Hi there. I'm Naomi and I'm the same age as you. I was diagnosed 20 months ago so I've recently been through what you're going through now. Firstly I want to say welcome to the forum. It's a great place for information and support. Secondly, sorry you have this diagnosis. However, at least now you can begin treatment and start to feel better. Your consultant is so right about improvements in treatments over recent years. Thirdly, i want to assure you that you are very likely to feel so much better once you get started on drugs. They can take a few months to work though so you'll need to be patient. Also, it's quite normal in the circumstances to feel down. anyone with a new diagnosis of a painful and chronic illness will feel down. RA can actually do something to your body that makes you more prone to depression too so keep an eye on it and speak out if it feels overwhelming as there's so much that can be done. I know because I had treatment for depression after getting RA. I'm fine now! Lastly, I want to give you some advice. It's really important that you rest as much as possible. Fatigue can be a big part of RA and you will need extra rest. Try to pace out jobs so you don't take on too much on one day. Also, there are good pain relief medications available so make sure you get what you need. If you have any questions at all then please don't hesitate to ask us as there is a lot of experience and wisdom here. I look forward to hearing from you again and getting to know you better. Best wishes from Naomi xxxxx

Thanks for your reply Naomi. In a way it helps knowing others feel the same as me. I am trying to be positive, I have been signed off work for 4 and a half weeks now, planning on returning in a week and a bit.
Thanks again x

hello and welcome,

when i was first diagnosed coming up to 3 years ago, i was very distraught as so many of us are .. i even managed to lose over half a stone in that week with the shock of it all, and i was eating.

i didn't have much knowledge of RA back then and associated it more with Children, and how sad i was too see them in such pain, such as seeing them on tele in Children's Hospital and so on.

you have started on the gold standard drug of Methotrexate, but time's have moved on from being diagnosed 30 years ago, that was one of the first things i was told by my Consultant, and if one drug doesn't work there are plenty of others to go for.

if you feel you need extra support i suggest you phone NRSA Helpline, i used them a lot in the early days for all my fears, anxiety of starting new meds etc.

i hope you have a good Rheumy Nurse because they are worth their weight in gold, mine is to me.

i started on Methotrexate, unfortunately that didn't work so Hydroxychloroquine was added about 6 months later. that combination didn't work either, so then i was put forward for Anti-TFN. i had a long wait from memory at least 6 months for the funding from my PCT .. but that really has made the difference for me, i still take 10mg Methotrexate and Hydroxy as well.

so although it has been a long haul for me, i am now in a much better place, unfortuantely i have terrible Osteo in both knee's which make's me the most disabled as in i can't walk distance.

do keep posting and reading back old threads where you will learn a lot.

Suzanne

Thanks everyone for your replies, everyone has been so supportive

Hi PixieLilac - welcome to the forum, but as the others have said - I'm sorry that you have to have RA to come here!

Anyway, I'm Sylvia, and am 55, and was diagnosed last May, so I've recently been in the same position that you're in. This forum has been a huge help to me, there's always someone who has had a similar problem and can offer either advice or just a kind gesture of support - so do keep dropping in and let us know how you're getting on.

I started on methatrexate too, and also steroids and hydroxychloroquin, and they have made a massive improvement to my life and wellbeing. My rheumy tells me that she expects my meds will keep my RA under good control so I might never get any joint damage - of course I still have to take care and be gentle with my joints but I'm not expecting to end up with deformed hands as those poor people did in earlier times. So sorry to hear that your mum also has RA, but treatment has improved in recent years and the whole approach to treating the disease has changed. Now the doctors aim to get the inflammation under control completely and so avoid most joint damage - whereas in the past they didn't do that and so patients ended up severely disabled.

As Naomi said, the best thing for you at the moment is to rest as often as you can. Let the meds do their job. It can take up to 3 months before the MTX reaches its full effect, so if you can avoid going back to work that will help.

All best wishes - Sylvia xx