Do y'all have changing symptoms depending on which day or even time of the day?
It seems some of my hand swelling has gone down in the last day or so - I can even put on my wedding ring for the first time in about a month!! And the leg swelling I don't think is quite as bad, either, except that it increases from minimal in the morning to "tree trunks" by the end of the day. Stiffness and pain however seem unchanged, and new places have begun hurting.
It's all a tad bit confusing - and not really knowing what I should expect makes me crazy! (OK, OK, crazier than usual - happy now???
For what it is worth: after nearly three decades, I still do not know what to expect and am often surprised by how, when, and where AI (autoimmune illness) presents.
The two constants in my version of AI are fatigue, sometimes nearly incapacitating, other times manageable, and at least on occasion baffling in degree and content; discomfort, at various levels from barely perceptible, to the blind staggers is the other.
On a day-to-day basis my dis-ease does not define who I am and what I do, but is a constant presence in how I do what I do and often in why I do what I do.
I admit that sometimes I _feel_ as if my life is held in bondage to my disease and to the medications and treatments that keep my disease in check (if not in checkmate) and allow we to have a life. It is a cycle: when I am careful to manage my disease my life too is manageable, however if the pendulum swings to far in either direction there are consequences.
Right now I am paying the due price for allowing my dis-ease to swing out of control and my life, so to speak, is on hold.
I am heartily sorry you find yourself in the throes of learning about autoimmune illnesses. I salute you for putting forth the effort to learn all you can about the effects and the affects.
Con brio, Happy---yes, I am.
idioted for a missing ,
The day started off with me feeling pretty good, nothing to speak about.
As the day wore on my R/hand started feeling stiff in the joints, then started to ache. I was also feeling things in both knees and L/shoulder.
This morning I'm back to feeling pretty good apart from some slight stiffness still in the R/hand..
Tomorrow I might be feeling things in my ankle or neck, perhaps it will be my L/hand, and with luck, nothing at all.
The drugs I am on manage to hold things from developing into full blown flare and the dreaded pain.
Hang in there, I know how hard it is before you get onto the drug path.
[QUOTE=Happ]
The two constants in my version of AI are fatigue, sometimes nearly incapacitating, other times manageable, and at least on occasion baffling in degree and content; discomfort, at various levels from barely perceptible, to the blind staggers is the other.
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Right now I am paying the due price for allowing my dis-ease to swing out of control and my life, so to speak, is on hold.
Con brio, Happy---yes, I am.
idioted for a missing ,
[/QUOTE]Hi Happ, This fatigue is a constant with my self as well, and to honest, gives me the pip.
I just have to start backing off when I feel it coming on, else I pay the price that you speak of by letting things get out of control.
I have to be the master in my control of my life and not let others dictate what I do or not do. I get the guilts when I feel it's time to back off while others look at you with that bemused expression on their face.
Your post pretty well sums up my life with RA. I'm only twelve months in though.
Sunny - I now know why every day is like starting over, and I always wondered why every day was so different. I also know why I have a medicine CLOSET for every condition under the sun, because every day I would wake up to some new symptom from a cold sore, to an aching joint, whatever.
The one thing I have learned is that this disease parties all night long while we sleep. Now I know why I wake up feeling different every day, no consistency whatsoever. I beat myself up for about 45 years for not being more disciplined as I might have made a commitment, then had to cancel because I woke up and didn't feel good. I never realized it's all been because I was sick, all my life, and coping. Never once crossed my mind that a disease was at work.
The best part is being able to say you cannot remember when you get into sticky situations :) Take care - and I promise you, tomorrow you feel a little bit differrent than today. Cathy