New to this site, but not OA

KarlaDB5

Hello, everyone! I'm in my mid-50's but I have been suffering with OA since my mid-30's. A large part of the cause would be my being overweight, but I have also read that metabolic disease can contribute. I have PCOS, insulin resistance; metabolic syndrome is what they're diagnosing now. I also have some heart issues and hypertension, among other things..

I've been repeatedly testing high for ANA levels, sed rate, and CRP levels. The more detailed tests do not show an autoimmune disease. The only odd thing is a consistently high SSB. I do have dry eyes that manifests as blurry vision (taking gel at night), and some mouth dryness. My rheumatologist is monitoring me, but does not see any autoimmune issues.

So here I am in a nutshell 🙂. I hope to learn a lot here, and would really like to hear from folks who started this OA journey prior to 50s. 

Anna

Hello @KarlaDB5 and welcome to the online community,

You certainly have a number of different conditions to contend with! Like you, many of our members have lived with arthritis for several years and many, again like you, are living with various other conditions You’ve made a great decision to join the online community - you’ll find members are friendly, supportive and have a wealth of useful knowledge that they’re very happy to share.

It also sounds like you’re keen to know more about your conditions and how you can help yourself manage them. If you haven’t already had a look at the Versus Arthritis website, I would really recommend it. It has a great search function that you can use. As an example, here’s a link to the general osteoarthritis page that is a good place to start - it talks about symptoms, treatment as well as self help measures including nutrition and exercise.

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

Have a look round the community forum and do join in wherever you feel comfortable.

Anna ( Mod)

frogmorton

Hi @KarlaDB5

Lovely to meet you.

There are plenty of us who have had OA for centuries here. I think I did as my back problems started before I was 20, (surgery at 39), the inflammatory stuff not until early 40s. Oh and I am a size 10 always have been so i am not convince it's all about weight although of course it must be harder on joints to carry extra weight I agree.

Do join in everyone is lovely and helpful!

Take care

KarlaDB5

Thank you, Anna and frogmorton for the lovely welcome! I will definitely check out the rest of the site. 🙂