I was diagnosed with RA 15 years ago, when at uni away from home at the age of 18. It was an incredibly hard time like it is for everyone, but somehow I got through and got on to the right meds and lived a pretty active young life. Now 15yrs later my quality of life is suffering again.

The last 5 years my hips have deteriorated because of the aftermath of RA and after 2 hip arthroscopy ops I need 2 hip replacements. The pain is so bad and my mental state is all over the place.

I have also lost 4 jobs over the last year as I have concentration issues due to pain, chronic fatigue & brain fog. I'm so ambitious & want to do well career wise & just end up failing as it takes me twice as long to carry out simple tasks as a normal person. Am I normal? Does anyone else suffer from brain fog and difficulty concentrating or am I alone?

I live in shared accommodation and on minimum wage in London, so I have money pressures too! When I have lost jobs, housing benefit doesn't even cover my rent. SO I have to & want to work.

All jobs require attention to detail. How can I hold down any job if I can't manage this?

All of this pain, feeling useless is making me feel so very depressed and I can't see light at the end of the tunnel! :'( It's all getting to much!

Please can anyone offer advice, would be most grateful. Thank you

Kxxx

Kal

My heart goes out to you. I think the first thing you need to do is get your medication reviewed and speak to your Consultant or GP. There are some wonderful pain control drugs which you can be prescribed. In the first few weeks they may make you more brain fogged, but I am told that your brain becomes used to them and then they just keep the pain under control. Obviously pain means damage and again maybe the time is right for you to look at other RA medication options.

I was diagnosed three and a half years ago. I work full time in a very stressful office job. I like you have to work because of financial commitments. When I was first diagnosed I was dragging myself into work and felt so ill all the time. I had to make some drastic changes with my work and personal life. Luckily the company I work for have been brilliant. I still work full time but I alternate one day at work and one day at home. I sit at a computer for the days at home. I am supposed to sit at my computer when I am at work but the nature of my job means I am also moving around a lot more at work. However the days at home feels like so much more of a rest. The personal life change has meant that I rest most weekends. Gone are the days of the extensive shopping trips, spending hours doing housework and ironing and generally running myself ragged before I go back to work on the Monday. There are days that I do get brain fog and have difficulty concentrating but it is my bodies way of telling me that I am doing too much and it acts as a signal for me to slow down. Like you I have severe joint damage. I have had one knee replaced and need the other doing when I can pluck up the courage. My hips are not doing so good and have damage.

It is achievable to carry on working and like Anne suggests you need to look at the part time options first. To be honest there are so many more employers offering part time positions now than full time because of the current economic climate. You can then start to build up your stamina. You MUST, however, rest as much as possible in between working.

Would it be worth you contacting the local job centre? I believe they employ people who can specifically help people with disabilities to get back into the work place.

Don't feel alone and isolated. Keep talking to us as this site is just as good as therapy

Take care

Jackie
xx

Kal, I totally get where you're coming from. I get so tired and my cognitive function is definitely not what it used to be. Tasks that I used to approach with ease seem quite confusing. I had suspected this for some time but knew this was definitely the case when i tried to sort out some wires at the back of a computer to determine what was and wasn't plugged in. I have done my ECDL (Computers course) and would normally find this a breeze but it just looked like a tangled mass of spaghetti and I couldn't cope with it. I felt like crying but put on a brave face as I was at work. I know many others with RA feel the same so you're definitely not alone. The way I cope with it all is to ensure that I get plenty of rest. It used to feel like a waste of time as I was constantly on the go pre RA but now I know it's essential if I'm going to function as well as I can. I have had to go down to 3 days a week at work in order to pace myself. I'm lucky that my bosses have amended my duties so that I don't strain myself physically. It's hard to accept the losses that RA presents. Loss of income, abilities, energy and career progression for example. For me it's like a grieving process and it's important to give myself the space and time to get over these losses and to come to accept a new normal. I have had depression as a result of the RA in the past and a short course of counselling helped me. I also try to do my relaxation CD daily and that helps to keep the stress levels down. I hope you can find some methods that work for you. I just wanted you to know that you're definitely not alone with how you're feeling. xxxxxx

It's nice to hear you sounding more upbeat. I think that learning what your limitations are is an ongoing process and not something that is learnt all in one go. This is especially true if we want to live life to the full. Sometimes we are going to overdo it and learn the hard way and take some knocks. We have to keep fighting though and keep trying. Good luck with everything and I hope you manage to keep yourself in work. I know how important this is to me for lots of different reasons. For both of us this might not be the full time high achieving jobs that we once dreamed of but we can still achieve a lot and gain satisfaction from our work and from earning our own money. I'm realistic and I know that there may come a time when I can't go to work. I'm making the most of what I can do whilst I'm still able. Best wishes from Naomi, xxxxxxx