Just Sayin' Hi

TraceyW
TraceyW Member Posts: 3
edited 2. Dec 2018, 12:38 in Say Hello Archive
Hi

Just checking in to say hello. I've been diagnosed as having OA in the left hand and wrist and I'm sorry to say not a lot of help from my GP practice. Currently I have pain in the left hand and wrist. I've tried Naproxen but there didn't seem to be any change so stopped it after ten days. What does seem to give an element of relief is taking Glucosamine and Omega-3 supplements and I read that Termeric seems to do a good job as well. Thankfully I am right handed and so far thre's no sign of that hand being affected. Nevertheless, I still feel very much disabled when it comes to doing anything with the hands such as in the kitchen. My husband helps where he can but he's not in the best of health himself. At present my left hand is showing signs of the two middle fingers trying to straighten; I certainly get nowhere near forming a fist with the hand and things tend to get a bit on top of me on ocassion.

Well thats my intro and although I'm not a big forum user at all, I guess I shall be popping into this forum from time to time.

Tracey

Comments

  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Tracey and welcome to the forum. I certainly hope you do keep popping in here. It's so helpful to be part of a community where everyone understanddo, without any long explanations.

    It's true that docs often seem quite offhand about OA because there's not much they can do for it other than prescribing pain relief or referring us for physio or to a pain clinic. But we can do things for ourselves such as keeping to a healthy diet and weight and keeping our joints both exercised and rested. And there are plenty of things that help us with routine tasks. Just look on any disability aids shop.
    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
    Hello, I have an auto-immune arthritis and OA. Around forty joints are affected now and I guess I was lucky that mine began in my left knee because that was manageable. Hand-wise the auto-immune one now affects all my fingers and elbows, the OA my wrists, shoulder and neck so life is becoming more challenging.

    GPs cannot offer much to help and the fact that OA is so common is, I think, something that works against it. There are around ten million arthritics in the UK of whom around eight million have OA. We all get it because we've all got it. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 3,635
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi TraceyW and welcome to the Versus Arthritis forums.

    You will find lots of help & support from members and if you have any questions, do ask & we will try to give useful answers.

    The website has a good section on osteoarthritis plus a useful information booklet that you can download :
    https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis/

    Finding of pain relief can take a little while and it’s worth perservering with your GP to find out what works best for you.

    Do come back to say how you are getting on

    All best wishes
    Brynmor
  • TraceyW
    TraceyW Member Posts: 3
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thanks for your welcome. I do wish to respond to the Moderator's reply but I'll do so in another section as this section is purely for saying hello.