Anyone else with rheumatoid arthritis or autoimmune disease?

[Yorkshire Coop]

I’m not sure how to describe how it feels? I sure wouldn’t wish it on anyone that’s for sure! Mind bending could be a good description for when it’s itchy and you can’t scratch because it will bleed which then in turn leaves you open to more infection. Sometimes a vicious circle.

But as you said earlier in the thread @oldhenlikesdogs you come to term with things, learn to manage it & just get on.
It gets me down sometimes yes but it’s the hand I’ve been dealt and if I have more good days than bad I’m a happy bunny

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I’m not sure how to describe how it feels? I sure wouldn’t wish it on anyone that’s for sure! Mind bending could be a good description for when it’s itchy and you can’t scratch because it will bleed which then in turn leaves you open to more infection. Sometimes a vicious circle.

But as you said earlier in the thread @oldhenlikesdogs you come to term with things, learn to manage it & just get on.
It gets me down sometimes yes but it’s the hand I’ve been dealt and if I have more good days than bad I’m a happy bunny

I always try to remember others are having a much worse time than me, and try to be grateful as well for the good in my life. Though some days you just gotta go down, have a good cry and throw yourself a pity party, than you dust yourself off and go on.

People always say to me they could never take all those shots I take every day, they say I'm brave. I just say I have no choice if I want to live. I do what I have to do. I know nothing else, you probably don't either.

 

[Zinjifrah]

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis here. Worse when I was young than it is now - the climate here seems to help with it. Or maybe it's all the time spent out in the sun, in high radiation. Not sure. I KNOW the low humidity here helps with the arthritis, but when there's a weather change, it takes a lot of work to convince myself to get moving sometimes.

I still have doctor's argue with me, until they look at my oldest medical records - they tell me that it's impossible for anyone to get psoriasis at six years old, that it only shows up around puberty. I developed it at six years old. A lot of childhood memories of agreeing with people who thought it was skinned elbows and knees - the areas it came in - rather than deal with them thinking it was a disease, since the idea of a non-contagious disease was pretty hard for people to grasp, then!

Curiously, of all the absurdly expensive creams, salves, and other drugs that the doctors used to push on me... none of which worked for more than a couple weeks... what really worked/works for me is Udderly Smooth cow udder lotion. The stuff that's made for use on cattle, NOT the stuff they're making now for use on humans and selling under the same name.

With Psoriasis/Psoriatic arthritis, osteoporosis and Alzheimers running on my mother's side of the family, Rheumatoid Arthritis and cardiac problems on my fathers side (he has it, and his hands are almost useless), I figured out at a young age that I was genetically screwed!

 

[Kfults]

Weather?? Anyone else have a harder time with weather changes. Sat I felt good and then mid afternoon the bottom fell out, I had fever like symptoms ( chills, pain, then sweats but no fever ) Sun I was in bed most day and just felt sick and joints hurting. Today I went back to bed while it rained and thundered. Mid afternoon I got up feeling pretty good. Joints better and sick feeling gone. Now I feel almost normal! My friend pointed out we began having a slow front move in sat with storms and it passed through and now my symptoms have all begun to improve. Anyone else get flares with weather changes?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I feel horrible here in the winter. The cold and low humidity turns my body to stone. Weather changes can cause sharp stabbing pain. It's all the pressure charges which pushes and pulls joints apart.

 

[Kfults]

I feel horrible here in the winter. The cold and low humidity turns my body to stone. Weather changes can cause sharp stabbing pain. It's all the pressure charges which pushes and pulls joints apart.

I was reading how cold or warm fronts change the barametric pressure and cause changes in joints and tendons and can result in a flare up. I think I am going to start a diary when I have flares and look for weather patterns and other factors to help predict or reduce chance of flares. When I have a flare- it is not just joint pain, but an overwhelming fatigue and feeling “ unwell “ that really gets me down.

 

[MichelleBelle]

Autoimmune disorders can be really frustrating to deal with. They often come in pairs, and I've got 2 myself. I have to try and be careful to avoid too much physical or emotional stress, or I will have a flare up. My flares involve either terrible joint pain or a random joint will become locked up, whereby I am unable to move it at all. It will feel as if there are particles of grit in the joint, preventing movement. In addition, my entire body will feel inflamed and incredibly fatigued and just generally unwell. My heart or kidneys will often be involved, and I've had pericarditis numerous times. Last summer I moved from Austin, TX to northeast MO, and I was surprised to discover that the cold did quite a number on my joints. I might have to get a winter house and fly south for the winter....

 

[Kfults]

Autoimmune disorders can be really frustrating to deal with. They often come in pairs, and I've got 2 myself. I have to try and be careful to avoid too much physical or emotional stress, or I will have a flare up. My flares involve either terrible joint pain or a random joint will become locked up, whereby I am unable to move it at all. It will feel as if there are particles of grit in the joint, preventing movement. In addition, my entire body will feel inflamed and incredibly fatigued and just generally unwell. My heart or kidneys will often be involved, and I've had pericarditis numerous times. Last summer I moved from Austin, TX to northeast MO, and I was surprised to discover that the cold did quite a number on my joints. I might have to get a winter house and fly south for the winter....

This all just shock me, I have had a blown disc in my back and ended up having neck surgery from years of nursing and wear and tear on my spine I thought the fatigue the feeling unwell was just from chronic pain I thought the pain in my hips and my shoulders and my arms I was coming from my neck I never dreamed I had an auto immune disease that was affecting the joints that had nothing to do with my spine. I feel like this disease has robbed me of my vitality in my life

 

[MichelleBelle]

In an effort to decrease inflammation in your body, you may wish to add more foods with anti inflammatory activity to your diet. Foods like berries, oranges, cherries, nuts, fatty fish, olive oil, green tea, tomatoes and leafy greens reduce inflammation in your body. In addition, a number of spices have anti-inflammatory action on the body, including turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, ginger, rosemary, and cloves.

Foods that increase inflammation in your body include sugars, soda, fried foods and refined/processed carbs.

 

[Chickassan]

Iv'e had RA since I was fifteen and got rocky mountain spotted fever, it isn't fun I feel for all of you.