Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis And Why I Won’t Give In

Shortly after my Mother passed away last year I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was a shock to be honest and not something I was expecting at all.

At the time I didn’t really understand what the disease was.

When I mentioned it to people I was bombarded with what I should do. In fact I had so much information that it became confusing and overwhelming. Plus, being told to ignore my Rheumatologist could have been quite harmful.

Its also worth pointing out that Rheumatoid Arthritis is NOT the same as Osteo-Arthritis. They are different and RA can be diagnosed at ANY age.

Dr “google” became my friend and my enemy. Since then I only access official sites:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/

https://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis.aspx

https://www.nras.org.uk/

The above sites in the UK give unbiased information about the treatments, effects of drugs and up to date research.

Friends and colleagues in the marketing space were helpful and caring but I couldn’t listen to them all and some people often just wanted to sell me their products.

The other thing of course is that people believe they are experts and what they say works. It’s impossible to listen to every opinion and not become confused.

I did know that I needed to take more supplements for my general health which I arranged through my health and wellness company and my great friend Lora Ulrich.

What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term condition that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. The symptoms usually affect the hands, feet and wrists.

There may be periods where symptoms become worse, known as flare-ups or flares.

A flare can be difficult to predict, but with treatment it’s possible to decrease the number of flares and minimise or prevent long-term damage to the joints.

There’s no cure for rheumatoid arthritis

– The NHS UK.

The Effect Of Rheumatoid Arthritis on My Life.

When I first found out I admit I was scared, angry and apprehensive.

What did all this mean and how would it affect my life?

I joined some forums for support and when I read the negative feedback it depressed me. Tales of tiredness, not being able to work, pain, drugs etc. In the end I stopped visiting them. I only occasionally pop in now and then now.

When I am having good days it’s very easy to forget I have it. There’s no pain and I feel fabulous.

On the bad days that’s something else.

My Rheumatoid Arthritis only affects my hands and wrists at the moment. So when I’m having a flare up the simplest tasks can be extremely difficult.

Such as:

Brushing my teeth- I can’t squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube.

Having a shower and not being able to reach places I need to because I can’t bend my wrists.

Washing my hair – I can’t give it a normal “scrub”

Drying my hair- I can barely lift the hairdryer

Getting dressed and pulling up trousers can be extremely painful.

Fastening my bra is another painful thing to do.

Lifting the kettle is painful

Unscrewing tops off anything can be impossible.

Pulling open a draw or a door is difficult

Typing on the computer is restricted because of the aching

There are other things I could include.

The trouble is, on the outside I look fine, inside, I am in agony. I now know why they call it an invisible disease.

Thankfully I don’t have flare ups all the time. When I do my Rheumatologist is amazing and at the moment my meds have been changed. She takes regular blood tests to make sure my liver is not being damaged.

My readings are high right now so that’s the reason my meds have been changed.

If you’re someone reading this who doesn’t believe in meds and think I should control it with my diet please know when I did this I got worse.

It’s not a disease that is to be taken lightly and what works for one, doesn’t work for another.

There is no cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis. If it’s left untreated the disease basically eats away at the joints and can leave you with irreparable damage. Once a joint damaged then it has to be replaced, if that’s even possible.

I’m not prepared to risk that for ANYONE or ANYTHING.

Living with the fears of it spreading to other parts of my body besides my hands and wrists is something I’m having to get used to.

However, what does help me is my positive approach and a healthy mindset. I admit I have days where I feel sorry for myself and want to cry at the injustice of it all. However, I talk myself out of it and do my utmost not to give in to negative feelings that do me no good.

Why I Keep My Coaching Business

Firstly, I count my blessings that I am in a position to do my work from home. In fact with my computer and the internet, I can carry on from anywhere I am in the world.

Secondly, the coaching I provide is High Performance and not only do my clients benefit from this, I do too.

Learning how to overcome what life throws at us can make us stronger. I know that having a strong and positive approach to anything helps all of us to deal with challenges. It also helps us to recover more quickly.

As I write this post, I am going through one of my painful flares. There was a fleeting moment I wanted to give up, have a good cry and feel sorry for myself. Instead, I talked myself out of that and decided to write this article.

I couldn’t have done that without my high performance coaching.

I feel better already.

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If you are someone who experiences Rheumatoid Arthritis, I hope you are finding a way to deal with it. Staying positive is hard when you are in pain. I know that from experience.

For myself, I remain determined its not going to beat me and I will carry on providing the best coaching I can to my clients. I know it will help them in all areas of their life, their careers and their business. It also helps me too.

If you enjoyed today’s article, Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis And Why I Still Work, please leave me comment below if you got some benefit.