Don't worry about what other people think.  Most people who aren't educated (everyone else) about it don't and will never understand.  To my inlaws I'm just being silly and wasting my husbands hard earned money for a little pain.  Because my father also had arthritis to my family I am almost dead, and I should be pitied.  So i can't win either way.  YOur husband is on your side, so stay strong and everything will work out.  My husband is the only one I can rely on and that is all I need.

I was diagnosed with RA a little over a year ago, with no noticeable joint damage, fortunately. I think I was one of the luckier ones because I was diagnosed in a relatively short period of time.  I was put on Celebrex first, then a couple of months later on Plaquenil by my Rheumatologist.  The Plaquenil took about 3-4 months to start working.  My wrists were the first real pain I had, and for some reason the right one stopped hurting before the left.  Now they are both doing pretty good.  For a few months, before testing and bloodwork were complete, there was excruciating pain even with everyday tasks, which was rough.  I just wanted it to stop, or at least get better.  Now I have other areas that hurt, but it is tolerable.  It can be tough at times, some people say it'll get better, others just ignore your misery, and talk about their own thats worse.

I was diagnosed in May of this year.  I had a pretty good idea the rheumy was going to say I had RA.  I did a lot of reading in the Internet.  I guess I was prepared to hear the worst but I honestly was grateful that I had 64 years of really good health up until that point.  The first couple of months were painful but I'm doing very well on the meds and as long as I at least feel this much relief I'll live the rest of my life grateful that it wasn't any worse!!  I can always think of someone who has it worse than myself.  Oh, and it really helps if you go to Yoga classes and stay active.

Hi I have been having RA for nine years and I had the same feelings of uncertainity as you have. But I kept talking and reading and made people hear me. This particular site has given me a lot of support lately. Just to know that there are so many people that share your exact feelings, pain, uncertainity, depression and frustration makes everything much easier.

Take your meds, some take at least two months to show their effects so hold on.

Ratnapriya

Hi Jen, I guess no matter what age you are when you are diagnosed it's like getting kicked in the stomach.  I am 55 and I was diagnosed 5 years ago.  I really didn't know what RA was so I went home and looked it up on the internet.  As one person said the more I read the more depressed I got.  My RA doctor, who is a sweetheart, started working with me to find a combination of meds that would work.  First she put me on methotrexate and Enbril which didn't work.  Then she tried leflunomide and Remicade which proved to be my wonder drug!  I am not saying that I don't still have pain and flares but I have learned to live the good days to their fullest.  Since I've always been very active all my life learning to do things differntly was a challenge. 

The only thing that still bothers me is that because I don't look like I have RA some people don't understand it when I am in pain.   I was just recently diagnosed with polycondritis, which also is an autoimmune disease.  It affects the cartilege in your body.  Again something I didn't know about and had to read about to understand it.  So far I have been treated with antibiotics and prednisone.  Both times I had pain it went away.  So now I just take each day as it comes and make the best of the good times.

I was 50 when I was dx'd w/RA 3 years ago.  It was hard to accept because I am one of those who would make lists of what I was going to do each day I had off and worked until it was done.  I thought I still could and tried but the RA knocked me on my butt.  It took a short time to realize that I was going to have to change my thought process and how I did things.  I no longer makes lists (except grocery).

I used to walk daily but when the joints in my lower body starting keeping me awake at night, my rheumatologist told me no more walking; he suggested a stationary bike. I had a friend who was getting rid of hers so now I ride that daily.  I was trying to do 50-60 minutes a day, but there are days, if I do 30 I am happy with that.  To over do it has its drawbacks and it is still trial and error on what I can and can't do.

When first diagnosed, there were family members on my husbands and my side that tended to shut me down or tell me how much pain they were in.  I've learned not to discuss this with the ones who do that; it made me feel like shit to be negated like that.  So now, I write here, ask questions here, and talk with those I work with who have RA as well.  In having a network of  people who know what it is like to deal with day to day issues of RA it has helped me to not feel bad about myself. My husband has been supportive and asks each day how I'm doing.  He says he can see in my eyes when I am in pain or had a bad night.

I have a quirky system, and the different oral meds prescribed I had reactions to. Then I was put on Humira injections.  After 3 injections, my doctor took me off when I had reactions at the injection sites.  He started me on the Remicade infusions of which I will have my second this coming Monday.  So far, I had one day of relief after the infusion.  I can see where the RA has disfigured some of my joints but I will not be embarrassed about them.  The doctor is thinking of trying me on another oral med in conjunction with the Remicade when I see him next month.  I am not able to take Methotrexate because of nodules they found on my lungs in two lung scans.  I do take supplements.  If I had not gotten a grant to help with the payment of the drug, I would have foregone the infusions.  Even though I have insurance, $600 a treatment after the insurance pays is still hard to fit in a tight budget.

Overall, it has been a relearning process.  There are things I've given up but in their place, I have other things.  I read more as I did when I was a child.  I take time to just sit on my porch swing and relax.  I watch the squirrels in my back yard and this month put up a squirrel feeder.  I have my dogs to keep me company outside and my cats when I am indoors.  I feel I have made big adjustments in the acceptance of this disease and learning to live with it.