Article

Happy61
Happy61 Member Posts: 2
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:05 in Living with arthritis

Hi everyone my first time on this site hoping to get to know how others cope with Articles. I have suffered a long time with different things. But never had anyone to talk about my problems. I am a shy 🙈 person and don’t want to bother anyone so I keep things bottled up. My family know I have pain put I get the feeling that it’s just the norm for them. So I keep it to myself when I have a bad day. Because I am on my own most days my husband doesn’t know what I go through. My children are grown and have family of there own and live away . I can say I deal with my pain management myself. It’s a lonely life. Some days I feel like I be better off not being here. Hope I can make some friends on here. Never done anything like this before so I am very scared 😱 I don’t belong on here. Please can you see your way to except me many thanks for reading this page .

Comments

  • crinkly
    crinkly Member Posts: 144

    Hello Happy61.

    That's a lovely name to use but it sounds as though you are are far from feeling happy just now! It must be dreadful to feel so bad that you have thoughts about it being better if you were not here so I'm especially pleased you found this site.

    When you say you are a shy person I do hope this doesn't mean that you haven't talked to your GP or Practice Nurse about your problems as there are things that can be done to lessen the effects of most medical conditions - especially in the long term. If you have an inflammatory arthritis it's very important that you are prescribed treatment that will prevent serious complications.

    All of us understand what living with pain is like so you are in good company and more than welcome to share your story and your worries on the forum. It can be hard to do at first but most of us quickly find that it really helps to talk about our problems so we can support and encourage each other.

    Perhaps you could start be telling us what sort of arthritis you have, what worries you most and what treatment you are receiving? It sounds as though there are several medical issues making life difficult for you and it is likely that other forum users will have similar experiences.

    We are all different and unique but all share some of the symptoms. For example I have widespread osteoarthritis that was diagnosed by my GP in my early forties. My early worries were about coping with pain and my work as a teacher of PE and English, how my compromised mobility might affect my husband and young adult children and what would happen in the years ahead. That's a long time ago and things have turned out way better than I feared they might.

    I've been a member of this forum for about 12 years and read most of the posts although I don't add to them very often. It's just comforting to know that people here do care and will respond whenever I need it.

    So please tell us more. We will 'listen' and, although we are not qualified medical personnel, we have much gathered experience of arthritis and are willing to share what we have learned in the hope it will help you on your journey.

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,740

    Hello Happy61, and welcome to the group. We all know what it’s like to live with daily pain and to do our best to keep battling on. It does sound very lonely for you that you feel you have no-one to turn to when it gets hard to bear. Pain and exhaustion can be very isolating, specially if you’re trying to prevent that everything is ok.

    As Crinkly says, have you been to your doctor about this? While you may feel you are shy, that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve medical support. It can be tricky getting to see a doctor in these difficult times, but don’t let that put you off. The NHS is there to support everyone, and that includes you.

    arthritis takes many forms, but if you can tell us a little more about yours, others on this forum can perhaps share some tips for helping you manage how it affects your life.

    This is the ideal place to come if you’re feeling low or in pain, we’ll always lend a listening ear, no one will judge you, we may be able to offer advice, and there are none of those dreaded trolls on here. You’re in safe hands.

    Take care x

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332

    Hi @Happy61

    A warm welcome to the forum from me too 🙂

    This is a lovely welcoming community who will absolutely accept you.

    Talking about your pain and having a moan sometimes is really helpful. OUr families often don't want to hear in case they would have to 'do something' to help. Also our children probably want to believe we are invincible and there to listen to their problems not hear ours🙄 Our partners fear us being ill very much for many many reasons. My own likes to ignore problems in the hope they will go away.

    But here we all understand and sympathise and won't judge each other for 'not coping' 'moaning' etc....

    Have a look around and just join in wherever you fancy.

    Take care