Val's Cafe

brew time 🤪

good morning Toni 🌸

Good luck for bloods

Group today

Mum in a mood

Feeling better but am on the squash lol

Wppl xx

Hi Guys and Girls,

I am new here and only diagnosed with PsA about 6 months ago, I was on 8 MTX tablets a week but nothing changed, now I am on Metoject pen 25mg, today will be my 5th one, but I just cannot shift the clouds, I have has "something wrong" for a long time and when I would go to the Drs they would just say it's my weight ( I'm 16 stone ) and all my issues started when I lost weight! by last year I was on 18 painkillers a day! till a new dr who joined my practice got alarmed and called me to ask why I was taking so many.

Thanks to him I have a diagnosis but because it has taken so long, the damage has been done!

Now I have another problem, tiredness has always been an issue but since I started the injections I am exhausted! no matter how much sleep I get! I am snappy over the silliest things and all I want to do is cry, is this normal? will it change? at the moment I do not know what is worse than not knowing or knowing and feeling like this.

Work is draining me I am trying to carry on but it is hard, I have looked at giving up work but I cannot afford to, the same is true if I reduce my hours. Sorry I seem to have become a world-class moaner too, Please give me hope as i cannot see the end at the moment and I hate feeling this way. I know my depression is part of it but it has never been this bad so do not think it is just that. I cannot talk to my manager as only been in the job 12 months and already since the injections I have been away a lot I think he is fed up with me and I cannot afford to lose the job.

Sorry to dump this all on you, but I have no one I can offload on who would understand, my partner is amazing but he is getting tired of it too, so please tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel and I promise moaning myrtle will disappear.

Thank you to Charlestown  for pointing me in this direction

I hope you all are feeling well and looking forward to the long weekend.

Thank you in advance for reading my moan and I look forward to getting to know you all

Sandee xxx

Hi Toni 🌸

How are you?
mums bs is ok 👍

She’s in a better mood now

Group was ok but lots of rain

Stomach is ok but haven’t eaten quite “normally” yet

More later bye for now tc xx

Hi all 👋

Hope all went well with bloods frog 👍️ and you proceeded there in an orderly fashion, negotiating all doorways & obstacles. Not doing much today, I would at least like to be outdoors though, but yes it is/has rained considerably 😣. I will continue with GW instead, no I only got so far too, there just isn't the time is there 🤷‍♀️ last I saw Joe was being jokey at Malvern (the sort of jokey I call silly & don't like much 🤨), will pitch back in now where I left off. Finished my 'Swedish' shopping order; you can't get lost online of course but as I rarely leave until I've looked at every last thing it probably takes me just as long as real life shoppers 🤭. Please supply Sleek on Friday, as there will be boxes 😀. Should I be buying storage boxes instead of parting with the stuff in them, well one step at a time 😉. Oh there are cat pot feet, absolutely 😊 in fact looking at my pic that's one sitting up to the right of the birds, tail curled around. I was even more worried about breakable ears, being tall rather than low. Have a good evening love to all :) xx

Hello joan, oh you all moved in on the same day? 😮 gosh there must have been a lot of kettles going on that day, practically round the clock I should think. Glad to hear we are going to have hot weather in a few months, could we have hot weather for a few months please? Not so hot it's uncomfortable for others but some happy medium where I can get things done would be nice 👍️. Have a good rest of day :) xx

Hi to bosh 👋 gosh you weren't kidding about the ook factor in that Doctor Chew episode were you 😱😱 omg, I mean Daleks & Cybermen are one thing but AI phlebotomists, that's a whole new level of terrifying 😣. Yes definite credits ought to be yours for pointing out the supervillain potential of our friendly neighbourhood blood nurses 😬😱. Let's hope they don't work them into a regular role, and especially not a singing & dancing one, as they seem rather keen on in this series 🤨. Sorry it was a wet day for you the group, it's dried up here now, typical. Good luck with the rest of your week and glad your mum is in a better mood and her bs is good 👍️ :) xx

Hope all's well with SK today, it was a tea rota last night wasn't it, mine wasn't brilliant hope you got some sleep after 🤞 xx

Wave to Charlestown, I forgot to ask what honeysuckle you got the other day? 😊 Not very nice out bit frustrating when you have stuff to get on with, but less hot, hope it suits you reasonably well today. xx p.s. just cross posted with you, glad we were coincidentally talking about pot feet! 😀 shame you haven't got a few more. One of my pots is just up on little offcuts of wood at the moment, not v glamorous! Yes too much rain for planting out. What mileage are you settling on for the bike at the moment? 😊

Hello to @sandeelilly , firstly don't apologize for 'moaning', it's a very big shock & upset to have your life tipped up by illness, fingers crossed the right medication is your light at the end of the tunnel as it is for many. Sorry you are having a frustrating time with the PsA and your medication 😔. How long were you on the tablets for before the injections, and do you / the Drs think mtx is helping in terms of your symptoms? How are any blood tests in terms of inflammation? I have RA and fatigue is a big thing for me, and has always been tied in to what my inflammatory situation is to a large extent. It's probably hard to know whether the tiredness is the mtx, especially if you feel it started with the injections rather than tablets 🤔 does it vary, across the time between doses? It is a common side effect and 25mg is the upper (if not maximum) dose I believe. Are you happy with the diagnosis of PsA in the sense that seems to fit well, to you? Sorry you had problems getting the diagnosis and I hope it will become apparent how much the condition is causing the tiredness, as bosh said it is early days for getting under control. As far as work goes I feel for you it is a dilemma, you can only push yourself so hard unfortunately 😔 but time & medication can potentially change the outlook and I do hope your employer will bear with you. Take care xx p.s. Tea or coffee? ☕️

Love to all 😘 xx

hi Sandee

RA & moaning, mmm, let me see, yep, same here 😉

hi Toni

How were the bloods? I hope it went ok

Lord internet wasn’t too present today

Due to builders /plumbers / rain or whatever- see how I’ve lumped them all in the same category? Lol

Nice M wasn’t too well today unfortunately, I felt sad, but the likelihood is that she’ll be her normal self next week or very soon

RR was making all sorts of silly comments and acting like lord of the manor, who incidentally will be holidaying in the squash capital soon, two weeks’ time or maybe even less! I will check with mum and let you know 👍

I like Bill’s breakfast, my goodness, but bill eating a piece of fruit is a rare sight indeed haha

Mum is in a better mood 👍

No hot water plus plumbers and cybermen and Daleks - ok I may be exaggerating 😂- meant no shower today, but hopefully things will be more normal tomorrow

BR sang a lovely song he learned at nursery about snacks and bright horizons, he’s so clever but he sang it shyly, he’s not a big shouter like LA, not unless big bro is leading him astray

It’s a relief to hear that you’re potty trained 😂

below is a little poem I wrote yesterday

Bye for now Toni tc Xx

“Ode to common sense for the ears of a stylist so dense”
My hairdresser once said
‘When the conditioner is wrong
Your hair is like life without music or song’
But I’m not overpaying for designer styling gloop
I’d feel like a bowl devoid of warming soup
I can live with my dehydrated tresses
I also require no costly hair oil nor do I long for expensive designer dresses
I have a simple philosophy about life
Just do and spend what you need to keep going, like the potato running away from the kitchen knife

Morning Joan How are you today? How fabulous is that being able to chose what colour for the bungalow when they were new! That is lovely. Ours was extended as you know by the previous owner and they also bought the patch of greenbelt land too which we are very grateful for. Going to see my friend and the dogs today after physio take care ((()))

Morning Reshmi hope you are doing ok today and yesterday's squash helped a lot?

Glad to hear your Mum was ok even if not the happiest mum. I bet she is desperate for that kitchen to be finished so you can have EF over and LA (Lord of the manor)to stay over.

Well done getting to group. RR has been having lessons from LA has he in being Lord of the manor there🙄 That really doesn't surprise me at all. Sorry to hear nice M isn't great just now I hope you're right and that she is feeling a bit better in a few weeks 😕

Loved yesterday's poem! How right you are. I do not know what hairdressers think they are telling us what 'products' to use and how to use them. Overplaying their part in our lives aren't they?!!

Is the kitchen looking any closer to being finished yet? I do hope so you really need hot water.

Take care and have a good day. GI Joe for me today with this arm/ elbow /shoulder. Bloods went really well yesterday nice nurse honestly!

((())) xxx

Morning @sandeelilly lovely to meet you. You are very welcome here this is the forum cafe. It was started many years ago maybe 15 years by valval who died a few years ago of cancer. It's just for people to chat have a virtual food and drink.

Some of what we chat about is utter nonsense like my cat (Sleek) visiting people for instance and our abbreviations for things and names for various things (al fresco for Tesco).

Mostly though it's distraction and support.

I am sorry to hear about your pain but very glad a good GP spotted that you had PsA rather than blaming weight for health issues. Honestly! So annoying. As Bosh (Reshmi) said it can take a while to get your medication combination right and many of us are on more than one medication for our arthritis.

It is extremely hard to feel like you are working and not recovering when at home like others without the condition do. Many of us would like to reduce our hours or stop altogether but finances are prohibitive. It's so unfair as is this talk of changing PIP to vouchers for 'things' to help us manage our conditions rather than money. A lot of us use the money to help reduce our ours🙄

Oh well stop moaning Toni!

Take care it's lovely to have you here.

Morning Charlestown hope you are well today?

I did tip back but actually didn't really hurt myself as i didn't know it was coming….if that makes sense so just fell!

I was hoovering (yes with bad arm) Pauls' footwell and just stepped back like in a car but it's way higher up. No harm done really incredible!

Your garden sounds lovely just the right size.

Yes more rain and more rain I actually was back in PJs last night!

take care

Morning Skinny Keef

Hope you are ok today? No D&G? Soon have the family back hopefully if Anda is working on her dissertation she is close to being finished now?

Hope Sucré is well.

Sending some ((())) Take it steady.

Morning Toady

Guess what? it's raining!! well I never. I supposed no outdoor watering necessary.

Cat feet yes the ickle ears might easily get chipped off. they should be sleepy cats ears down for safety😕

Sleek is bouncing about on her back paws ready for helping with your boxes on Friday boxing stuff up? Yes that's a really good start and labelled will be fine for now.

Oh yes Joe being silly at Malvern mildly irritating i agree. Never mind still need to find time I mean it's Thursday today.

Bloods done easily and stopped bleeding straight away thinners seem to have made little difference. That stupid heart monitor will be off this afternoon yippee!!!! I can't wait l am heartily sick of beeping all the time. I bashed into a doorway here, but none at the Drs. Physio today maybe some answers to the arm issue😊

Yesterday we made (or started off) the sauerkraut. It was good fun at least. I now have to check on it daily…..

Have a good day Toad

Oh Sleek is here mackintosh and sou'wester on wants to finish GW…..

Good morning everyone

Toady (()) I go for my booster this afternoon. I didn’t know it is a bank holiday this weekend. Have a good day. How is the painting.

Toni (()) good luck with your bloods and the physio. Have a nice time with your friend (()) love to Paul (()) and Charley (()) and Annie (()) and Lucy (()) and Tia (()) and Kari (()) and your friend (()) and your lovely neighbours (())

Reshmi (()) I hope you have a good day today and your mum (()) how many cups of tea/. Coffee do the workmen have a day.

Skinny Keef (()) I hope you have a good day today. Love to Sucr’e (()) and Loanda (())

Charlestown (()) they said we would have the new cupboards in August. I hope you have a good day.

Welcome Sandeelilly (()) I’m sorry I have Osteoarthritis and I don’t know anything about psA. But I know there are people on here that know about it. Take care

head starting to clear i think. Just having a cuppa in bed.
got test ride booked for later so I hope i be okay for that.
Reshmi that poem is the best one you’ve done so far on here. Liked it a lot 👍it had a touch of the professional about it and I could definitely see it in a book of poetry.

hi Toady and anyone else interested in the moto adventures of Skinny Keef.
i did indeed feel well enough to keep my appointment with the big orange Triumph Scrambler. Had a nice ride to the shop on the faithful old Beemer and as I was riding there I was thinking it will have to be good to better this, but then as it is a prospective addition rather than a replacement it didn’t really matter as long it was comfortable.

They had it ready for me and fuelled up when I got there and waived the £10 insurance fee as I wasn’t a professional test rider and a serious buyer. The ride started well as i rode out of the dealership car park, but the further I got the more the shortcomings annoyed me. The clocks are digital, and try as I might I couldn’t make out in the sunshine what the revs were, speedo was just about readable. The seat was a bit like a park bench although the suspension was excellent. Engine was good as far as I could tell without revving too much as it only had 3 miles on it and needs to be treated gently. I doubt anyone else will treat it gently like i did. It didn’t have a quality feel to it like the Beemer so I reluctantly returned it and said I would keep looking.
sorry this isn’t very detailed but i am feeling rough again.

hi Joan

How are you today?

Mum and I are more or less ok thanks

How was your booster?

They usually get their own hot drinks so I’m not quite sure

Have a nice evening Joan tc xx

Ps this pic is ‘ Five o’clock tea” by J Stewart