Any tips for uni with RA?

Charlotte843

Hi,

My name is Charlotte and at 18 I have just been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am on methotrexate and have seen an improvement in my joints, however they are still painful on bad days.

I am going to uni this September to start my degree in Veterinary Medicine, and I was wondering if anyone who has/is doing a similar degree can share their experiences or tips for how to deal with RA at uni?

I am particularly anxious about using instruments for surgical techniques. As my condition is so new, currently it is hard to know how it will progress and how effective my medication will be. Is anyone aware of any brands that sell ergonomic surgical tools or anything similar?

Thanks, Charlotte :)

PJoanne

Hi @Charlotte843

Welcome to the forum, its great that you have found us. There is a ton of information and help available to you here. Underneath my post is the helpline number as well, should you want to chat to someone irl. Congratulations on your university placement, how exciting.

I'm going to put some links below for you.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/newly-diagnosed/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/in-your-area/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/young-people/

This is a link to a page with details of socail's that might interest you.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/young-people/connect-with-other-young-people/

That's a lot of links, sorry. Final one is about RA.

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

Before you get to university could you reach out to the student care team and find out what support they can offer you, and discuss with your rheumatology team how to manage your treatment whilst you are at university, if it means accessing health care from another hospital/Gp.

Best Joanne

annabanana

Hi Charlotte, I'm 19 just going into 3rd year of uni with RA; have you applied for DSA? it is honestly a life saver for me, I got a bunch of equipment to help make life easier and the people at DSA seemed to really listen to me. I just had to submit evidence of my RA diagnosis and then book a call with the team to see what specifically would help me out. If you haven't applied for DSA then I would recommend asking your lecturers for permission to record lectures to then go over in your own time. I find it extremely difficult to even try to keep up with notes in lectures and if you feel the same then I also recommend 'Glean' as it makes notes for you.

Also, are you currently receiving Occupational Therapy and/or Physiotherapy? I've only been going once a month for about a year now but have noticed a huge difference in the function of my hands and have gotten much better at things like gripping pencils, which may help you out for using instruments.

If you have any other questions then please let me know!! I don't know anyone else my age with RA so am happy to try and give as much advice as I can 😄.

Unrelated to what you ask but thought I'd add since it is around time for freshers week - I'm also on methotrexate (recently had some other meds thrown into the mix due to it being ineffective) and one piece of advice is not to drink/go out the night before a blood test - in my experience it raises my liver enzymes and causes my entire blood tests to be off and I had to rebook them every time.

Lydia10

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/63286/any-tips-for-uni-with-ra

hello Charlotte!
I’m 27, I don’t have RA but I do have JIA and am currently at uni, and struggling with walk around a lot! I’m trying to find things that work/ help.

I would recommend talking to your support team at your university, they are usually more than happy to help with anything they can. They usually also offer counselling and other things if you need to help with the stress of everything!

Feel free to message me or respond, I haven’t found many younger people on here. So I’m here if you want to chat!

Good luck!