Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis

[One Day Soon]

This thread is aimed primarily at Mrs. S who I saw on another thread has RA - but any other help or advice gratefully received.

Mrs ODS has just been diagnosed with RA. I'd be really grateful if anyone with experience or knowledge of the condition would post anything that might be helpful. Mrs. S, for example, thought that Aspartame provoked the condition.

Any tips on diet, lifestyle or anything else?

Thanks.

[Jay]

Everybodys different and im no doctor so only speaking from experience. Its a cruel condition, everybody thinks its achy joints in cold damp weather. I could smack someone with a spade some days when they say that but luckily for them the pain in my hands stops that from happening. Its a poorly named condition, its an auto immune thing,nothing to do with arthritis. It brings a pain that cant be described sometimes.
Anyway, I researched it a lot after my diagnosis. I take loads of supplements and think they do help, ive been pretty lucky in that im fairly well controlled and havent taken drugs for a while (against docs advice so please dont do what I do) I just had a steroid jag on thurs which has helped this flare up. Flare ups can cause exhaustion that you cant describe so its not just pain but the pain is bad! Keeping flare ups to a minimum is key and most people do that with RA drugs and/or painkillers.
I exercise a lot, my first consultant recommended it to strengthen the muscles round my joints. I eat as well as i can and eat as much organic food as possible, not always possible with four growing laddies to feed. I try to avoid artificial sweeteners and limit processed food etc. Alcohol is fine for me but has to be limited if you are on meds.
I think the most important thing for me is to stay positive and feel in control.
Feel free to send me a pm if your wife has any questions. Especially about the drugs, thats a minefield. Its a lifelong condition but doesn't define you, well it certainly doesn't define me. Most people wouldnt even know i had it.
Hope that helps a little, maybe others will share different experiences too.

[Jay]

Triggers - itll take time but she will work out what her triggers are. Sometimes theres no rhyme or reason and sometimes you just ignore the fact youll have a flare because you are stupid like me 😁 I just got another tattoo knowing i had a flare after the last one. The books say its shouldnt happen but it did,happened again but i want to live my life and am.pretty stubborn :agree:

[McD]

My wife has had it most of her life, and has some rather severe limitations of movement due to mistreatment by doctors.

Flareups can be triggered by many things, such as too much physical activity, or too little. She does take drugs for it, off and on, as she sometimes comes off when she decides to. She also makes something called timuric (spelling may be off) which is natural and helps.

Keeping the the muscles around the joints strong and healthy is good advice (swimming is good as the water takes some strain off the joints).

[Jay]

Turmeric and rosehip both great natural anti inflams

[Beefster]

My dad has had it for almost 20 years. He's tried lots of drugs in that time but he swears by Methotrexate (sp?!). From what I can gather, it's not a nice drug but he reckons it has slowed the pace of the disease down to almost nothing after years of it being unchecked.