Hi Erin
What a great daughter to be looking for help for your mom! It is really hard to deal with this disease, and also hard on family members.
Does your mom have osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis or both? Is she taking any medications for her arthritis?
For women, hormonal changes (first period, each period, pregnancy, and menopause) all may make chronic disease worse. Depending on what surgery she had, she sounds like she still has the hormone changes even if she is not having the period itself. She should talk to her doctor about making sure her hormonal balance is taken care of.
I am sure it is scary to see your mom having pain or difficulty doing things, and it is great to help her out when you can. But you need to be sure you are taking care of yourself as well, in school and other activities. Do you have a friend or teacher or coach or someone you can talk to? Do you have other family members or neighbors, or people who know your mom, who can help out?
You sound very strong to be looking out for your mom - she is lucky to have you in her corner!

What meds is your mom on? That has to be the key to fighting this disease. If she is that bad, she needs a DMARD like methotrexate, Arava or Sulfasalazine, and a biologic, like Humira, Enbrel, Orencia, Actemra or Rituxan.

I got hit with RA when my daughter, my youngest was 10 years old. She was dressing me, brushing my hair and doing everything for me. I felt so horrible for her. But when I got on better meds, I was able to recover a lot of that. She loved figure skating, and somehow, I got her to the rink, to tests and competitions. Eventually she became a coach, but by then, she had her own driver's license. I hope you have something that you love to do, that you can do.

My daughter is grown and married. How did she turn out? Well, she is happily married to a doctor. She is a social worker, and she helps kids in abusive situations. We are very close!

If I was giving you advice, I would say try to be there for your mom, and try and help her if possible. And get a doctor to see her and put her on better meds. Stopping periods is not the way to stop Rheumatoid Arthritis. Many women continue to have them, including me! Although I did have some major issues at menopause, because of the meds I was on. Still, I got through it.

I hope that helps a bit. There might be a friends and family of RA group on here, but I don't imagine it would be very active. I hope your mom gets the help she needs, and don't give up hope of her improving. It happens to most of us.

Hey I am almost 16 and I have athritis. It is very hard to deal with, but the move she moves around the better she will feel. Feel free to message me. Where is her body does she have it? Heating pads also help and doing things to get their mind off of it helps I go to the gym and color and focus on school. I am having surgery soon and am having a total joint replacement. The mornings for her may be the worst part, but you should encourage her to get up and move around because what happens is when you dont move the fluid builds up and gets stiff which causes more pain so moving around will get it flowing and make her feel better.

great advice.

depot