Hi, newbie here!

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Bex1971
Bex1971 Member Posts: 3
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:10 in Living with arthritis

Hello

Ive been getting the versus emails for months but never clicked on the community thing til now. I just read a few of your posts and I'm like oh these people are like me! lol

I'm 51, osteoarthritis diagnosed maybe 5 years ago. I live alone, in an upstairs flat with no elevator!

Pre pandemic I walked with a walking stick and grunted my way up and down the stairs and lived somewhat of a normal life. Then covid hit and stay at home so I did literally that, big mistake, after months of not going up and down the stairs, and not moving much at all, it became too painful to actually go down the stairs at all, so rather than face the pain I chose not to. I also had a bad fall in my house as my arthritis is mostly in my hip so I can be unstable, which in turn also made me scared to tackle the stairs alone. I became reliant on weekly grocery deliveries from the supermarket and amazon for all my needs. Ive got to the stage where I am almost trapped in my house like a prison as I'm scared to tackle the stairs. I'm on a waiting list with the council for a ground floor property but been advised it may be some months.

So like Ive seen on some of your posts on here, I deal with the same day to day struggles of silly things like I cant bend over to pick up something I drop on the floor, or I cant cut my own toenails, or somedays i literally hurts too much to stand up to cook a meal.

But my biggest reason for joining this site I guess is just finding people who get it! I can try to explain my pain/frustrations/fears to my best friend, but no one can really get it unless they have lived it. I'll explain to a friend how much pain i'm in and how I can barely stand to make dinner, and they will say 'i hope you feel better, and let me know if you want to meet for a pub lunch sometime', when all i really want them to say is ' do you need me to pop over?'

I just realised I'm writing an essay here so I'm going to stop lol. I look forward to reading your posts and advice, and who knows even developing friendships?

😃

Comments

  • SharminB
    SharminB Moderator Posts: 90
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    Hi @Bex1971,

    Welcome and thank you for joining our online community 😊 We also have our 'Living with arthritis' forum which you can use to talk to others and read about what's going on for them.

    You can find that here:

    https://community.versusarthritis.org/categories/living-with-arthritis-forum

    And do let us know how you get on! 😊


    Best wishes,

    Sharmin - Mod

    Need more help - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • jonr
    jonr Member Posts: 398
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    Living with Arthritis is like going round and round in a vicious circle. All the advice is to exercise and do physio to build up strength in the muscle and tissue surrounding the affected joints but that can be very painful in itself.

    If you can persuade a friend to help you down the stairs, it could be worth your while making an appointment at your GP surgery for 2 assessments. Firstly, to discuss your condition with your GP and talk through what the options are for pain management with pain killers and anti-inflammatories. After 5 years of suffering and sounding like you've a severely reduced quality of life, I'd be pushing for an XRay or MRI for an upto date appraisal. Secondly, a chat with a physio tied to the practice should result in a tailored-made series of exercises and stretches to help get you mobile again. Yes, it will hurt but if you get good meds it should be bearable and ease with time as you build up strength.

    I really hope you can get that ground floor flat - it will certainly make all the difference!

    Good luck,

    Jon

  • Kerenza68
    Kerenza68 Member Posts: 15
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    Hi Bex,

    I'm new here too and I really feel for you. I know only too well the struggles you're dealing with and I completely understand the pain avoidance. I swear to god that people (including physios) who tell you to "work through the pain" have absolutely no idea what it feels like in the slightest.

    One thing I've found is to have a grabby stick in every room. They are a godsend for me as I am constantly dropping things. Also have a chair in your kitchen, I got mine through occupational health. I don't know if you've been in touch with them but they have helped me with a few things. Also if you have someone like that, they can write to the council for you. I was in an upstairs flat but had a massive blood clot which damaged my lungs so I was given a bungalow, keep pushing the council, I know it's difficult and often can seem like too much but it'll be worth it in the end,

    It can be difficult for friends and family to understand. I'm 54 and I have to be honest and say that when someone said they had arthritis I had no idea how bad it could get. I thought of it as an old peoples issue and was basically just aches and pains, how wrong was I! Good luck with getting your new home as soon as possible, take care

    Karen

  • Bex1971
    Bex1971 Member Posts: 3
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    Thank you to everyone who replied!

    Just for the record I did indeed have the doc assessments pre pandemic, and pain relief (which some days does nothing!) Which is how I got my diagnosis. Pr3 pandemic is was getting regular physio appts which stopped during pandemic and now are back but are every 3 mths which seems almost pointless .

    I do indeed have grabby sticks in every room, I would be lost without them! I se them for everything lol.


    I just miss 'normal' life, you know on a sunny day lets go for a pub lunch kinda thing, instead I look at other people's pics of their pub lunches on social media!

    I figured people I'm here would understand that.

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