hi Stephanie,

welcome aboard.

it does take time to come to terms with it, still not sure i have a year down the line .. but i am not under control yet.

keep posting and reading threads where you will find such a lot of information,

there is always someone here who can answer any questions.

look forward to getting to know you,

Suzanne x

Hi Stephanie

Welcome to the forum but sorry you have RA. This forum has been my new best friend since I was diagnosed two years ago. I know so much more now about RA from the people who really understand this disease and how it is affecting me.

I work too and yes it is hard. You need to pace yourself and reserve as much energy as you can for your working hours. My poor Husband and Daughter are now in charge of the housework, shopping and any other physical task so that I can carry on working. Sometimes I feel immensely lazy not helping around the house but the times I try and help I suffer afterwards so it is difficult.

Keep posting.

Jackie
xx

Hi Stephanie

Welcome to the forum. It is such a great place to offload and get advice.

I'm 49 and been diagnosed 15 months now. I've been off sick now for ages. I also have terrible problems thinking - it feels like I'm thinking through treacle so I know how you feel. Everything seems to take me much longer to do than it used to!!

I'm on a new treatment, humira, which so far seems to be helping. I do have a few other problems, which makes life somewhat complex!!! But have just come back from Tenerife which was lovely and warm. I make sure I get fairly frequent breaks.

It's really informative browsing through the site - and seeing all the different topics people have asked about. I also find it very comforting knowing that I'm not the only one who is struggling.

lots of love
Anne

Hi Stephanie

Welcome to the forum. A great place to be for support and information; lots of folk, lots of knowledge and a wealth of tried and tested experiences! Glad you have found us and NRAS!

I'm Lyn, married to Mike, we have four children (well I call them children but perhaps it's time to stop!), Abby 23, Ian and Jake 17, and Louis 16. All four in various stages of education! We live in Thornton Cleveleys in north west Lancashire. I was diagnosed with RA 23 years ago and have since run the gamut of medication and had lots of surgical procedures along the way. Currently on Enbrel, Leflunomide, Prednisolone and Naproxen, and a wagon load of pain killers! Still struggling a bit after knee surgery last summer, a major flare in Cyprus of all places, two lots of knee aspirations and joint injections in 7 weeks, a depo injection that didn't work and basically RA that has not been controlled for the last 12 months! But heyho... no-one said life with RA would be easy

Keep posting, looking forward to getting to know you

Lyn x

Hi Stephanie

Welcome to the forum.

I'm Shirley, nearly 50, married with 3 children and 3 grandchildren.

I was diagnosed just over 2 years ago.

Love Shirley x

Hi Stephanie,

Welcome to the forum. I am 48, married with 3 grown up kids and 1 grandson, 2 more on the way (june and july). I was only diagnosed on April 1st (my birthday present from my gp lol) and it is such an immense thing to take in. I work full time and find I am totally knackered by the end of the week so housework is sliding big time. I can do one or the other, so hubby is helping, but that is frustrating in itself! He works full time too!

I have asked loads of questions and had fantastic responses from the community on here, this is definately the place to get an honest answer and empathy. I dont think anyone, other than an RA sufferer can understand the pain that comes with this, and the total lack of understanding from people in general who think it is a fairly trivial 'bit of rheumatism'. I know I didnt think it would get so bad so quickly so wasnt prepared for that at all.

I am waiting to start treatment, have had depo injection and 2 wrist injections so far. I have to keep chasing up appointments in this area though, the NHS here doesnt seem to work very fast! They are all lovely when you see them, just hard to get in front of anyone initially. Hey ho!

I hope you get all the information you need and we will all give the support and shoulder to cry on, we all need that from time to time... look forward to etting to know you better.

Pet xx

Hello Stephanie, and welcome to the forum - you`ll be glad you found us!

I`m 60, was diagnosed over 5 years ago, and live in Durham. I`m married to Nick, and we have two sons and two grandsons.

Do keep posting,

Kathleen C x

Hello Stephanie,

I am a new one here as well, 45 yr old male suffering hell since Feb 11

Diagnosed quickly and on 10mg MTX and 2 x daily Plaquenil.

Expect the MTX dose to ramp up - luckily no significant side effects so far. Can't wait to see significant upsides, so frustrated and impatient.

Maybe we can "compare notes"and progress going forward.

Darshin

Hi Stephanie,

Welcome to the forum, it's the place to be for advice when it comes to RA. We have all been there and have the tea shirt

I am Lorna, I have had RA for 3.5 years I was on the same treatment as you but started all together. The (triple therapy) Do keep as positive as you can, I was really ill when first diagnosed, but I never gave up hope that I would beat this RA and Now I keep so much better as long as I don't overdo things. So things can and do improve given time.

I do hope you see an improvement very soon.

Take care Lorna

Hello Stephanie-just wanted to welcome you and apologise for being late in doing so!
The fatigue is one of the worst things about this RA for me, I can cope with pain better than I can with the fatigue!
I work part time in 2 different schools and find that quite enoug thank you!

Try not to think in terms of 'letting anyone down' -- can you afford to go part time? Or job share? You really do have to put yourself first for a time now untul you get things sorted out and the RA settles down happily!