Re: another new person to the group - to

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I was diagnosed when I was 28 years old. At first I think I was in shock. It

took a while for me to finally accept that I would have this for the rest of my

life. The key here is to find a good doctor and start treatment early. You

need to get stabilized with the medication and then hopefully you can look

forward to some pain free days.

You also have to learn to let others do things for you. I was always the type

of person who would move furniture myself, cut the lawn, etc. I had to learn to

let my husband do the labor intensive work. I still think, after 11 years of

marriage, he still does not understand what it is like to have RA, but he is

helpful when I tell him I'm not feeling well. I think sometimes he just forgets

that I have RA and thinks I'm like everyone else.

I married at the age of 30 and was able to have 2 very healthy children while

also having RA. If you are planning on having children, make sure to let your

doctor know so he can put you on medications that are safer to become pregnant

on. Some are better than others. Once I became pregnant, I was able to go off

my meds because my body kicked into remission. This happens a lot with

pregnancy. Once I had the baby though, I had to go on prednisone to get over

the flare that kicked in, until my medication stabilized again. I also had to

give up the thought of breastfeeding due to my medications. I have two very

healthy children that are 6 and 9 years old.

I know this is a lot to deal with, but you have to be strong, take charge of

your body and your life, and you will get through it.

<melissahull_1975@...> wrote:

I am new to the group and new to the wonderful world of autoimmune

disease. I still have not been definitively diagnosed but it

currently seems the suspicion is RA or lupus. All I know is that my

body is in a world of hurt, I feel angry at people and the world for

not understanding, and afraid that my life is going to change

irreversibly for the worse. I have had pain here and there since

last year with a flare in the fall and one big flare currently. My

blood work pretty much comes back normal except for my sed rate going

up. Indomethacin worked for a while but now I am on prednisone and I

start methotrexate next week. I basically feel confused about what

is wrong with me, why nobody can tell me what is wrong with me and

what I should do about it. I am at the point with the pain that I

just want it to go away but the bigger questions of what this all

means for me, my husband and what I hoped would be our long healthy

life together. I'm 30 years old, I haven't had children yet and there

are so many other future things that I feel like are disappearing

from the realm of possibility.

Sorry for the drama but things feel hopeless right now. Can anybody

tell me what I can expect from all this? How do you deal with the

pain? How do you deal with spouses, family and friends moving a

whole lot faster than you? How do you deal with all this medication?

Thanks,