I am newly diagnosed, however I am ready to scream! How can a 49 year old coach, mother of 7 end up with this many issues? I was always very active in school, gymnastics, field hockey, cheerleading. How can my body betray me like this? I just don't know how to cope with this all, let alone work a fulltime job, and coach cheer in the evenings, plus work on my masters degree! I am exhausted 8 hours a day, when I used to feel like I could go on all day and nigt, I now need naps, to make it through the day, I am currently off work due to a major flare up of arthristis in my lower back. Any suggestions would be appreciated.... I wonder how difficult it is to get SSI? Does anyone have a clue>
Hi Jackie I'm sorry your having a rough time. You definitely should check out SSI, can't help as things are different in Canada. I just wanted to say hi and wish you all the luck getting some help. I can't imagine working anymore, although I miss the interaction with people. (I've turned into a hermit). Have you ever had an accident or any kind of trauma? These are just a couple of things that seem to cause fibro. Your arthritis could have triggered it. Good luck, Charlie :)
I can see where the schedule and lifestyle you are used to would be very difficult to maintain with arthritis and fibro. Fibro makes doing even small tasks seem enormous.
I have a few questions for you that might prove valuable for you medically. First off I see that you were active in gymnastics and cheerleading. Sometimes people with these skills are double jointed (also known as hypermobility or moving your joints in directions that they weren't intended for, like bending s thumb down to your forearm.) Are you double jointed? Also, do you have very smooth and elasticy skin that you can pull it away from your body and that snaps back? The reason I ask is that you may well be hypermobile and being so can lead to a lot of joint pain in later years:
Thank you for your input! I will talk to my dr when I see her again~ Im scheduled for the pain mgmt clinic and neur surgeon. So hopefully I will soon have positive results.
I too have fibro and Psoriatic Arthritis, DDD, DFD, and many other health issues. As I have said before this seems to be an illness of over-doers. Seems as though we can go from being wonder woman to being almost an invalid in short order.
Finding out what type of arthritis you have will be a significant help, as there are meds to slow the progression of all types, so you want to get it into you before more joint damage is done. My full diagnosis took 7 years, which is the current average, before Enbrel and their commercials it was 30 years. Slowing it down is the most important thing for you to do.
I am so sorry to hear of you going through this, unfortunately, you are going to have to find a way to slow down, to listen to your body! It's one of the most difficult adjustments you will ever have to make.