I am just curious if anyone has had 3 or more years exposure to any of the following before or during when you first got sick.
Pick any of the following or multiple if it is close to you.
1) Live in a town the produces chemicals like oil field companies etc.
2) Smoker
3) Work in a company that produces chemicals that you are or have been exposed too for more than a year.
4) Live close to farms that use pesticides
5) Used chemicals on regular basis like strong pesticides
6) moved into a new home or trailer and was sick within 2 years.
More and more with people I talk too, chemical exposure in high doses seem to be part of their lives. So i was just curious.
Thanks.
smoking is what caused my PA in a round about way. i was placed in an induced coma after suffering a massive asthma attack caused by heavy smoking. the trauma of it bought on the PA Smoker. (hangs head in shame)
Smoker here too.(hides behind Kiwi)
non smoker
smoker
non smoker
smoker
non smoker (at present)
Ex-Smoker since Jan.
Non of the others.
smoker 40 years,quit in feb.05 came down with RA in july.started smoking again RA went away.quit feb06 RA again.
jj54, Do you think that smoking relieves RA? It certainly sounds that way. Perhaps this is a coincidence? What do others think?! Nowandthen, for what it's worth, I think that it certainly helps my state of mind when hurting and stressed.
I quit smoking march 2005, RA symptoms really kicked in two months later and my 'borderline' thyroid dropped to underactive around the same time. Dxd hypothyroid june '05 and RA july '05. I slept a lot that summer!
Apparently nicotine does mask a lot of ailments because it gunks up receptors in our body/brain so the poorly messages don't get through - you can tell I'm a top notch medic eh?
mmmmmmmmmmmm............i gave up 3 years ago and then started again, not even sure why, just really felt like a cigarette.I was on and off but only a couple a week and then thought oh heck might as well not do it at all but I then became a social smoker and that became 3 or 4 a month.I then had a bad flare and didnt go out at all so didnt smoke at all and that has been for 4 weeks since I had my last one.I have a bad sinus infection and cough so i am not missing it at all.
There are very few things that cause me more stress than trying not to smoke.
Thanks everyone, didn't realize so many smokers.
My first flairs over about 3 years came around smoke. Every time i came to town to visit my mom in law who smokes, i would leave with swelling knees and ankles. But after a few days at home i was ok until i saw her again. I never put it together until my body fell apart bit by bit.
Anyway, cigs are still a HUGE problem for me and make me sooooo much worse, also ozone from sharper image air cleaners, exhaust from vehicles, bug spray etc. all do the same exact thing to me including some meds.
It's not easy to im happy to know of select things to stay away from.
I hope you all get well soon.
No smoking, but for the last 12 years I have lived upwind from nuclear waste left over from the Manhattan project in WWII and downwind from the Umatilla army depot that has all the left over nerve gas.I smoked for 40 years and quit April 2003. RA symptoms April 2006.
I'm glad I quit. I would rather have RA than start smoking again.
none of the abovenever smoked, neither does DH.. however my mom and dad smoked heavily when I was a kid til I was 10
I live within a half mile of a huge Superfund Site.
"The Sinclair Refinery Site in Wellsville, New York, is a 100-acre refinery that closed in 1963. Throughout the operation and dismantling of the refinery, various types of wastes (including cloth filters, fuller's earth, oil sludges, contaminated soil, and fly ash) were disposed of in a 10-acre landfill adjacent to the Genesee River. In addition, oil and other materials from spills when the refinery was in operation have apparently saturated much of the soil in the 90-acre refinery portion of the site. These materials are leaching into the Genesee River.
Wellsville draws its drinking water from the Genesee River about 0.5 mile downstream of the site. The river has changed course and is now eroding the edge of the disposal area. Oily material enters the Genesee River, and debris from the site litters the banks of the river downstream of the disposal area. The oily material has been detected in raw water entering the Wellsville water treatment plant. The State found mercury, PCBs, and oil components in samples collected at the site. The contaminants may be entering ground water, which supplies about 1,600 nearby residents."
lovely
We love this village, we love our home.. and until they conclusively prove that environmental reasons caused my RA, I'm going to assume its genetics and bad luck.
This area is not especially high for RA, or other autoimune conditions. Yes there are some and they are all different kinds.. but who knows.
We are about 2 blocks from the river.
'
I smoke off and on; there was a study that came out just a few weeks ago that said smokers have a LOWER rate of RA. Something about nicotine having anti-inflammatory properties. I'll try to find the link. Nicotine also seems to ease inflammatory bowel disorders in some folks, though the risks almost always outweigh the benefits. I gave up smoking 9th March 2006. By October 06 i had to have a month off work due to pain levels skyrocketing. By January 07 i had to resign, couldn't cope with work and pain at the same time. also discovered over active Thyroid in March 07, which i think was a problem much earlier than the discovery date.