Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms Don't Rule My Aud Life

Tha last time I officially worked outside my house, was in 1997. For the fist time in over 10 years, I went to work at the office yesterday, by 9:30 last night I was thinking I was nuts! I’m the mother of 2 busy girls, coordinator & cook of a bustling household, living with rheumatoid arthritis and now going to work.

I’ve been working from home off and on for the past few years and have found it to be a little hard to get a lot accomplished while in my house. The phone was ringing, laundry was calling me from the hamper, the dog wanted a walk, all the finicky, time consuming things seemed to be getting in the way and I was frustrated. I made the decision in August that I would move into my husband’s downtown office once the girls were back in school.

The office is a pretty relaxed atmosphere, casual and maybe a little too much fun; some of our johncow.com commercials are a little out there! We’re having a good time.

I’m hoping that it will be a good decision, my husband’s office is separate and we’re not on each other’s nerves, and I’m able to have 5 hours where I can focus on work and not have the phone ringing, doors knocking, cat and dog clamoring for attention and housework making me feel guilty! Being the procrastinator that I am, I’ll deal with it later!

The blessing of it is that when arthritis comes creeping I’m able to take the time that I need to rest and recuperate. Not a lot of arthritis people in the workplace can do that, either they need to grin and deal with it, or they need to find another job.

At the moment my RA isn’t in the way of my job, but how is it with you? Is your arthritis getting in the way of your career? How have you adapted? I’m all ears!

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A frustrating aspect of arthritis is the fact that what might work and relieve pain for one sufferer may not do the same for another. There is no one remedy for this condition, especially the auto immune disease Rheumatoid Arthritis. But many with osteo-arthritis have found chondroitin to be helpful.

Chrondroitin, along with glucosamine, plays a  part in normal, healthy cartilage. Also known as chondroitin sulfate (chondroitin with mineral salt), chondroitin sulfuric acid or chonsurical; it can be made from natural sources such as shark cartilage, pig or cow cartilage or it can synthetically be made in a laboratory.

Taken together with glucosamine can help restore the cartilage in the damaged joint, therefore possibly relieving pain for the sufferer. With fewer side effects than ibuprofen, this may be a good avenue to take for many arthritis patients.

Like glucosamine, chondroitin comes in tablet, capsule, liquid or powder and sometimes may be already combined as one form instead of taking them separately.

In the research that I have done on chondroitin there have been 2 sides, some sing it’s praises and some say it’s no better than a placebo.

Since I need to be on high amounts of blood thinners, I’ve been strongly advised not to take chondroitin because of possible interactions, but I would love to hear from someone who has experience with this supplement.

I’m very interested if anyone who has rheumatoid or osteo arthritis and has taken chondroitin and/or glucosamine and what they thought of it. Drop me a line!

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When I was first diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2005, I didn’t know anyone else with this condition. I was overwhelmed, a bit frightened and felt very alone. I thought RA was a disease that only affected the elderly and had no idea how I was going to cope with it.

Immediately I started researching and educating myself, not only wanting to find relief from the pain but to understand why this was happening to me. I found that age has nothing to do with it which made me think that there may be others, my age and station in life, going through the same thing.

No one in my little corner of the world, except a neighbor I see occasionally while I’m walking the dog, is dealing with Rheumatoid Arthritis pain. It wasn’t until I started getting involved in some forums that I found people in the same situation.  A whole new world opened up, there were people who really understood what it is like to live day to day with arthritis and Marfan’s Syndrome.

Living with chronic pain can make a person feel isolated, especially if they are the only one in their family and network of friends going through this. It’s comforting being able to ask questions, give advice and share what you’re going through. Somehow it seems to relieve some of the discomfort and it definitely helps with the stress.

I personally have had a lot of positive experiences with being involved in a few forums, coming away with a satisfaction of being a part of a community I can fully participate in! When I’m feeling down, maybe tired, in pain, or even if I’m having an amazing day, it’s a place I can unload.

What support do you have in dealing with your arthritis pain? Good experiences or bad? Let me know!

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I came across this article and found it very interesting…

A study was done, involving 2,750 participants in Sweden on how alcohol can affect arthritis. For those who drank approximately 5 glasses of wine each week, the risk was cut in half of developing Rheumatoid Arthritis. Those who smoked showed a very significant risk factor.

Alcohol ‘cuts risk of arthritis’
…Researcher Dr Henrik Kallberg stressed the most important finding of the study was that smoking was a very significant risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis, reinforcing findings from previous studies.
However, he added: “In addition, it is important to know that moderate alcohol consumption is not deleterious and may in some contexts be beneficial concerning risk for future onset of rheumatoid arthritis.”
There are known to be links between moderate alcohol consumption and a reduced risk of other inflammatory processes, such as cardiovascular disease. However, the reason for this is still unclear.
Professor Robert Moots, from the Arthritis Research Campaign, said it was possible that drinking alcohol may have a protective effect against rheumatoid arthritis.

But he said the study was not conclusive and any protective effect was not properly understood.
He said: “There is no doubt that drinking too much is very bad for our health in many ways and these risks by far outweigh any potential benefit for reducing the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, which this study points to, without being conclusive.

“We must also remember that drinking alcohol in excess can be especially dangerous in patients taking some anti-rheumatoid drugs that may cause liver damage.

“There are many modifiable lifestyle risk factors for developing rheumatoid arthritis and, as this study also points out, smoking is by far the greatest.”

A spokesman for Arthritis Care said: “It’s too early to say what these findings may mean, so people with rheumatoid arthritis should continue to work in partnership with their health professionals to address their specific health needs.”

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h…th/7435002.stm

I myself like to enjoy a glass of white wine every evening- just one. I’ve found that I feel better the next day. If I’ve missed a few days, I feel it. I do encourage that before anyone launches into this therapy, they discuss the implications with their Doctor because of possible interactions with other medications, or if there is a history of substance abuse/dependency.

Cheers!

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For most people food and drink are more than ways of keeping ourselves alive. They’re comforts and celebrations, at least that’s how I feel about what I eat. I like to eat what I want when I feel like it, but that’s not always the best idea.

When I was first diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2005, I seemed to scramble at every type of relief I came across. My husband found a book on Amazon, about a woman who overcame her debilitating pain by fasting. I thought, “I’m in a lot of pain, maybe this is for me!” We ordered the book and I dove in. She explained how the digestive tract is crucial to the immune system and that when she fasted she was able to do all kinds of the things that hadn’t been able to do in years. She had been in a wheelchair and now rides a bike. The book suggested enemas and a diet of raw vegetable juice. We bought a juicer and a lot of veggies. I am 5′11″ and weigh 120 lbs, I need to gain weight instead of losing it and drinking nothing but vegetable juice for a week isn’t going to be the best for that. After the first 24, I was begging to have anything else but juice. I was so hungry and miserable. I was ready to accept the pain of arthritis, if I could just eat what I wanted to.

A few days after my attempt at this new diet, I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist and I told him about this juice diet I was attempting. He was quite alarmed and told me to stop it right away. “Yes sir!!” I had no problem with that! There were other routes to take for me, not that the diet wasn’t a good idea, it just wasn’t right for me, because of how slender I am. I need energy for my body to help itself and my metabolism is too high to use this method of reducing pain.

He sent me home with a bunch of reading to do. Information of how to test different foods to see how I react with them. That was very helpful and I noticed that after consuming red peppers and red wine, I would have a flare up within minutes. I removed those from my list of foods to eat. I hadn’t realized how often I had red peppers and enjoyed a glass of red wine. But I miss them less than I miss the flare ups!

When we moved back to Canada I began to see a wonderful Naturopath/holistic doctor. I found that to be a major help in controlling pain. We discussed the medications I take, my conditions with Marfans and bloodthinners, my body weight, energy and activity levels. She reaffirmed the fact that the digestive tract is the big role in the immune system, but there are good ways of cleansing it and repairing it. For 4 weeks I was put on a cleansing diet- no dairy, no red meat or pork, no salt, no gluten, no sugar, no wheat, no corn- no fun! It was something I didn’t want to do- at all. But I thought, “Four weeks, that’s it and then I can reintroduce other foods back in. It’ll be worth and it’ll teach me some self-discipline as well.” The first two weeks were fine, I found a lot of great recipes off the internet, and good food in the health food section at the grocery stores. But by the 3rd week, I could’ve eaten a stick of butter and 7 lbs of chocolate!!

Week number four was done and I was back in the doctor’s office, very proud, and pretty much pain free! We started reintroducing one type of food back in at a time and I took down a lot of notes. Red meat and pork, were things I was bummed out to find that I reacted badly to them. Shell fish was a major trigger for flare-ups, but most of everything else was not a problem. I don’t think I eat enough wheat from day to day to notice any problem and I make sure sugar is is a low quantity.

There are foods that are aids for me as well as triggers. White wine has seemed to help quite a bit. I have one glass in the evening and the next day is a good day, I notice it when I haven’t had any white wine for a week or so, I’m a bit more stiff. Probiotic yogurt is a plus too, it seems to help my body fight off those viruses and bugs that my kids bring home with them from school. I don’t get as sick as often as I was even 6 months ago!

I’m going to go grab a snack- see you tomorrow!

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