Hi all, this is my first time on any message board. im 36 yrs old and i have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, i have my very bad days where i cannot perform the simple things in life like brushing my hair for instance. are there many people out there in my age bracket that have RA? i take medication but at times i think it doesnt work.im going to therapy for my hands also. that helps for the time being. i work at an office that all i do is data entry, how do you cope?
Trying2cope
Hi Trying2cope. Welcome to the board. I'm fairly new here too. You will get help understanding & living with RA. The girls here know the ins & outs of this disease. They have helped me understand RA. There are girls here younger & older than you.
When were you diagnosed? What medications are you taking?
I'm sure you will be getting answers from the gals on this board.
I wish you well
Trisha
Welcome T2C~
I'm 35 now but I've "officially" had RA since I was 22. It's defiantely common at this age....and you'll find many, many friends here that are your same age.
When I was first dx'ed my hands were my worst problem. I could barely tie my own shoes 12 years ago. Now a days my hands really are the least of my worries. With proper medication those symptoms have been reduced dramatically. I even picked up a new hobby this year: Knitting!! I love it. I was worried it would make my hands worse; but I swear it's good exercise for them and can't help but think it's been good for me. Physically and mentally.
I work more than 40 hours a week at a deak job. Typing, writing and lots of stuff with my hands. I manage very well on MTX & Humira. Now I don't think I could handle a 40 work week on my feet all day; but the desk job suits me fine.
Don't give up. Just because you are having horrible trouble today does mean it will always be that way.
Again, Welcome. We're glad you're here.
Hi, Trisha thanks for welcoming me. im amazed to find out that there are people younger than me with RA.I was diagnosed in Febuary 2006, knew i had something wrong with my hands before but didnt have medical insurance to have it taked care of it properly, you know how that goes.well I take Sulfazine EC, sometimes i think it doesnt work.Im getting physical therapy for my hands everyweek and that feels soooo good, lol. Im already having diformaties in my fingers and i really hate that, already talk to my Rheumatology doctor about correcting with surgery , what do you think about that?
thanks for your support, Marie
Hi Lovie Thanks for welcoming me, i feel better knowing im not the only one out there with the same RA problems.Tying the shoelaces that is a task huh? Are MTX and Humira medications? I was diagnosed early this year with RA although i knew i had for a while but didnt know what type of Arthritis, My doctor has given me Sulfazine EC , i also was diagnosed with Colitis which the doctor did say that arthritis and colitis can be a associated. He says that Sulfazine will help for both.I been a lil better but not all that great. I did buy some deep penatrating ointment in a roll on form to help with my pain temporary called Biofreeze got it from my Physical Therapist.its works pretty well when im having a rough time at work.Thanks for the encouragement, im sure i will make a lot of good friends in here.
Marie
Marie, You are on very mild drugs. Your doc must be taking his time. Is he a rheumatologist? I know that sulfazine takes some time to work and it doesn't work at all for a lot of people. Maybe you need to have your meds increased. Welcome to the board. There are many here in your shoes at your age that will welcome you also. It will get better.
I am 35 and was just diagnosed in December. I am on Prednisone, Plaquenil, Ultram, Prevacid, Naproxen, Methotrexate and Enbrel. I believe my rheumatologist is a bit aggressive in her treatment, but she wants to bust through this as quickly as she can and I'm glad she is moving rather quickly. I guess it depends on how the deformities are affecting your daily actiivities and if you should have surgery. I would look into different treatment options though as well to keep them from getting worse.
Hi Marie: Welcome to the board.
I'm not telling you to change physicians but I wanted to let you know that there are as many treatment styles as there types of RA and you have to experiment to find the one that works for you. Sometimes you have to find the doctor that works for you and with you. It also helps to be armed with as much information as you can find about RA and ask questions and demand answers. Keep us posted on how your're doing. Welcome aboard and I agree with the others that you need more aggressive treatment. I know I've said this before in caring for hands, but I'll repeat it here because no one may have told you. My hands were very painful at first and just touching the keyboard, HURT!!!! My doctor had me get one of those parafin baths. You can get them at Walmart for about . Yes, they are the ones for manicures. Do it twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. It provides deep heat and really does help. (Plus, you get the softest hands.) It takes a while, but even relieves the immediate pain. I also did finger exercises and continue to do these all the time, now without thinking about it. You can find these on a good web site on Arthritis. Try www.arthritis.org. They should have some listed. They do have a lot of good info. There are a lot of other sites out there with exercises. I also wear, every day, compression gloves that you can get in the drug store. These are little gloves that have holes for your fingers. My hands really start hurting if I don't use them. At times, I have also worn the wrist braces at night or if I am lifting things, also available in the same section. This gives your hands and wrists a break, allowing some healing. I also got a workstation evaluation done recently and found out all the things I was doing wrong that could be adding to my pain. You might see if you company does that. If not, there are web sites out there that have the information to help you do it. Get someone to go over the steps with you because I found it impossible to do on my own. The more you can protect your hands and fngers now, the less damage in your future. That's also why everyone is saying that your RD is not being aggressive enough. It can take only a few months for permanent damage to occur. Hello and welcome, My first rummy was too slow to get me on aggressive meds and now I am waiting for knuckle replacements for my very crooked fingers. Don't fool around with slow treatments. Ask for agressive treatments or find another doctor who will. Remember you're in charge of your health. Happy Sunday to you. Hello and Welcome. I started getting symptoms most noticably around age 25. I think I had some hand weakness before that too. When I first started having symptoms that concerned me, I decided that I would never take the strong drugs that are needed for RA...
I agree with the others that you probably need more aggressive medications, do a little research online and you will learn about the different meds used to treat RA. Also look at the thread titled Who are You? it has lots of info about everyone here, ages and medications etc. A warm welcome to you also.
I was 22 when RA hit me hard. I couldn't do anything until I'd moved my joints for several hours. I could'nt dress my 2 & 4 year old sons or fix their breakfast. I paid a little girl across the street to come over every morning before school to help get my 4 year old ready for pre-school. I also had a 7 month old, I'd really crawl to the sofa before my husband left for work, have him fix a bottle, milk in a cup and a bowl of dry ceral for the 2 year old, and get diapers, clothes, etc. put out next to me. He'd bring me the baby and he'd sleep on the sofa next to me while I moved my joints. I thought my life was over. Thank goodness it didn't last that bad for long. With proper medication you will feel better. Of course there's always flares, but you'll learn how to cope through them. Take care, you can bet this! Hi Trying to cope, I am also 36 I was diagnosed with RA 2 years ago, I am new to the boards too. I was also put on SULFASALAZINE first and I am still on it, after about 4 months the pain started to get worse, so they added PLAQUENIL, and I find these 2 really work well for me. When I have bad flares I take DICOHEXAL for the inflamation which helps too. I am a fitness freak and I think this helps me from breaking down, but I do have the days when I can overdo it and pay the price. Stay strong and never give up on yourself!!! Welcome to your too Jewel. Years ago my situation was very simular to yours Jewel. I started on Sulfersalizine but they also gave me predisone and an NSAID to get me started. Slowly I weaned off the Predsione and my that time the Sulfersalizine had begun to work pretty well. After a while we had to add plaquinel....but I did pretty good for alot of years. Sometimes some of the "weaker" treatments work and sometimes they don't. I've noticed that everything I've taken eventually loses it's effects. Even the stronger medications. I agree with the gang though; if you are already experiencing deformities that you can see with the naked eye time is very important. You don't have a lot of time to be waisitng. Have you used Predisone at all? It might be helpful until your medication starts to work better. Try to encourage your doctor to put you on a short course though. You don't want to take that long ter. Fiona, Do try the paraffin baths. You will feel like you are spoiling yourself and it really helps the pain and increases your flexibility. I did them religiously for over a year and sometimes I still get it out if my hands start hurting a lot. The compression gloves have micro fibers that actually provide support around your hands. It's like this thin layer of support. They kind of work as a massage on your hands. The cloth is very thin and they come in flesh color or black, although I can never find the black ones except on line. I really couldn't do hardly anything before I started this. I had to quit working. Making a peanut butter sandwiche was an overwhelming obstacle. Hope you feel better. trying2cope, i'm pretty much gonna say the same thing most people have already said. you need stronger med's. i'm 33, diagnosed Dec 2006, had it severely for 1 1/2 yrs prior to being diagnosed. before being diagnosed by a very good doctor, i was on no med's & had the same symptoms you & most people here had. couldn't do the little daily activities. i couldn't work, i could barely get out of bed. my doc said if i came in any later there would've been more joint damage. so don't mess around, get better treatment now! i've been on humira injections & methotextrate pills for 6 mo's now & i'm doing great. i sure wouldn't have imagined i'd be doing this good a year ago! so if you get good treatment, it will do wonders. but note it took 6 mo's for the full effect of the med's to work. as far as your data entry job, see if your doctor, or another one can give you something to help you get thru the day. or you may have to find another type of work until you can find relief. i work full time as an animator sitting at the computer all day. but i've been on med's. i couldn't touch the computer before my med's. good luck to you!
This site will give you excellent information on treatments and coping - plus, the people are really nice. We all have rotten days & (I hope) some good ones, too.
Deanna - thanks for the advice on hands. Mine are getting bad again. It's really easy to forget how much you can hurt and how hard the little things can be to do. Buttons?
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