Pain may define my condition, but I won't let it define my life.
Comment: Very well said. I understand all to well about chronic pain as a person with MS.
Comment: I am 46 and I have had arthrits for 26 years. I have found talking to others with arthritis really helps and staying positive of course. None of the new anti TNFs work for me so I am just on anti inflamatories. A good website to visit and meet others is www.arthritiscare.org.uk
Comment: I am 46 and I have had arthrits for 26 years. I have found talking to others with arthritis really helps and stayiong positive of course. None of the new anti TNFs work for me so I am just on anti inflamatories. A good website to visit and meet others is www.arthritiscare.org.uk
Comment: I am 46 and I have had arthrits for 26 years. I have found talking to others with arthritis really helps and stayiong positive of course. None of the new anti TNFs work for me so I am just on anti inflamatories. A good website to visit and meet others is www.arthritiscare.org.uk
Comment: Have you tried Remicade? It has worked wonders for me - I am symptom free for two years!
Comment: I truly appreciate your positive attitude. Thanks for sharing and caring for others.
Comment: I appreciate your positive attitude. Thanks for sharing and caring for others.
Comment: This won't fix the problem but it help's me get to sleep at night and that is that each evening I take a soaking bath using "Lavender Bathereapy" found in the bubble bath isle at Wal Mart etc. My husband was the one who pointed out that he could tell the night's I soaked and relaxed because I slept better and fell asleep easier. I just thought it was a good time to catch up on my books.
I use a book holder to read, have a glass of juice and the batherapy and I feel so much better afterwards.
When I'm having a hard time moving around I hear this go soak for awhile. Works for me and I've tried a lot of different over the counter things and this one actually works.
Good Luck...
Comment: My wife has RA. She has been in recession for about six years. In the beginning she was taking metheltrexate(spelling) made her very sick. We started using natural remedies plus vitamins and MSM. Now it's back with a vengence. Is there anything that has has anyone that is natural? She said she will never take a medicine that makes her RA better but destroys her organs. Thank you, DJ
Comment: I have an aunt who has Rheumatoid Arthritis and she has been to so many rheumatologists, been on Humira, Methotrexate, Enbrel and nothing helped. Her daughter started selling this drink which is all natural and now my aunt is pain free on no medications. Would you like me to find out the name of it for you? I'm sure you could find someone in your area who sells it. LCarr @2/19/08
Comment: I was diagnosed with RA in my late 30's with two children in Elementary school and working part time. It started with waking up with a stiff neck and several day's later my elbow and then my thumb so bad that I was told I could loose the use of my thumb if I continued to work and use it. Because I am Sero Neg. the doctor's just blew me off with sore joints and muscles for about a year then misdiagnoses it until I had carpal tunnel surgery and a biopsy confirmed RA. Since then I have been also diagnosed with Diabetes due to the steroid use, Fibromyalgia and 3 years ago Lupus and 2 year's ago Sarcoidosis. At 17 I also started loosing my hair repeatedly with is now confirmed an auto immune disorder.
I have to strongly DISAGREE with the statement that RA can''t kill you, your right that the illness it's self probably wont but as my Rhumatologist told me as I was setting in a chair for a 2 hour IV treatment that the Med's will. Also people with RA don't usually stop there, the auto immune system keeps crashing and other systems and illnesses will compound the problem.
RA attacks the joint's, Lupus attacks the organs and different systems and Sarcoid causes the body to form scar tissue any where inside and outside usually starting in the lungs.
My family is really good about dealking with the life I'm forced to live, I Ieft the hospital from being the youngest person in my area to have a total knee replacement and was wheeled to my daughter's high school to watch her last musical performance.
So every time I take the handfull of med's I need to get through the day, everytime I have IV's put in my arm and set through first a 2 hour IV and now I'm on a different med. that take's an hour and everytime I have to either take strong narcotics for pain every few hours or patches and everytime I balance several different doctor's appointments each month, I know this is my life, I deal with it, not always so great but I make it.
So don't tell me or other's who deal with this mess that it's not life threatening, you try it for one day or week or month and tell me it's just sore joint's.
PS People who glare at those of us who do use disabled plates because I know how I walk in and how I walk out can be two very different issues and I'm so tired of the snide comments, people standing in the spots refusing to move, one lady even chased me down in the store to tell me how I was like all those people who abuse the system, when I explained the problem and how may pain meds etc. I take to get out she just said I just should stay home then.
Comment: I agree, Pain may define my condition, but I won't let it define my life. I was diagnosed with JRA when I was 15. However, it took me 5 years to find a doctor. So, you could say I probably had it at 10. I was in intensive care about 5 months after my diagnosis. I turned 16 in the hospital. In Junior High and High School I couldn???t play sports so I managed the boy???s basket ball team and girl???s volleyball team. High school was very tough. I got Shingles at 17. There were days I could barely walk, but I had to. I never told anyone about having JRA. At the end of high school, a girl asked me if I had really tried to kill myself. (Because of my long hospital stay when I was first diagnosed.) I then told myself it was time to stop keeping this to myself. It???s better to tell people what I have then them come up with their own idea.
I went away to college. My first year I rarely ate and came home at the end of my first year sick. I made it through college with a lot less flare up then I had in high school. When I graduated I moved from Iowa to Washington D.C. Everyone expected me to move back after my student teaching. They couldn???t see how I could take care of myself. I had a few days I could barely get off the floor, but I took care of myself. At 25, I was diagnosed with Lupus. The doctors had told me about it when I was 15. Since I have lived in the D.C. area I have couched cheerleading, received my Masters in Technology and have been promoted from a teacher to a technology specialist for a very prominent school district. I have also given birth to two wonderful children. One was born at 27 weeks and weighed 2 pounds and the other born at 35 weeks weighing 5 pounds. I am raising my children by myself. I take 10 pills a night. I have constant back pain, neck pain, wrist pain. You name it I have it. There have been nights I have to crawl up the steps of my townhouse. Ask me how am, I will say ???FINE??? this pain I have is part of my normal day. I don???t know what it???s like not to have pain. It???s been 18 years since my diagnose of JRA, 8 years since my diagnose of Lupus. Every day is a fight, but I do it and I do it with pizzazz. Ask anyone I work with, they would tell you I do my job with energy, I never slow down. They don???t know I crash when I get home. I have had a good life; I wouldn???t change anything because JRA and Lupus is a part of me. It just doesn???t define me. I love my Life.
Comment: I agree, Pain may define my condition, but I won't let it define my life. I was diagnosed with JRA when I was 15. However, it took me 5 years to find a doctor. So, you could say I probably had it at 10. I was in intensive care about 5 months after my diagnosis. I turned 16 in the hospital. In Junior High and High School I couldn???t play sports so I managed the boy???s basket ball team and girl???s volleyball team. High school was very tough. I got Shingles at 17. There were days I could barely walk, but I had to. I never told anyone about having JRA. At the end of high school, a girl asked me if I had really tried to kill myself. (Because of my long hospital stay when I was first diagnosed.) I then told myself it was time to stop keeping this to myself. It???s better to tell people what I have then them come up with their own idea.
I went away to college. My first year I rarely ate and came home at the end of my first year sick. I made it through college with a lot less flare up then I had in high school. When I graduated I moved from Iowa to Washington D.C. Everyone expected me to move back after my student teaching. They couldn???t see how I could take care of myself. I had a few days I could barely get off the floor, but I took care of myself. At 25, I was diagnosed with Lupus. The doctors had told me about it when I was 15. Since I have lived in the D.C. area I have couched cheerleading, received my Masters in Technology and have been promoted from a teacher to a technology specialist for a very prominent school district. I have also given birth to two wonderful children. One was born at 27 weeks and weighed 2 pounds and the other born at 35 weeks weighing 5 pounds. I am raising my children by myself. I take 10 pills a night. I have constant back pain, neck pain, wrist pain. You name it I have it. There have been nights I have to crawl up the steps of my townhouse. Ask me how am, I will say ???FINE??? this pain I have is part of my normal day. I don???t know what it???s like not to have pain. It???s been 18 years since my diagnose of JRA, 8 years since my diagnose of Lupus. Every day is a fight, but I do it and I do it with pizzazz. Ask anyone I work with, they would tell you I do my job with energy, I never slow down. They don???t know I crash when I get home. I have had a good life; I wouldn???t change anything because JRA and Lupus is a part of me. It just doesn???t define me. I love my Life.
Comment: I agree, Pain may define my condition, but I won't let it define my life. I was diagnosed with JRA when I was 15. However, it took me 5 years to find a doctor. So, you could say I probably had it at 10. I was in intensive care about 5 months after my diagnosis. I turned 16 in the hospital. In Junior High and High School I couldn???t play sports so I managed the boy???s basket ball team and girl???s volleyball team. High school was very tough. I got Shingles at 17. There were days I could barely walk, but I had to. I never told anyone about having JRA. At the end of high school, a girl asked me if I had really tried to kill myself. (Because of my long hospital stay when I was first diagnosed.) I then told myself it was time to stop keeping this to myself. It???s better to tell people what I have then them come up with their own idea.
I went away to college. My first year I rarely ate and came home at the end of my first year sick. I made it through college with a lot less flare up then I had in high school. When I graduated I moved from Iowa to Washington D.C. Everyone expected me to move back after my student teaching. They couldn???t see how I could take care of myself. I had a few days I could barely get off the floor, but I took care of myself. At 25, I was diagnosed with Lupus. The doctors had told me about it when I was 15. Since I have lived in the D.C. area I have couched cheerleading, received my Masters in Technology and have been promoted from a teacher to a technology specialist for a very prominent school district. I have also given birth to two wonderful children. One was born at 27 weeks and weighed 2 pounds and the other born at 35 weeks weighing 5 pounds. I am raising my children by myself. I take 10 pills a night. I have constant back pain, neck pain, wrist pain. You name it I have it. There have been nights I have to crawl up the steps of my townhouse. Ask me how am, I will say ???FINE??? this pain I have is part of my normal day. I don???t know what it???s like not to have pain. It???s been 18 years since my diagnose of JRA, 8 years since my diagnose of Lupus. Every day is a fight, but I do it and I do it with pizzazz. Ask anyone I work with, they would tell you I do my job with energy, I never slow down. They don???t know I crash when I get home. I have had a good life; I wouldn???t change anything because JRA and Lupus is a part of me. It just doesn???t define me. I love my Life.
Comment: I agree, Pain may define my condition, but I won't let it define my life. I was diagnosed with JRA when I was 15. However, it took me 5 years to find a doctor. So, you could say I probably had it at 10. I was in intensive care about 5 months after my diagnosis. I turned 16 in the hospital. In Junior High and High School I couldn???t play sports so I managed the boy???s basket ball team and girl???s volleyball team. High school was very tough. I got Shingles at 17. There were days I could barely walk, but I had to. I never told anyone about having JRA. At the end of high school, a girl asked me if I had really tried to kill myself. (Because of my long hospital stay when I was first diagnosed.) I then told myself it was time to stop keeping this to myself. It???s better to tell people what I have then them come up with their own idea.
I went away to college. My first year I rarely ate and came home at the end of my first year sick. I made it through college with a lot less flare up then I had in high school. When I graduated I moved from Iowa to Washington D.C. Everyone expected me to move back after my student teaching. They couldn???t see how I could take care of myself. I had a few days I could barely get off the floor, but I took care of myself. At 25, I was diagnosed with Lupus. The doctors had told me about it when I was 15. Since I have lived in the D.C. area I have couched cheerleading, received my Masters in Technology and have been promoted from a teacher to a technology specialist for a very prominent school district. I have also given birth to two wonderful children. One was born at 27 weeks and weighed 2 pounds and the other born at 35 weeks weighing 5 pounds. I am raising my children by myself. I take 10 pills a night. I have constant back pain, neck pain, wrist pain. You name it I have it. There have been nights I have to crawl up the steps of my townhouse. Ask me how am, I will say ???FINE??? this pain I have is part of my normal day. I don???t know what it???s like not to have pain. It???s been 18 years since my diagnose of JRA, 8 years since my diagnose of Lupus. Every day is a fight, but I do it and I do it with pizzazz. Ask anyone I work with, they would tell you I do my job with energy, I never slow down. They don???t know I crash when I get home. I have had a good life; I wouldn???t change anything because JRA and Lupus is a part of me. It just doesn???t define me. I love my Life.
Comment: I have to disagree with the statement that RA is not life-threatening. For those of us with organ involvement, it certainly is, and even for those without, life expectancy is shortened by RA.
As for living with RA, I, too, try to be stoic, but sometimes I wonder if that's always best. Since I'm housebound during my worst flares, only those closest to me really understand this disease. Other people don't get why I can't always show up for every party, event, whatever, why I seem to be "lazy" when physical work needs doing. They don't see that a spending two days in a row on my feet equals a week in bed recovering. When I tell them I can never make plans before noon, they say, "Haha, you've never been a morning person." The truth is, I can't walk in the morning because I'm too swollen. And I'm way past the point where I can put aside the Handicap placard, because I never know if my knees or ankles will give out, or my energy will just run out, while I'm in the store (but I do know carts make great walkers).
It isn't really courage you need to live with RA, or any chronic illness. I used to run into burning buildings before I got sick. That took courage. It was a choice. I don't have a choice about being sick. It takes perseverance. You try to hang on to the thought of the best times, remember the disease is cyclical... or adjust to the new normal. Just keep going. That's not brave, that's life.
Comment: { was diagnosed at 30 with RA- I laughed at the Dr, I'm not laughing now. I was a trauma nurse, and respitory therapist and was forced to retire at age 43. Now al;ong with RA I have osteoarthritis, and degenative spine disease-with 7 damaged discs. I've had 10 hand surgeries, 2 on my cervical spine (neck), 2 elbows 4 on my feet, wrists, both knees with osteoarthritis and live in constant pain, I'm on Enbrel injections for the RA, take soma, nuerotin, have a pain patch, and take dilaudid for extra pain control. I've been told by 6 back surgeons they can't do anything about about my back-went through pyhsical therapy, muliple shots in my spine, and now I'm told to live with my pain. And that's what I do! I swim, play with my grandkids, and laugh at life. I spend weeks in bed etting over flare-ups, but have a wonderful husband who takes great care of me, The bad days are coming faster and faster. I'm runnimg out of ideas of how to fight this disease-HELP! I'm only 51 and feel my life is over-done the shrink-more drugs. What do i do next?
Comment: Armida I know what your going through.I've had the same problem for 15 years. I tried everything. I posted a comment before on this site. Suggest you contact the
"laserspineinstitute.com". They use a new procedure with minimal invasive. If your
interested, you can contact me at 8a2_l01@cox.net
Al
Comment: I think there is a big difference in the mind set of someone born with JRA and an adult who gets RA later in life. As a child you do not know any differently and you do not concentrate on what you can't do...you just figure out another creative way to accomplish you goals. I have had JRA since the age of 2 and I feel sorry for people who get RA as adults. They have lived a relativly pain free life and now they are in agony. That must be a dramatic change to someones life. I would rather be born with it and not know any differently than be healthy and loose it. That really takes mental stregnth! Some people say children born with JRA must have great courage to get thru,..I just call it my life.
Comment: One of my best friends was diagnosed with RA when he was only 16. He struggles with it everyday but still mangaes to lead a normal life and play sports. He was never afraid of needles before but since he had to start getting RA shots he nearly vomits at the thought of them. But nonetheless I am still very proud of him because he nearly never complains and perserves through it, It sure takes alot of courage!
Comment: One of my best friends was diagnosed with RA when he was only 16. He struggles with it everyday but still mangaes to lead a normal life and play sports. He was never afraid of needles before but since he had to start getting RA shots he nearly vomits at the thought of them. But nonetheless I am still very proud of him because he nearly never complains and perserves through it, It sure takes alot of courage!
Comment: One of my best friends was diagnosed with RA when he was only 16. He struggles with it everyday but still mangaes to lead a normal life and play sports. He was never afraid of needles before but since he had to start getting RA shots he nearly vomits at the thought of them. But nonetheless I am still very proud of him because he nearly never complains and perserves through it, It sure takes alot of courage!
Comment: i was diagnosis with RA at age 37- 25 years ago. I had a hip replacement at 37 and subsequently bilateral foot reconstructions, spinal fusion, and a few others. I can understand what you have been going through and i firmly believe that if you keep yourself busy and try and not dwell on your problems, it is easier. I am on multiple medications including Humira and feel good most of the time. If I am having a bad day, I always think of someone else having wore problems than myself. Keep your chin up and keep on going!!
kathy
Comment: I have been suffering with arthriris for more than 15 years. I was told there was nothing they could do for me, because I was to old, to fat and had other medical problems. By chance i come across an item on the internet that drew my attention. The place was called , "The lazer
spine institute".I made conection with them and within 2 weeks was on my way to Tampa Florida to get the lazer spine surgury. It was like a merical. I can walk without a cane or walker and most all my pain is gone from my back and legs. It is very expensive, and have at your disposal around $20,000. I can help you contact this place if you are interested.
Al
Comment: Thank you . I need to know that what I am feeling is shared by others. In October of 2007 I was diagnosised with degenerative arthritis ( osteoarthritis is only one form of the disease) in both my hips and my lower spine. I have the second form of this in all 3 locations with osteoarthritis in my right hip also. The pain that is in my hips is manageable and is there most of the time however, when my back flares up I can barely move and rely on my medication to get through the day. I have said all the way through this that I will not let this beat me down, I will find ways to live with this. I too have other co-morbid conditions that make things worse. These conditions have been with me for several years and I have been able to learn how to handle them. I feel that since I learned to handle these conditions I will be able to learn how to handle this.
I live in a state where we get the hot of a southern summer and the cold of northern winter and the moist air from the oceans. I have to know how to handle this climate so I can live productively.
I am a 7th grade teacher and fortunatly have a group of kids that help me on days that I can not move. I also have an administration that is willing to work with me.
Comment: Around the time I turned 18 I started to suffer widespread joint pain. This occurred directly after a bout of food poisoning, though I didn't correlate a relationship between the two until many years later when a doctor suggested it as a cause. That's because both my mother as well as my grandfather have suffered with arthritis for as I could remember. I guess I just always assumed get it at one time or another.
In the years that have passed, I've been lucky enough to work a desk job at home. I say lucky enough because even though I'm only 32, I can't stand for long periods of time and I'm constantly exhausted. Pain jumps from joint to joint; one day it's in my ribs, the next my shoulder. Add in the other systemic problems such as IBS, tinnitus, allergies, mouth sores and blurred vision and some days are just more unbearable than others.
But I deal with it. I don't complain, I don't even talk about it, I just suffer silently. All that said what bothers me the most about my situation is that like my mother, I've been diagnosed with "nothing". Whether it be X-rays or blood work it always comes back clean. No signs of RA, no autoimmune disorders, nothing. In a way I'm happy about that of course, I don't revel in being sick, but at the same time to be told there's nothing wrong with me is frustrating. What I'm suffering from may not be understood, but it is most certainly real - at least to me.
Comment: I don't have RA, but I was born with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. The wear and tear from surgery at age 2 and living with joints worn out before their time brought me to arthritis by middle school. Now, at age 36, I have had three joint replacements and while my pain level has dropped, I still deal with arthritis and it's effects on my body. I wrote a small piece about dealing with pain myself. You have to take control of it, or it will take control of you. http://www.healthmad.com/Conditions-and-Diseases/Pain.57536
Comment: Very well put!
Comment: Excellent article and I wholeheartly agree it can't define who you are as a person. I have suffered from RA for 25 years and raised three healthy daughters as well as try to have a career. It has been difficult but you must continue on with your life as best as you can. "Self piety stinks." as my grandmother use to say. Jane
Comment: When i was diagnosed with RA I thought mylife was over. I have always been very physical and independent. I couldn't accept with dignity that that part of my life was over. I sought new and different treatments and found what was to become Humira. I have been on it or something like it since 1999. It is a miracle. It doesn't take ALL of the pain but my joints look and feel normal. They used to be red and swollen. Expensive? Yes it is. But so is not being able to do what you want. Gretchen
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