Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Have any of you thought this? Is this really it? Seriously? Surely it's another rare fluke. A mosquito bite from last summer perhaps. All the damn chiggers in my yard caused it.
No. Be honest.
I remember lying in bed, crying. Crying and crying night after night. My shins, my whole legs hurt. Oh how they hurt so very much. Mom told me I had growing pains. I secretly thought how I was like my grandma.
I was 6. This happened until about 9 years old.
I had a horrible pain in my middle finger. I questioned, do I have it? Have I turned into grandma? The pain subsided.
My thumb a year ago. How it felt jammed. The daily pain. Just one joint, is this it? Did it happen?
Numerous twinges. All lasting a week to a few weeks and fading.
The thought never left. Am I my grandma? Has it happened?
My grandmother battled RA since, hell, since she was probably my age (35) until she passed in 07. Is it strange I always knew I'd get it? Did my thinking I'd get it help me get it? Was it intuition? Does it matter?
I'm struggling. It's been 5 months since diagnosis. Every day hurts. My knuckles in my hands, my base knuckles in my toes, my ankles, my wrists. Twice my jaw. Twice one knee. But this constant inflammation, on prednisone no less, this constant pain in standard joints (plus a diagnosis per a rheumatologist of course) leads me to a shock some evenings.
Is this it? Did this seriously just happen? I always thought it would, but never believed it would. Not having the blood confirmation (I had my first flare three weeks before my first blood draw) lets me hope. This isn't RA. It's a rare disease, a spiritual correction. It will fade, go away.
I know it won't. The pain. The inflammation. The agony every moment of every day. It IS real, I know.
I just. Sit. I sit. I sit and think still, is this real?
I haven't fully accepted yet I suppose. Thanks for reading, if you finished;)
No. Be honest.
I remember lying in bed, crying. Crying and crying night after night. My shins, my whole legs hurt. Oh how they hurt so very much. Mom told me I had growing pains. I secretly thought how I was like my grandma.
I was 6. This happened until about 9 years old.
I had a horrible pain in my middle finger. I questioned, do I have it? Have I turned into grandma? The pain subsided.
My thumb a year ago. How it felt jammed. The daily pain. Just one joint, is this it? Did it happen?
Numerous twinges. All lasting a week to a few weeks and fading.
The thought never left. Am I my grandma? Has it happened?
My grandmother battled RA since, hell, since she was probably my age (35) until she passed in 07. Is it strange I always knew I'd get it? Did my thinking I'd get it help me get it? Was it intuition? Does it matter?
I'm struggling. It's been 5 months since diagnosis. Every day hurts. My knuckles in my hands, my base knuckles in my toes, my ankles, my wrists. Twice my jaw. Twice one knee. But this constant inflammation, on prednisone no less, this constant pain in standard joints (plus a diagnosis per a rheumatologist of course) leads me to a shock some evenings.
Is this it? Did this seriously just happen? I always thought it would, but never believed it would. Not having the blood confirmation (I had my first flare three weeks before my first blood draw) lets me hope. This isn't RA. It's a rare disease, a spiritual correction. It will fade, go away.
I know it won't. The pain. The inflammation. The agony every moment of every day. It IS real, I know.
I just. Sit. I sit. I sit and think still, is this real?
I haven't fully accepted yet I suppose. Thanks for reading, if you finished;)
So, emailed my aunt who cares for my gma until she passed. I told her my current medications, and mentioned a biologic is my next step. I said I was thinking of enbrel- rheumy mentioned this or Humira and I researched. Think I want enbrel.
She said my gma was put on enbrel, mind you she was well deformed and yrs into her diagnosis. She did really well on it! So I'm encouraged to know what treatment she received that worked. No I'm not her, but it's a glimmer of hope. She had done gold injections a lot and tried methotrexate before enbrel.
Thanks again you all. I am feeling better mentally, just get blown away at the fact I'm really dealing with this. Doesn't seem real at times.
That's sad. She loved my Grandma dearly , but my Mother just had the opposite front of small woman but definitely tough and don't mess with me attitude. I gravitated to my Grandma because we had a lot more in common and especially, I adored everything about her but especially her humor.
From what reply #1 asked, I am thinking and I realize at this moment, there are many kinds of armor. I think mine is humor. :)