Hello just diagnosed with RA
Thank you for letting me joined thia community. Just got diagnosed with RA yesterday. I tried to digest and sink it in but real hard, feel like the world is collapsed in front of me. Scare , fear and emotional. Wishes someone can tell me : it will be ok....
Comments
-
You've joined us on here so that's a great step @Si_mer
Being newly diagnosed to a long term condition is extremely overwhelming so what you are feeling sounds normal. I wish I could tell you it will all be fine but everyone's different… the good news is there is lots of ways to educate on the condition Rheumatoid arthritis | Causes, symptoms, treatments and also many options for treatments. Hope you get to see a rheumatologist and start meds soon.
Best wishes, you are not alone
Bettyboo22
1 -
Hello @Si_mer welcome to the community,
It is always a great shock when you receive the diagnosis and it will take time for you to adjust to this new reality. Initially there are so many questions and we are glad you found us so that we can help support you with some of our members tips and suggestions from their own experiences.
The first thing is not to panic , to give yourself and if there is some one close to you to share your journey with you - time to let the medication start to relieve the symptoms, to adjust to the fatigue if you are experiencing it, to explain to your employer about your condition and what impact it might have etc.
I think many of us including me wished someone could tell us that it will be ok……… Personally for me it is ok, after 17 years living with RA, it is different and I do have to have the occasional quiet day to recoup my energies, and with the support of my family and friends on here life really is OK.
Let us know how you get on
Best wishes
Poppyjane
If it would be helpful to talk to someone ring the Helpline 0800 5200 520
Monday - Friday 9.00a.m. - 6.00p.m.
3 -
@Si_mer The important thing is not to panic or stress. For many people who are willing to change their diet and educate themselves, there may be an exit ie symptom & drug free, but early on your main objective should be to take your meds and bring your damaging inflammation down.
Your diet plays a big part, but you won’t know how until you educate yourself a bit:
Here’s some good info to help you:
ZOE
leaky gut UCL research
sfed
I myself was diagnosed in Dec 2021 and in March 2023 I was off meds (25mg/week) and free of symptoms, until Jan 2025, when a trigger food put me back into RA. Everyone is different and my trigger is unfermented Soy protein. I unknowingly consumed it as a supposedly healthy protein drink, after my regular gym work out, and landed myself back in the RA dump.
Now trying to escape again. Unfortunately when you have a flare your gut gets inflamed as does the compounding immune response, and takes a long long time to calm down, which is why change is slow.
1 -
@Bettyboo22 , @Poppyjane and @Arthuritis Thank you so much for all the advice. Much appreciated.
I went to check my eyes 2 days ago. All good, so now I'm taking Hydroxychloroquine. Hope it s working soon. As my joint still aches and swollen. Using ice pack / heat for coping with it. Have a good day all . 🙏
0 -
I hope the hydroxy helps you loads @Si_mer
It's dead scary when this happens I can totally relate even though it was a long time ago for me. I was very early 40's with younger children.
I was so negative wouldn't plan anything incase I wasn't well enough, became all about 'me me me' a total Arthritis bore in fact. I thought l would let my husband down (he likes to travel - never stops), embarrass my kids in fact the world was over.
It's like a kind of bereavement you are grieving for the future you had anticipated and now it might be different. You need to take your time get reliably informed (here is good not Youtube/Dr Google), take your meds. See if there are things in your life-style you can improve (diet, exercise etc) if it helps. My life has turned out fine so far. We have a motorhome and travel all the time, I'm doing pretty well, still more or less on my feet, but I did embarrass my children. Normal stuff though that all parents do nothing to do with Arthritis😉
Take care and keep posting we are here for each other
Toni x
1 -
@Si_mer Just a quick Q, is HCQ all you are taking? From what you describe you need something a lot stronger, like MTX. I was initially on 20mgMTX/week with 400 mg HCQ/daily, this was upped to 25mg MTX after a baked beans flare up, and that got me to near normal in terms of mobility and joint pain. HCQ is a very mild immune suppressant by comparison as it’s primarily an anti-malarial drug with the side effect of damping your immune system and putting your vision at risk if taken long term. My rheumy and I concluded the benefit/risk with HCQ when I was maxed out on MTX was no longer worth it, so stopped it, and I didn’t notice any difference.
You might want to ask your rheumy to start you off on a suitable dose of MTX asap, as you need to save your joints. I delayed mine and it was a big mistake.
0 -
Hi @Arthuritis
, I've got diagnosed last Tuesday. The consultant give to me only HCQ and taken along with previous meds that were given by GP. which is 40 mg of amitriptyline , 200mg of celecoxib, and painkiller. The next appointment with the consultant would be mid-May. I will bring this up. Oh, they did give me steroids injection also.
I'm not sure it's the side effect or the conditions i have. Since I have steroids injection and took HCQ now, I'm really have very dry skin, and some peeled off my foot and shoulder. Thank you for checking up on me. Appreciate it. 🙏0 -
appreciate your advice. I try to read more stuff on here. Whichs helps and makes me feel that I'm not alone. Don't get me wrong. I got support from my husband again. Sometimes, i feel like he doesn't know what i am going through. I appreciated things he had done for me but made me feel useless at the same time. I know the fact that I need to accept and get on with my life. ( so hard ) Maybe only times that I need more... Again Thank u @frogmorton
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 12.6K Our Community
- 10K Living with arthritis
- 807 Chat to our Helpline Team
- 459 Coffee Lounge
- 28 Food and Diet
- 233 Work and financial support
- 6 Want to Get Involved?
- 191 Hints and Tips
- 407 Young people's community
- 13 Parents of Child with Arthritis
- 39 My Triumphs
- 130 Let's Move
- 36 Sports and Hobbies
- 245 Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- 22 How to use your online community
- 40 Community Feedback and ideas