Everyone has arthritis...

Well, everything you just wrote, I feel the same way!  I had to laugh when you mention that commerical...I didnt know RA could affect my joints.....what joke! I couldnt believe they said that...it should say..I didnt know that my immune system could attack my joints, eyes, heart, muscles, tendons,..etc....ha...

And your right, those dont understand who dont know...they only hear the arthritis part and its end of story for them...

Hang in there, I know its very flustrating and stressful...easier said than done...but after a while, you learn to pick and chose who to tell what is going on.

good luck and your not alone....

I agree 100%!!! I am tired of having to explain that no, whether you like or not, this is not a contest to see who has more pain, who has more joint damage etc. osteo and rheumatoid are two very different diseases. It is truly like a box of very cheap chocolate, you NEVER know what you're going to get from one day to the next. I wish just once that I could tell someone that I have RA and they would not try to out-do me and just ask if there is anything they could do to make my day any easier. My family is great, for the most part I have no complaints. My husband picks up most of the slack if I'm having a really bad day. I feel like I can't talk to him about everything. It's just too much, ya know? Anyway, I totally agree with all that you said and look forward to hearing from you in the future. Chin up!

Don' t feel bad. Most people believe that ignorance is bliss.  My inlaws don't believe there could possibly be anything wrong because I never look sick the three times of year that they see.   My husband says don't say autoimmune disease to them because they'll just think you have AIDS, how silly I said but he was right.  There are just some people you can't talk to no matter how old or what eduacation they have.  Find someone who has the disease or one like it, I'm lucky I got from my father and he his mother so I have some one who understands.  Hang in there, there is someone who will understand what  you are going through.

I can relate to what you're saying. I was just diagnosed with severe RA in October. It is very frustrating when people compare RA to OA or when they say "oh, you're too young to have arthritis". I then inform the person that it is not an age disease, that it can effect children, teens, adults and the elderly. Sure, mostly what we hear or are shown in public or in the media is elderly people with it. Even commercials. I agree that the media needs to rethink their commercials for arthritis, RA, etc... and not just show elderly people playing with grandkids. I know it's a personal choice when and whom to share the disease with but I don't mind sharing it with most people either. In particular, when I quit my job in October. Thanks for your post! Good luck to you and hugs.

Hi Star,

yes, been there too.  most of my circle of friends completely understand what i'm going thru.  Fortunately,being newly DX, my drug combo of prednisone and plaquenil is working magnificently! i have no pain anymore, except for the occasional stray pain, now and again, and it's not that bad.  i am not wearing my pain on my face anymore, so no one is asking anymore questions, thank god.  the worse culprit is my husband.  he refuses to acknowledge anything is wrong and that it's 'only arthritis, geez'....i was angry at him for no support but now i don't care anymore.  it's MY problem now. my 16 yr old daughter is very intuitive and knows i'm doing well, and still offers to help me with things just in case.  in the beginning, i heard the same thing from others, about having the pain in the pinky finger, or the right knee. i got tired of saying, "well, fortunately for you, it's not the same thing.  consider yourself lucky that you don't have to feel like you got hit by a truck everyday"  i tried not to be sarcastic about it.  now that my RA is 'under control' no one is asking anymore.  thank goodness!!  i'm learning sometimes it's just better to keep my mouth shut and live with it.  it's just easier.  you're right, RA education is definitely lacking!!  good luck and hopefully it gets better for you! 

When I read your blog I really thought I wrote it, it sounds like me, only I quit my job 2 years ago.  I have methro and have taken it with Humira but I did not feel any better and my doctor stopped the Humira.  I hate taking the metho, it gets me sick.  I am looking for a new doctor since we just dont seem to be able to really talk.  I had read a blog where some doctors are like that, they just dont know how to handle cronic pain, and I really think that's mine, its hi, how you feeling, take blood and thats about it.  She looks at my form and sometimes makes comments on it, like hmmm still takes you that long in the morning..... well I am trying natural stuff now, I take the flax oil and want to get the colloidol silver.  I agree that the public needs to understand but so do the families.  My kids do not understand nor do they think about it at all, as they dont live by us and when they call and I am having a bad day - they really dont have a clue.  They see the same commericals as everyone else does and think the same, you can take meds and just live normally.  I too hold most of my pain to myself, but some days that mack truck is parked out side my door.  When the pain is bearable I find the fatigue frustrating.  I never used to nap and now I have a hard time getting through a day with out one.  Keep your chin up - there is help for us out there somewhere.

Celeste

 Read your personal inputs on  RA and comments.  I wish all of you well,  The most pleasant of Xmasses  and best of New Years.  

 I can relate to all you are saying. Personally I have both RA and OA.  Neither is nice to experience.  I was one of those die hard no drugs people until I could no longer get out of a wheel chair.  My daughter draged me to the family MD who could not believe my condition. Immediat. put me on steroids which get me on my feet but not walking.

  Summery:::::::::::::there were tests.  Last Dec. (2007) I had a total hip replacement.    From that point on my condition has improved meraculously.  Can walk with a stride on my own,  but on distances a cane is used.   Now we are working on the upper body parts.  Seems a platoue has been reached with plaquinl. and metho.

The thinking is to add humera and posibly start to decrease the other drug(s).  I personally would like to get off of the plaqun. Maybe next week as I think it bothers

my eyes, I understand  that eyes recover when get off the plaqu..  Will talk to MD about decreasing the metho. also.    I am trying out omrga 3 fatty acids. Have been on them three and one half days and there seems to be a bit less swelling already and better range of movement.  Too soon to tell for sure.  Then too, the phytoplankton I have been taking for three months  probably also helps.  The last two items do not interfear with the drugs but check in  with your MD on all that.

A + attitude (although at times hard to muster up), meditation and prayer help at least as much as the meds..........................      While we can move let us live as best we can.         Dee

Thank you all for sharing your comments. At least I feel like what I'm experiencing is normal.

I'm trying curcumin supplements, and they seem to be helping. I had no pain at all yesterday, but then today I got up and hobbled down the stairs, trying not to twist my achy ankles, and I've got an ache in my hip. My ankles stopped hurting now that I've been up for a couple of hours. I guess there's no magic cure, but it would be nice if a natural remedy would work. I'm kind of scared of the Plaquenil, since it can ruin your eyesight, but the other drugs are even more dangerous. Then, I've read posts by others who regret not taking meds because now their joints are really damaged. It doesn't give one much hope for the future.

So far I've only had x-rays of my hands, and the joints were fine, just some mild thinning of bone mass in my knuckes. My GP told me to take calcium, and I'm on a vitamin D prescription anyway, because I had a deficiency. My aches and pains are in all of my large joints; my fingers and toes are the only things that don't hurt.

You would think science could have figured out something for the fatigue by now. For years I wondered what was wrong with me, only to have doctors tell me to lose weight or that I was depressed. Now that I know, it's hard to believe a disorder with the word "arthritis" in it can make me so tired all over. I think that's what most people don't get is the systemic concept. For me, the fatigue is actually much worse than the pain. I can live with aches and pains, but sometimes I can't function from the fatigue.

Thanks for all of your input, and everyone take it easy and have a Happy Holidays!

Thank you, thank you, now I know I am not crazy!  Up down, pain, no pain, sick, not sick, I think RA is the multiple personality disorder of auto-immune diseases.  And yes, no one seems to get it!  How could they?  I have been living with it for 5 years now and I still can't believe how all over the place I feel - sometimes I feel great and can do so much and some days I feel like an old woman at 42.  I am on Enbrel and Metho it works ok, but still not symptom free and still have very bad days.  The metho makes me feel like crap - when I get the flu and I can't take it that week, I actually feel like I have had a vacation from how crappy it makes me feel - even with the flu symptoms!!  Doc say there is no reason you should not be symptom free with meds, but then never changes anything when I say I am feeling bad - it's "try losing some weight, have you been going to the gym?"  Yeah, right, I am doing good alot of days to go to work. And why the heck is it that the one symptom I didn't get is unexplained weight loss?? THAT one I could get behind!  Does anyone else still get sick and TIRED from the metho even though you have been taking it a long time?

I understand what you are saying.  I get the same kind of responses from people at work.  I have days when I feel lousy and days when I am 100 percent energenic.

They won't understand how someone feels until they read about RA, or get it themselves.  I am 55 years old, so the reaction  from others is just take vitamins or exercise more, etc.

i just had to comment on your comment that everyone has arthritis. yep they do... i was jus diagnosed with RA 2 weeks ago.  and i am just trying to find out as much information as i can.  i hurt, as you all do.  and so far whenever i have told anyone i was being tested for RA or that i was diagnosed with it they seem to all say the same thing. they have or know someone that has arthritis they do not understand. this will not go away. and is just not the same. i just needed someone to talk to and have turned to the computer as it seems you people may be the only ones that understand how much this hurts.

anyway this is my first try at the computer. i was suppost to start methotrexate last week and well with my retail job i hated to start it and side affects the week before christmas in retail just didn't seem smart.  and now i have a cold and cough so i can not start it this week. ugh.. so i am goig to sit here and read; more and try to figure all this out.

Yes, I feel like I could have written the same things. I'm looking for a space in my head to retreat in comfort from all the naysayers. Even my own child thinks, "You can do what you want to do." Little do they know....