and I hope you find something useful here.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-your-pain/

Please feel free to give our great Helpline Team a call for more support 0800 5200 520 (Monday–Friday, 9am–8pm).

Please join in any of the forums where you feel comfortable.

Best Wishes,
Alice

frogmorton

Well islandlady we DO understand you and the pain you are in.

Like you I suffered pain from an early age with 'them' saying I was too young

You have definitely found the right place for support and understanding

Please do join in wherever you like you will be very welcome.

Toni xx