Arthritis Forum
Home.

News.

Personal Stories. Links. Message Board.  
Arthritis Forum  
Add your comments to this topic Start a new topic
Date: 08.05.2011
From: sarah

Subject: experiences

hi all.i just wanted to know of your experiences when you first found out that you had arthritis,how you felt physhically and emotionally.ive felt quite unwell for about 9 months on and off,some days are worse than others.my feet are agony and my hands are painful, as the days go by i have noticed them getting worse and pain in other joints.i still dont know yet what arthritis it is,all i know is that it is inflammatory arthritis.its been a year now.i feel quite bad in a morning,sometimes i feel better after a couple of hours,other days i can feel like it all day.i feel i am a positive person,but recently i have felt down.i really dont know where the old sarah as gone to.:)
reply | back to forum

Date: 08.05.2011
From: marlene

Subject: Re: experiences

Hi Sarah, I have OA and was only told a few months ago. I have had two surgerys and no one ever mentioned the oa until i had pains in my fingers wrists shoulder and my back surgery site oh yes and recently my knee. My new rhumy guy explained that my back is as good as it will get.after the surgery. I was gutted i thought the surgery was to get rid of all my pain. I was down in the dumps for about a year not knowing what was wrong. I have kind of come to terms with the OA. Feeling down is part of the process. If you read this forum plenty will lift you. The people on here have great sense of humour and we do learn to laugh.If you need support this is where you will get it.The feet and hand pain is such a nuisance it makes life difficult. I do hope you have good pain relief it is so important. The old Sarah will come back when you have a full diagnoses from the rhumy department. Good Luck and keep smiling (even when its hard). Best wishes on its way. Take Care
reply | back to forum

Date: 09.05.2011
From: Gaynor

Subject: Re: experiences

I felt like my GP was looking at my like hypochondriac of the month. Seriously. Every day it was something else: ouch me elbows, ouch me feet, ouch me hands etc etc. Although I am shaken up at it being RA, at least I know I'm not just making it up. Hang in there Sarah and know that you are not alone. Getting a firm diagnosis is a bit like a trial by fire - but you need to keep being assertive and make sure they are hearing you. You aren't being a hypochondriac and you aren't making this up. Your body is telling you that something's up and they will get there in the end in terms of exactly which of the arthritic brutes it is.
reply | back to forum

Date: 09.05.2011
From: cookie

Subject: Re: experiences

sarah all these feelings are totally normal i was 27 when i was diagnosed and i felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world. I am a nurse so quite a physicl job i worried about that and everything else.
Its like your going through the grieving process, in many ways grief, anger, bargaining etc all totally normal.
I still work full time and have 2 girls age 3 and 8 so a "normal" life with some limits is quite possible. The first couple of years were such a struggle when i look back but you'll get there just try to stay positive, hard as it is xx
reply | back to forum

Date: 10.05.2011
From: sarah

Subject: Re: experiences

Thankyou for all your comments,i really do appreciate it.I am learning more about it from you all and it makes me feel much better.x:)
reply | back to forum

Date: 10.05.2011
From: mads

Subject: Re: experiences

hello sarah
i was diagnosed in january '11 with ra and i have had and do have the physical and emotional symptons you described. Today is my first day off work but i probably could have done with a few days previous to this - i am obviously in the middle of the "woe is me" process, red with anger at those closest, wailing and crying at the medical profession and martyring myself at work. I am struggling to find my way around this but have had so much good practical help from the other users on this forum and it has made me feel so much better and look at things that bit differently and with a bit of humour.
I hope you get the old Sarah back again soon.
reply | back to forum

Date: 11.05.2011
From: Dilizjo

Subject: Re: experiences

Hi Sarah:)
I was finally diagnosed a week ago with RA and my initial feeling was, believe it or not very happy, even the doctor looked at me shocked as I was smiling, but after 3 years of constant pain going all round my body and walking round like a zombie on sleeping pills and GPs treating me like I was the local hypocondriac, they finally acknowledged what I had researched and self diagnosed. But when I returned home I will admit the depression has set in and am feeling a bit "Woe is me" at the minute. hopefully after I see the Rheumy nurses tomorrow I will be able to put some of my fears to rest.
These forums are being a great support to me and ty to all that take the time to share their thoughts I really appreciate them:) Hugxx
reply | back to forum

Date: 18.05.2011
From: Lee

Subject: Re: experiences

I was a bit numb when I found out as I went in there complaining of a knee problem and that when I sleep on my left side my little finger and ring finger were going numb.

Id had an injection in the kneecap before and was just expecting another one and a diagnose of compressed ulna nerve in elbow.

They sent me for xrays on my hands and wrists and said we think you might have PA. I was took back as there wasnt any pain.

It was only after that they perscribed me sulphasalazine i really started to "burn" and ache and I think i was still in denial.

The specialist kept saying this is what we think it is and this is a way of diagnosing and treating and left it at that.

They MRI the knew and said bit of fluid but have constantly ignored my elbow but i think now he agrees its a compressed nerve.

Im still in sort of denial even now as I cant say what drugs are working and what are not and how bad would i be without them.

Im trying to look on the bright side but i suppose it hits people in different ways and how people see it.

I suppose someone young might think its the end of the world and wont be able to do this and that anymore or someone will see it as i can still do the normaly stuff but with some medication.
reply | back to forum

Date: 19.05.2011
From: Izzy

Subject: Re: experiences

I was diagnosed with RA in the jaw joints when I was 12 and, even though I am now 18 years old, I am still finding certain things hard to deal with. Eating is very difficult for me as chewing brings on pain and there are so many things that I just can't eat. There have been days where I can't eat at all because I'm in so much pain, even when I take pain relief.

When I was diagnosed I took some comfort in knowing that that was the reason why I looked the way I did. The arthritis destroyed the sockets in my jaw, causing a deformity. My face is partly the reason why I have been bullied for 8 years, and why I have never been happy with the way how I look.
My doctors have decided that they will start considering the option of jaw replacement when I'm at least in my mid-twenties. Even though I'm on medication I still feel pain everyday, and I have problems with other joints.

I don't think I've ever been happy, and if there was a time then I just can't remember it.
reply | back to forum

Date: 19.05.2011
From: mads

Subject: Re: experiences

Izzy your story is really heartbreaking - bullying has a devestating effect and to be in this constant pain as well as putting up with it must have made it so much worse. i hope you get more support and as much help as you can possibly have. You are at the start of your life and if you could even get the pain sorted out, it could make things a bit clearer for you. my thoughts are with you.
reply | back to forum

Date: 20.05.2011
From: Manda

Subject: Re: experiences

Hey Izzy, like Mads said you are at the start of your life, you need to keep on at your doctors to get what you need. In this day there are so many different pain killers something will work but it's hitting on the right combo for you. I'm sorry you feel so sad. My thoughts are with you too.

Regarding my experience, it's been a long journey, at some points I felt like I was losing the plot and it was all in my head. No-one understands the feelings you get from living with pain that's rarely in the same place 2 days running. I have been diagnosed originally with Palindromic Rheumatism and then PsA. I'm not really sure which is which and what hurts where. It was a bizarre relief when I got visible swelling when my hand tendons flared as it knew it wasn't in my head! I think I felt relief though as I know why I feel so unwell so much of the time.
reply | back to forum

Date: 21.05.2011
From: Izzy

Subject: Re: experiences

Hi, Mads. Thanks very much for your comment and support. You don't know how much that means to me.

Yeah, the bullying was a bad time for me, especially because no action was taken when I told people what was going on, even my parents. There was no intervention of any kind, not even nobody to talk to about what was going on and I guess that had always stuck with me. I don't usually ask anybody of any kind of help because I've just sort of assumed that they'll say no.
I've never talked to someone about it all until the beginning of this year.

My GP is pushing for a change of medication so that she can decide if it is necessary for me to take anti-depressants. I'm really scared. I've only ever been on the one medication for it. I really don't know how to deal with all of this. I don't know if I'm unhappy because of the pain or if I'm just an unhappy person.
reply | back to forum

Date: 22.05.2011
From: mads

Subject: Re: experiences

Hello Izzy
That sounds hopeful that you have started talking about it and it could help you to move on in some way and put that awful time behind you -
It must be really difficult asking for help when you have been let down before and when you are in such pain sometimes its just too much but like Manda said the doctors are there to help you and they do really want to get your pain sorted.

Your GP sounds quite good and on the ball, could you tell her that you are very scared of the change in medication and of going on to anti-depressants and maybe she would be able to allay your fears.
Izzy there are probably stacks of us here who have been or are on anti depressants to help us through particularly tough times it is sometimes necessary, just as an aid.

Regarding being unhappy - I am a miserable git at the minute and i believe sincerely that it is because of the pain not because that i am genereally like that, (some may argue) and while i am no professional i can truthfully say that pain can make anyone really really unhappy. Keep posting on this forum i have had so many low days and was picked up and cheered on by other members and you will find the same. This could be a turning point Izzy where they do get things sorted for you and i hope they do.
reply | back to forum

 

Add your comments to this topic
Subject:
Please type your comment here:

Your name:
email:

2+5=
(This sum is to help prevent automatic spamming through this page - thank-you)


top

Site design: T - Creative Home | News | Personal Stories | Links | Message Board