Which came first, a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or multiple sclerosis (MS)?

Thanks Lene!!  Wouldn't it be nice if everything were cut and dried, easy to decipher, and without difficulties?  LOL.  But that's not life. 

Hi tatagrn,

 

I do hope that you are able to find the right combination of meds for you.  Lene wrote a wonder post recently about Social Security within which she included some great links to sources of information.  You might start there with your search for answers and advice on disability.  The process can be long and hard so I would move cautiously and with great intent.  Know what your rights are, what the rules are, and what you wish to achieve.  Good luck and I hope that your foot heals quickly.

Thanks for the reply and link. I am at a loss with everything and it is overwhelming at the same time. I go to the Orthopedic Dr. tommorrow to check my foot and see if I can go back to work.. but honestly my foot hurts more and I think the tendon is getting worse.. Just worried about my job.. I don't think they could fire me because it is medical. And I have more diability coming. Just didn't know if I should pursue diability now or wait and see if the new med (Remicaid) will work and things will return to normal.. Anyway thanks for replying I am glad to have this site to get others ideas and opinions..

You should be eligible for both short and long term disability pay for one thing.  These pay out at a portion of your regular pay, not full pay but helps immensely and you keep your job.  I looked up SSI and it says you must have been unable to work for a year to apply.  I would get going asap because it takes a really long time and they usually reject your first to applications.  You can become retrained while on SSI, finding a better suitable job, SSI doesn't have to be permanent either.  You can go back to work when able or work part-time.

 

Ask your employer in writing for accomadations at work, whatever you need medically to still do your job.  Do you have an HR dept?  Are you union?  Is there anyone who can be an advocate for you?

 

Lastly, your boss cares about the work, not you.  You have the right to do whatever you need to to take care of yourself and not have to feel guilty or defensive.  Tell him or her that you would love to come back to work-what can they do to make it possible for you to work comfortably with your illness?  RA is one of the leading causes of disability and most people have to stop working within 5-7 years of diagnosis.

 

Good luck,

 

jamie

Thanks for the reply. Yes we do have an HR dept. I work at University of MIchigan so it is a big place of employment, but no union. Just not sure weither to apply now while at this job or wait. Once my foot is healed I plan to look for another job with less hours and where I am not on my feet. But others have said apply now while I am at this job and having trouble..  Thanks again for the help I appreciate everyones ideas and thoughts..

I think you should apply now, just my thought.  It takes a really long time, I'm talking up to 3 years and who knows what shape you will be in by then.  What are the negatives of applying now?  None I can think of.

 

It's great that you work at a University, you should have some great benefits.  Try to make good friends at the HR dept. who will be helpful to you.  If you change jobs(outside the university) you are going to have a pre-existing condition which will affect your health insurance and employability.  It is best to stay there and have them place you in another position or make things workable for you. 

 

An interesting side note: I just received my usual update letter from SSI and in it they say they are going to run out of money by 2040.  It has been rumored and now they are actually stating it in print.  Just another reason to apply now.

 

Good Luck to you and keep in touch, I want to know how you are doing.

 

Cheers,

 

Jamie

 

 

tatagrn,

 

Jamie left you a great comment about Social Security.  Come read it.

Hi Angela,

 

Please don't be scared!!  That's not my intent at all.  Very interesting that you mention whiplash injuries for both you and your sister.  For me, my MS lesions are centered in my neck and I do believe that there is a connection (although how to prove it?).

 

Funny, I'd rather take the numbness than the pain, except for maybe when the numbness turns into unstoppable itching.  Now that's an annoying symptom. 

 

There is definitely a genetic component to several of these autoimmune diseases and scientists are getting closer to having it figured out.  Probably won't happen in the near future, but they're working on it.  Now I wonder if they'll find out that hypothyroidism and big thighs are geneticly linked.  If so, then my body makes even more sense.

 

Thank you for your concern and sympathies, but I am actually doing rather well right now.  Not 100% but definitely able to do what I want and need to do.  Life is Good.

If you guys get a memo that they figure it out - shoot me a note, too!

 

Thanks for the interesting article on the medical side, Lisa.

 

Kelly

That is exactly where they found the lesion in my sister on the neck, where the whiplash was.  She is a lawyer by trade, and is going for compensation from the insurance company.  This is a big issue, because she is in Ontario, where they have no fault insurance and caps on payouts (like $5000) and she has to prove the causality, and that it is a major life changing isse.  Maybe some big studies need to be done on whiplash and it's assoication to autoimmune diseases.  Like the insurance companies would like that! 

 

As she says, she was an innocent passenger, it wasn't even the driver of her car's fault, and she is not going to take it lying down.  I am glad you are mostly feeling good - that in itself should help the process. I find stress always makes things worse. 

Angela,

 

There is a link between whiplash and MS, etc. but it is very hard to prove in court.  There is also something called "late whiplash syndrome".  These are continuing symptoms more than 9 months after the accident.  Symptoms are: anxiety, irritability, depression, decreased memory function, weakness in joints, dizziness.  Dengenerative changes occur in the cervical spine, bone spurs can apear that compress nerve roots and cause numbness and weakness in both hands.

 

I would really like to talk to your sister about her case, I have done a lot of research on it.

 

jamie

That was very interesting to read that you were affected this way too. I got hypothyroidism at exactly the same time as my RA. Although I was expecting the HT, because my mom, grandma, and great-grandma all had it, and now my sister has it (the one with MS) and my daughter got it at 16, which ticks her off because she was so young, and I didn't get it till I was 45! I have a sneaking suspicious I have the fibromylgia, too, but I work out lots, and try and keep the pain down by keeping the muscles strong. I found the methx really helps with exhaustion, as gauged by feeling like a truck hit me about noon when I had to come off recently because of high liver enzymes. My duaghter works in a psychiatric hospital part time while she gets her psych degree. She took in her classes that most mentally ill people have been severely abused, and that triggers it (although not all abused people become mentally ill, of course). She says every single woman on her unit was physically and sexually abused. The same thing applies to auto-immune diseases. If you have the genes, and some sort of trauma or abuse triggers it, it activates. Some times, I wish I had never got in a car! But you have to live, I guess. I got severe asthma first, and at one time I had 6 or 7 auto-immune diseases, which I mostly have under control. They all started after the whiplash injury. I was a healthy dancer, vegetarian, organic, didn't drink etc. The perfect lifestyle. I have also heard that in northern climates, lack of Vitamin D can be a major issue. They are testing that in Canada by giving MS patients in particular extremely high doses and with good results. But really, when you think about it, lacking essential nutrients is another form of stress for the body - sort of like suffocating for lack of air. The body is just going to go amok, one way or another, if it gets mistreated - mentally, or physically. Anyway, I hope you start to feel better. I used to be a real mess, but I have worked very holistically to treat my body well, to get the best medical care, and God has helped me tremendously and given me direction and been very successful in alievating a lot of symptoms. I also went back to school, and started memorizing Bible scriptures, among other things, which really helped my memory. Apparently the brain can create new pathways. So don't give up - the beginning is the worst part, and it seems so hopeless, and like a downward spiral, but you can get back to a happy, almost normal life. I don't work anymore, by the way. I am on long term disability, because teaching elementary school was just another big stress I didn't need. Angie