Personal Stories of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Personal Stories of Arthritis These personal stories and videos of rheumatoid arthritis, joint replacement, and more can inspire you.

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Inspiration And Arthritis - Inspirational Success Stories Rick Eustice's update of his personal arthritis story

The pain just gets to you after a while.

Most days I try to be cheery and perservere through the pain but some days I just can't. I give up and feel bad and take to my bed and leave the world behind. I use to feel guilty about doing this but really no one wants a grumpy person around.

When I was younger and people said they had arthritis I thought "oh yeah, old people get it, it causes a bit of pain in their joints" but you don't really understand until you get it. So painful, it eats away at you. I take plenty of painkillers but am never without pain.

Do I Have Arthritis?

Pain is the way your body tells you that something is wrong. Most types of arthritis cause pain in your joints. You might have trouble moving around. Some kinds of arthritis can affect different parts of your body.
So, along with pain in your joints, you may:

• have a fever


• lose weight


• have trouble breathing


• get a rash or itch

These symptoms may also be signs of other illnesses.
But mostly you will just have PAIN in your joints!

Need inspiration to keep going?

Whatever chronic pain illness you have you will at some stage have thought about your mortality - pain and living in constant pain just gets you like that.

So what inspires you to keep on going, to just get on with your life? I am impressed by all the people out there who are just trying to help, not sell anything but offer their help or world view. Some of the places and people I find that help me are:

GNN Good News Newtork cause it is all positive news but not sickly sweet.

All Things Good for similar reasons.

I'm Not my Disease cause she is real and tells a story I can relate to.

Gonna Eat Worms cause she is real, a proud lesbian and writes well about her life with pain.

The people at Chronic Pain Australia

I think it works like a ripple effect - you connect in some way and it makes you feel better and then you can share that feeling and hopefully it continues on. I am not saying we should all be sweet and kind all the time, I am talking about keeping it real and keeping it in perspective.

Connected to Disability Blog Carnival #77 is up NOW!

Food preparation and healthy eating with RA

You wake up one day and realise that how you are eating is being controlled by Rheumatoid Arthritis. This is not acceptable but what can you do?


I can no longer grate vegetables or chop vegetables for very long, due to pain, so the way we eat has changed over time to a less healthy diet. It is easy to pop on a piece of toast or heat up a frozen pie but these are not healthy options especially for someone with a chronic pain disease. I need to consider some healthy and easy to prepare options. This is why I eat lots of yoghurt and fruit and just grab a carrot


This needs more thought. I am reviewing some dietary options at help immune and I will get back to you on this one.

In the meantime, any suggestions for easy to prepare healthy food as I have 3 growing teenagers at home?

What Are the Types of Arthritis?

There are several types of arthritis. The two most common ones are osteoarthritis (AH-stee-oh-ar-THRY-tis) and rheumatoid (ROO-mah-toyd) arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. This condition usually comes with age and most often affects the fingers, knees, and hips. Sometimes osteoarthritis follows an injury to a joint. For example, a young person might hurt his knee badly playing soccer. Or someone might fall or be injured in a car accident. Then, years after the individual’s knee has apparently healed, he might get arthritis in his knee joint.

Rheumatoid arthritis happens when the body’s own defense system doesn’t work properly. It affects joints and bones (often of the hands and feet), and may also affect internal organs and systems. You may feel sick or tired, and you may have a fever.

Another common type of arthritis, gout, is caused by crystals that build up in the joints. It usually affects the big toe, but many other joints may be affected.

Arthritis is seen with many other conditions. These include:

- lupus (LOOP-us), in which the body’s defense system can harm the joints, the heart, the skin, the kidneys, and other organs
- an infection that gets into a joint and destroys the cushion between the bones.

What Is Arthritis?

Many people start to feel pain and stiffness in their bodies over time. Sometimes their hands or knees or shoulders get sore and are hard to move and may become swollen. These people may have arthritis (ar-THRY-tis). Arthritis may be caused by inflammation (in-flah-MAY-shun), of the tissue lining the joints. Some signs of inflammation include redness, heat, pain, and swelling. These problems are telling you that something is wrong.
Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Over time, in some types of arthritis but not in all, the joints involved can become severely damaged.
There are different types of arthritis. In some diseases in which arthritis occurs, other organs, such as your eyes, your chest, or your skin, can also be affected. Some people may worry that arthritis means they won’t be able to work or take care of their children and their family. Others think that you just have to accept things like arthritis.
It’s true that arthritis can be painful. But there are things you can do to feel better.