Everyone has arthritis...

     I have chosen to tell most people I know that I have RA to try to explain why I'm not as energetic and motivated as I think they weant me to be. I feel like at work I have to be "on" all the time, and no one wants to hear anyone complain that they don't feel well. But no matter who I talk to, whether it's co-workers, friends, or relatives, all I seem to hear is "I've had arthritis in my knees for ten years, I have arthritis too, everyone has arthritis, blah, blah.." Most people are so misinformed and have no idea what RA is or what the words autoimmune disease and systemic mean, no matter how much you try to explain it.

     I don't go around whining all the time- I have tried to explain it once, then I just suffer in silence. But then, there are always those people that ask, "How are you feeling?" or say "You look tired today," or "Come on, come on, you're walking slow today," and then when you answer with the truth they look away and mumble like they don't want to hear it. It's like the whole world thinks you're faking 'cause you're not crippled yet.

     How can I explain how one day I'm limping 'cause my hip is in severe pain, and I have trouble getting up out of a chair because of knee pain, then the next day I can jog up the stairs? Or that one day I'm having trouble typing at work and I have to wear a wrist splint, then the next day I'm fine? I also can't explain why I call into work one day 'cause I feel like I got hit by a truck and can't keep my head up from fatigue with no apparent reason, but when I  have a bad cold I just come to work and fight it off. No one seems to understand the constant fatigue of RA, and my husband keeps asking why I don't get out of the house and go pick up stuff at the store for myself.

     The public seriously needs to be educated about RA. No, not those stupid commercials that say, "I didn't know RA could attack my joints," (DUH!) then show people hiking and flying kites. I mean real education, like the kind of info we're constantly bereted by about heart disese and diabetes.

     For someone with osteoarthritis to tell someone with RA "yah, I have arthritis too" is like me telling a diabetic, "yah, sugar make me feel lousy too." How could they think there's any comparison? Meanwhile, I'll just go on thinking the whole world is judging me and thinking I'm lazy, while I force myself through activities that hurt because I have no choice, I've got to earn a living.

     Do any of you feel this way too?