First Time Posting- Hello!

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

First, I wanted to thank everyone that has posted, replied and

replied to the replies that all your information from your personal

experiences has left me at peace and with hope. I'm a 30 year old

recently diagnosed PA, had P for 10 years but like some of you I was

Miss Diagnosed for months.

I'm having a bad flare up in my scalp and joints- right

arm,wrist,hand and my lovely sausage pinkie! LOL. After my vacation

and going back to work, stress and anxiety did! I'm a makeup

artist and it's been a real struggle using my right hand. I've

learned to be ambidextrous using my left for almost everything.

Turning the doorknob is painful; imagine doing makeup for a couple

of hours.

As for medications, I started on prednisone (I was depressed, hungry

and walked around with a headache all the time) my rheumy weaned me

off " as a bridge to MTX " and now I'm on 20 mg of MTX,

this is my 2 month, I need to be patient with a capital P…at least I

can get out of bed with out crying in pain. =) Seeing my rheumy this

afternoon, I'm going to ask about Enbrel and all the other options.

Thanks again for all the information and the support, I was down

about my health but finding this support group gives me great

comfort.

With love and light,

Yin

[Guest guest]

Hi Yin, thanks so much for your first post - that's the only hard one -

promise! We can't cure our disease. With some luck, we can find a medical

regimen

to ease the pain, but when all else fails, this site always eases the way.

Nice to have you here.

Kathy F.

Thanks again for all the information and the support, I was down

about my health but finding this support group gives me great

comfort.

With love and light,

Yin

[Guest guest]

-Welcome,Yin

Glad you found us. Hope things will start looking up for you soon.

Best,

Marti

[Guest guest]

Welcome Yin --

I hope you find the correct combination of meds to make the disease bearable

for you. Don't give up, it may take awhile. I'm so glad you find comfort

here. When I was first diagnosed I was very depressed but this group helped

me work through it and now I am handling that part of it much better. I

still get down but I feel that is a normal reaction to a very bad thing so I

allow a little time on the pity pot occasionally. Not for long though, it

can become a habit. I have had to give up cooking which was one of my

favorite things to. Now my hands are not safe with hot pots & pans and

knives. I have adapted enough to get by but it is certainly not the kind of

cooking I used to do. Fortunately I did not have to make a living at it

like you are doing with your career. I trust you will find ways to use your

hands effectively.

Take care and keep in touch, Cheri :-))