Hello! I've been living with RA for over 13 years. Currently take Enbrel and Methotrexate. Happy to have found a site to listen to others talk about their experiences so like my own. Sometimes you feel like you are in a bubble (a bubble of pain!) you go to work, occasionally you complain, but noone really knows that every step, every movement, is pain. I work in a mall (manager of a claire's ) and sometimes I go to the food court to eat, but watching me get up after sitting there for 15 minutes...I feel like I can't move and feel like everyone is looking at me wondering what the heck is wrong with her! My job is very physical (been there 8 years) but lately its been harder and harder to do my job. Just getting up and going there is a major victory, let alone all the lifting, bending over, and standing. And of course your boss has no clue, even if you tell them. I don't want to look like a whiner, so mostly I keep my mouth shut! Hope to find lots of wisdom and advice on this site :)
I agree, RA, is really a pain to live with. The crazy thing is when you tell someone you have arthritis they say, Oh I've got that too! They never seem to understand. But, I've had RA for about 18 years. Did well for several years on plaquenil and am now on Humira and Methotrexate(6X). Overall I have had it a lot easier than most that I've seen on this blog. A few years ago I tried to go the natural way and it like to have killed me. After a year or so I finally got on Humira and a day later after taking the injection I could tell it was going to work. It has been about 17 months since then and I have been doing pretty good. I still have swelling from time to time, but seldom pain like I used to. I have only had to take Vicodin a few times since starting and it is usually after I have over worked or exercised. I hope that even better affordable drugs will get on the market some day. Anyway, I hope you get to feeling better even though this response might be a bit dated. Danny