I am so greatful that I found this forum several weeks ago. I was just DX with RA in April of this year. I have written in times of total panic and sadness and you all have been such a source of comfort and insight. Some nights my hands are too painful to write, but I get on the boards and read. It seems everyday there is someone newly dianosed with RA. I read their stories and realize we are all connected in this somehow. I find myself trying to "stay way" from the boards at times. I just want my life to be "normal" again.I don't want to think about my meds, RA, the pain or anything else about RA. I want to focus on something else, but I am drawn back, like a moth to a flame, realizing the connection is part of me now. Have you all gone through this? Is this part of the process?
There is a lot of information, and some of it is frightening. But the important thing to remember is that everyone's path is different. It's easy to get overwhelmed, but you need to focus on the now and not the horror your mind creates and tells you is your future.
The support and guidance here is worth more than any treatment available. The folks here listen when our doctors do not. I'm addicted, I surrender!
For me, it's an instant answer to all of my questions. My RD doesn't have RA. She's a wonderful woman, but she doesn't know what I'm feeling. She doesn't really realize that my best day is on par with - maybe - her worst day. That when I say I feel good, it doesn't mean I have no pain. I don't think I'll ever have no pain again.
Here, everyone's been through it - the promise of a new drug. The hope of a new knee. The horrible taste of prednisone. The fear of the future. That's why I come back. I learn something new every day.
You'll learn a different kind of normal. We all learn it eventually, some take longer than others. But it is your new normal and we are your new friends to go with it.
Don't stay away. Learn a new kind of normal with us, it's easier to learn with friends.
RA has scary components. And it may seem that coming here, you are focusing on the negative. But I don't think that is really true. You are arming yourself in a battle.
One, you will never have all the symptoms and problems related on the board. But, you will have some of them. And, someone here has dealt with it before. That helps.
It also helps us to know when to call the doctor, go to the ER, what questions to ask, questions what medicines and treatments we are given. It is a way of gaining back some control.
It's a reality check that this is not something your mind dreamed up. That's really important when healthy people are telling you to do more exercise, try just to think positive, do things even if you don't feel up to them, mind over matter. You do have an illness and it is just as concrete as someone who is fighting cancer.
But most importantly, and this is why I come back again and again, is that I make friends here that are concerned about how I am doing. And, I care about them. When I leave this board, I say little prayers for them as they cross my thoughts during the day. If they don't show up for awhile, I worry about them and hope it is because they are feeling wonderful.
Coming here has given me a place to release feelings that I didn't know I had hidden. It's made me face what is happening in my life. I'm sick. I don't want to be sick. But I need to deal with it. I can't just push it aside and pretend it's not there.
I come here, because it makes me feel stronger and that RA is not winning in everyone's lives.