good morning

vikingqueen
vikingqueen Member Posts: 17
edited 24. Dec 2018, 08:03 in Say Hello Archive
good morning all, i am new to the forum and would just like to say hello. i was diagnosed 12 months ago with rheumatoid arthritis.. what a year! from going 30 years never having to see a doctor, to appointments every 2 weeks, it has turned my life upside down. from what i am reading on this forum it is the place you can have a good moan without being judged.. just what i need, if i hear another person say oh i have a spot of arthritis in my knee..shoulder..etc i,ll swing for them, i could go on moaning all day but i wont i,ll leave it for another time!! a very merry christmas to you all

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 3,635
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi vikingqueen
    welcome to the forums and as you say this is a safe place to have a moan knowing that everyone here will understand. Arthritis really can turn our lives upside down can't it? Hopefully once your arthritis is under good control you won't need to go to appointments so often. This section on managing your symptoms may be useful. https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/
    I am sure others here will share their experiences
    Best Wishes
    Sharon
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Member Posts: 17
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    thank you Sharon, i am a very positive person and i know it will take time to get the correct medication, i have a lovely rheumatoid nurse who listens and is always on the other end of a phone. i am loving some of the moans i am reading on the forum everyone seems so positive that one day we will be cured!! it brightens my day to know there are people who are all in the same boat but continue to smile, i am so glad i found them.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, it's nice to meet you and I am sorry you have had to find us. I began psoriatic arthritis back in 1997 when I was 37 then osteoarthritis was diagnosed in 2011, a double I didn't consider was possible: I know better now. :lol:

    People are ignorant about arthritis which is natural enough:. I was before I began (when I began so was my GP which did not help) and I daresay you thought you knew what it was until it began to affect you. Auto-immune arthritis is a complex condition which, thanks to the advance in medication, is now an invisible condition which adds to the fun. I am off now, despite my assiduous hand washing etc. I have caught a cold and need a cuppa! DD

    PS. You don't mention any medication you are taking but if you are on immuno-suppressants I hope you have had a flu jab.
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Member Posts: 17
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hi dreamdaisy, you are right in a didnt have a clue about rheumatiod arthritis, i was in the clueless gang along with a lot of others.. :roll: mine came out of nowhere, went on holiday sept 2017 was a bit off whilst there, came home went back to work still felt off, went to the doctors and low and behold ta da... within 2 weeks i was so bad i couldnt even pick up a magazine, ive never known pain like it.. ive, just started to inject methotrexate after being on the tablets for a year but it isnt working, liver and kidneys protesting hence blood tests every 2 weeks the hydroxy made me sick the prednisolone even sicker so its just the injections for now, reading on here though im confident it will get better :)
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I am so sorry, these things do come out of the blue and if course one naturally assumes it will never happen to you (well, I presume that's how it goes, after a lifetime of auto-immune crapola I always assumed it would :lol: ). RA can be very aggressive with its onset and it can take time to find the right combination of meds to control disease activity: very few on here take only one medication for their auto-immune arthritis, those who are coping well tend not to need a forum.

    I had fortnightly bloods for years, and the difference the medication has made is very apparent to me: now I am the one shuffling in and out of my rare rheumatology appointments with a stick or other walking aid whilst other patients stroll about with ease. I am by no means as damaged as I could have been thanks to the drugs but damage has been done, 'tis the nature of the beasts. There are around ten million arthritics in the UK, the majority of whom have osteoarthritis. Arthritis is an equal opportunities disease so it's very PC, it doesn't discriminate between age, class or gender.

    I am on 15ml (or mgs, I can never remember) of injected meth, I take a weekly folic acid tablet too: the humira is a fortnightly injection of 40mgs (or mls). I know they are working because my bloods are lovely, my mobility used to improve too back in the early days but now it doesn't. My pain levels remain high thanks to the osteo but I am used to it, it doesn't bother me: it's never going to change or improve so why get wound up about it? I haven't the energy.

    People do not associate arthritis with tiredness but we can be extremely fatigued. Pain is draining, our bodies are working harder to achieve less, sleep can be disturbed, for many it's an unrelenting condition. Some do get away 'lightly' with just one of two joints being affected, or the progression being slow; I remember a neighbour
    (a few years ago now) tellingg me to get a new hip because it had transformed her life. When I explained that my hips were OK, it was just the rest of me, she was staggered it affected joints other than hips as her experience had been so limited. Lucky moo. :roll: DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Member Posts: 17
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    good morning dreamdaisy i hope you are as pain free as can be, it seems you have had more than your fair share of this illness, i seem to have got off lightly compared to you and many others.. i am still at the stage of feeling sorry for myself although i know i shouldnt as there are many people a lot worse off. the hardest thing for me is the fatigue, i can sleep for england.. from going from getting up at 6 every day to go to work i am now lucky if i see 2 nine-o-clocks in a day!! i had to finish work due to the nature of my job and now its rattling around not being able to do much and time to dwell :roll: i am seeing a new consultant in jan so hopefully he or she will give me the miracle cure we are all waiting for, i wont hold my breathe though :lol:
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I knew by the age of eight that my life as never going to be as good as that of others health-wise but in other ways it's been good: I had my own little business tutoring dyslexics, I am married to a wonderful man, I live near the sea, more things are good than bad. For you it will be very different - I admit I have not one clue about how you must be feeling but that doesn't mean I cannot empathise: pain and fatigue are always there and they are challenging even for us old hands.

    There is no miracle, no cure: acceptance is hard and hard work. It seems unbelievable that in this day-and-age a disease exists for which there is no remedy but there is and we've got it. It's not on, is it?

    I have to go, we have people coming round and I definitely need a shower :wink: If I am not back later I will be tomorrow.

    Take care.

    DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Member Posts: 17
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    despite all thats happened over the last year i try to stay positive, i have a brilliant family, 5 beautiful grandchildren, a partner who despite his own health issues is there for me whenever i feel low, life is good really, your posts have brightened a some what dreary day, thank you for that.. i hope your afternoon went well.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, today is payback day: because yesterday was long and busy I had a feeling today would be a non-event. :lol: Much tea is being drunk, two loads of washing have been dealt with, a game of Trivial Pursuit has been played and now it's time for a snooze. :wink:

    I hope you have had as pleasant as day as possible and that the Christmas hype is not causing any extra stress. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Member Posts: 17
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hi, i hope today is better than yesterday for you, it is so easy to overdo things without realising isnt it.. i am still learning the hard way.. today my hands are so bad i literally cannot bend my fingers, they have had the hot/ cold treatment to no avail.. any suggestions( from an old hand at this) would be gratefully accepted :cry:
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I've managed to muck up my entire christmas by doing my meth yesterday, thinking I was over the cold. It turns out I wasn't so my nose running like a tap, I'm coughing like a sea lion, lovely. :lol:

    There are times when, no matter what we do, our arthritis will NOT be helped, refuses to be eased, will not co-operate in any way, shape or form. When it is not under proper control it can also react to stress in a more apparent manner - this is a hectic and stressful time of the year so that could also be playing a part. I am so sorry, the only advice I can offer is sit back and let others take the strain: do not feel guilty, you are NOT deliberately sabotaging the festive season, you have a disease and this is what it does. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben