Saying Hello

Dragonfly17
Dragonfly17 Member Posts: 47
edited 31. Dec 2016, 14:47 in Say Hello Archive
Hi people, I am new to this site and not finding my away around very easy, here's hoping with time I may learn to use it.

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 3,635
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello

    Welcome to the forum, I am sure you will find support, advice, light relief and friendship here.

    Iam one of the moderation team and we all have one or more of the arthritis 'hanger ons' or look after family with the same.

    If you would like to post again telling us a little about yourself, the type and arthritis you have and anything else you feel would help members to respond to you.

    If you have any difficulties with the technicalities of the forum, just drop us a personal message.

    Best Wishes
    ChrisK
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello Dragonfly x:D

    Welcome to the forums from me too.

    I think you did very well for a first attempt I am sure you'll be ok.

    The most used forums are Chit Chat and Living with Arthritis. The former for mostly non-arthritis chat and some games. It includes a virtual café where you can pop in for virtual and calorie-free food and drinks x:)

    Living with Arthritis is where we go for help advice and support. It's a great resource and whatever your problem there's usually someone who has experienced it before and can reassure you.

    Take care now

    Toni xx
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, it's lovely to meet you but I am sorry you have had to find us. It's a little quiet around here at the moment due to the festive season, arthritis and the stress of this time of year are not happy bedfellows! I have PsA, OA and fibro plus a very heavy cold so I am staying in bed - luxury! I am sure you will soon get the hang of the forum, practice makes perfect. x:wink:

    I wish you well and hope to see you here and there around the boards. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Dragonfly17
    Dragonfly17 Member Posts: 47
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    frogmorton wrote:
    Hello Dragonfly x:D

    Welcome to the forums from me too.

    I think you did very well for a first attempt I am sure you'll be ok.

    The most used forums are Chit Chat and Living with Arthritis. The former for mostly non-arthritis chat and some games. It includes a virtual café where you can pop in for virtual and calorie-free food and drinks x:)

    Living with Arthritis is where we go for help advice and support. It's a great resource and whatever your problem there's usually someone who has experienced it before and can reassure you.

    Take care now

    Toni xx

    Thank you for your reply to my introduction, now realise I should have said more about myself!
  • Dragonfly17
    Dragonfly17 Member Posts: 47
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    dreamdaisy wrote:
    Hello, it's lovely to meet you but I am sorry you have had to find us. It's a little quiet around here at the moment due to the festive season, arthritis and the stress of this time of year are not happy bedfellows! I have PsA, OA and fibro plus a very heavy cold so I am staying in bed - luxury! I am sure you will soon get the hang of the forum, practice makes perfect. x:wink:

    I wish you well and hope to see you here and there around the boards. DD


    Hi DD
    Sorry you are not feeling so good, I too feel as it a cold is about to break! Will write more about myself as I didn't realise I should have when I wrote my first quote. Take Care.
  • Dragonfly17
    Dragonfly17 Member Posts: 47
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi people, I am new to this site and not finding my away around very easy, here's hoping with time I may learn to use it.


    Hi People,
    Didn't realise I should have introduced myself properly yesterday, so here goes:
    I am 66 years and was diagnosed with RA last July; it came out of nowhere, I had no previous symptoms until my right wrist started to hurt and swell, within a few weeks I was unable to use my hands and the right side of my neck was too painful to move. Because my appointment with my local hospital was 7 weeks away I went privately to get a diagnosis of what was wrong with me. I am now under my local hospital I was given 3 months of steriods and all swelling and pain disappeared, but now I am off and on methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine I am having problems again with my neck and hands, mainly my left thumb which is preventing me from holding and grasping things, also getting new aches in areas I didn't have originally. Am hoping that these will go away in time once they have my meds right - or am I being too optimistic?
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Dragonfly :)

    There is no obligation to introduce yourself fully in your 1st post at all. I think it's just nice to know a little about each other.

    I think you did well for a 1st attempt :)

    The idea of the meds you are taking is exactly as you said. To reduce the effects of the RA. I don't know how long you've been on them, but they can take months to work. Shame it's not like paracetamol isn't it for a headache!!

    If they aren't enough your consultant will be able to change meds up doses etc till things are as good as possible for you.

    Take care

    Toni xxx
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hey, I think you're doing really well with the site. Our webmanager and Moderators make things as easy as possible for us while trying to include all the relevant stuff but, even so, it takes a bit of getting used to at first.

    I think RA always comes 'out of the blue' though anyone with a family history of autoimmune problems is more likely to get it than those who don't. My parents thought I was making a big fuss about 'chilblains' on my fingers until the doc got involved.

    I, too, take a combination of meth and hydroxy and do very well on it. Meth, in particular, can take up to 12 weeks to kick in and a starting dose isn't always one that will hold it. There's a lot of trial and error. Meanwhile you have already discovered the good and bad side of steroids. They're good insofar as we can feel cured almost instantly. They're bad because stopping them is difficult and it's not a good idea to take them long term because they thin all body tissues not just the inflamed ones. When do you see your rheumatologist again and for how long have you been on what dose of meth? It will all have a bearing on how you feel.

    Are you being too optimistic in hoping the pain will go once you're stabilised on the right dose of the right meds? Weeell, I think maybe a bit :) For most of us it's a matter of deciding what level of pain we can tolerate. You might get lucky if yours has been diagnosed early but most of us have had times when the pain was bad but the blood results near perfect :roll: Arthritis World is a weird and wonderful one but you've come to the right place as we all have to live in it and understand the frustrations of it.

    Please ask any questions you have and we'll try to answer them. Living With arthritis is the best forum for that as more people look in there. I'll look forward to seeing you around :D
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    No apologies are required, it can be nerve-wracking typing one's first post with wondering what and how much to say. Thank you, though, for the background, that helps us to understand what you might need from us easier to understand.

    I was born with auto-immune nonsense so the PsA is more of the same (that means psoriatic arthritis). I began the meds far too late, i.e. joint damage was well underway by the time I began swallowing, hence the OA and now the fibromyalgia. Pain? Constant thanks to forty affected joints but far easier to live with and manage once I had forgotten what pain-free felt like. I inject meth and an anti-TNF called humira (I am in my twentieth year of this nonsense so somewhat ahead of you meds-wise) but I have seen with my own eyes that the sooner one begins the meds the better the outcome can be: I am now one of the few at my rheumatology department who needs walking aids, everyone else strolls in and out of their meetings with ease. GPs are far better informed and quicker off the mark in these days than they used to be when it comes to recognising the symptoms of an auto-immune inflammatory condition.

    I was on oral steroids for three years and yes, they helped, but they were not actually tackling the cause of the trouble, just masking the worst symptoms of the disease. These are early days for you and the diagnosis must have been a complete shock - we all understand that, plus the confusion and uncertainty that it can cause. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Dragonfly17
    Dragonfly17 Member Posts: 47
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hey, I think you're doing really well with the site. Our webmanager and Moderators make things as easy as possible for us while trying to include all the relevant stuff but, even so, it takes a bit of getting used to at first.

    I think RA always comes 'out of the blue' though anyone with a family history of autoimmune problems is more likely to get it than those who don't. My parents thought I was making a big fuss about 'chilblains' on my fingers until the doc got involved.

    I, too, take a combination of meth and hydroxy and do very well on it. Meth, in particular, can take up to 12 weeks to kick in and a starting dose isn't always one that will hold it. There's a lot of trial and error. Meanwhile you have already discovered the good and bad side of steroids. They're good insofar as we can feel cured almost instantly. They're bad because stopping them is difficult and it's not a good idea to take them long term because they thin all body tissues not just the inflamed ones. When do you see your rheumatologist again and for how long have you been on what dose of meth? It will all have a bearing on how you feel.

    Are you being too optimistic in hoping the pain will go once you're stabilised on the right dose of the right meds? Weeell, I think maybe a bit :) For most of us it's a matter of deciding what level of pain we can tolerate. You might get lucky if yours has been diagnosed early but most of us have had times when the pain was bad but the blood results near perfect :roll: Arthritis World is a weird and wonderful one but you've come to the right place as we all have to live in it and understand the frustrations of it.

    Please ask any questions you have and we'll try to answer them. Living With arthritis is the best forum for that as more people look in there. I'll look forward to seeing you around :D


    Many thanks for you explanation, I have no relatives who have suffered with RA which is why I had no idea of what was wrong, in fact went to A & E thinking I had damaged my wrist. Went on steriods in late July for 2 months then was put onto Mtx and Hydrox in September, with first month taking steriods too. My mtx has gradually been increased and now on 25 mg a week and have been since early December. Seeing my rheumy nurse next week and consultant on 23 January; pain is tolerable now although I have great difficulty holding large items in my left hand, it's mainly my thumb which is causing me a problem and my neck when turning to the right. Having looked around the net I notice most people have some pain, so feel I was being very optimistic thinking all pain would go! But consultant did lead me to believe it could go into remission. Have lots of questions to ask when I see him next. Today I have come out in a nasty head cold and had to call docs to see if I can take paracetamol as I had not idea what I can or can not take with these meds. Any way told I could so am feeling a little better now but sad that we are not able to meet with friends tonight as planned. Am going to try to find the Living with Arthritis chat so may see you in there. Happy New Year.