Living with Rheumatoid Athritis

People keep asking me if the weather affects my arthritis and, to be honest, I have no idea. It has been wet at times in Aberdeen and dry at other times and I have noticed no difference - just the usual pain below my thumbs. I suspect that this is probably down to the steroids and that things may differ when I move on to my long term treatment. On the subject of steroids, having started at a dose of 30 mg a day (6 tablets at once!) on the 28th of December, I am now down to 10mg per day. So far I have noticed very little difference although there has been the odd twinge or two in my shoulders. The plan before I see the rheumatologist is to first reduce my dose to 5mg a day and then nothing for a couple of days before the appointment. I am also not supposed to take any anti-inflammatories during the week leading up to the visit. I must admit that I am not looking forward to that. Everything else carries on as before. I am still doing three days support for learning at Forehill -...

  At the weekend I met somebody I hadn't seen for ages and she asked me how I was. When I answered that I was fine she said, "Really?" Yes really - I feel totally fine - except for some twinges at the base of my thumbs BUT all of this is down to the steroids which, unfortunately, is not a long term solution. That will, hopefully, come when I see the rheumatologist on the 14th of February. I was also speaking to an ex nurse at the weekend who said that it was possible that I could have had the rheumatoid arthritis for a while but not noticed it until it flared up in November/December. Something else to ask the specialist when I see him/her. My grandson was two on Saturday and he was totally spoiled with all the presents he got - although he probably would have been happy with the balloons - oh, and Mr Potato Head which he played with for ages. I'm working four days this week although I am spending very little time on support for learning. I have/will be covering classe...

I have a date to see the rheumatologist! It's almost a month away on the 14th of February but at least I know when. I'm slightly worried because they would rather that I came off steroids before the appointment. Two problems with that. 1 - I don't really want to go back to the way I was a couple of months back. 2 - We are going away for a night in a hotel (a Christmas present from our sons and their other halves) and I would like to enjoy it! I'm not working on Monday so I will phone the hospital and see what they say. In other news the second two days of the West Coast Folk Festival were as good as the first two. For those of you who are a bit dismissive of folk it really covers a lot. I saw artists as diverse as the Tom Robinson Band and Richard Thompson. Both were brilliant! Watching Richard Thompson's hands as he plays is an amazing experience. You see one man and one guitar but you seem to hear at least three guitars. Obviously no sign of arthritis there. A ran...

We are in Blackpool at the UK West Coast Folk Festival and, after one day, it has been excellent although the lack of brown beer is annoying!  We came down by train which I managed fine although one the three trains that we were on had seats that were a tad more difficult to get out of. I also had no problem getting on or off the trains. One major plus, as we were in no hurry, was the train being an hour and a half late so we get all our money back! This morning I am experiencing some pain in the area of my thumbs and a slight twinge in one shoulder. I am putting this down to one of two things. Either the 5mg reduction in steroids is having an effect or the amount of applauding I did during some of the sets. Time will tell but the pain is relatively minor and nothing I can't cope with. Speaking to the bloke who owns the hotel that we are staying in, who has had many recent health problems, and seeing a friend, at least temporarily, in a mobility scooter puts my current rheumatism i...

 So - back to work today and a different role - support for learning for three days a week - at the moment. To be honest I found it really difficult to get out of bed this morning but this was more due to the fact that the bed was warm than to the arthritis. Driving, something which was very difficult pre-steroid was a breeze. There were only minimal twinges in my fingers today - probably because I was fully occupied during the day. To be honest, if this was the only way that the rheumatoid arthritis would affect me I would be happy but I am under no illusions that it will be a lot worse at times. No letter or email from the specialist yet - but it has only been a couple of weeks. The sooner I can see someone the better! Next update will probably come from our first festival of the year - in the Blackpool Winter Gardens. Today's small victory - no problem scraping the ice from the car. I still hated doing it though.

Went to a whisky gathering yesterday and I wondered how I would feel this morning. The answer is that I feel fine although I am experiencing some pain in my wrists and below my thumbs.  The pain may be down to the weather - it's bloody cold. On the plus side I had no problem opening whisky bottles! The wrist pain is annoying but liveable with. I had to adjust the way that I held a pint in the pub because of it and it also made me very careful when pouring whisky into a glass. It also made hoovering a bit more difficult as it hurt every time I turned the hoover. "Fun fact" - Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disease so it's like my body is having a civil war. My wife and I are fans of the TV series House and before my diagnosis we joked that whatever it was it wasn't Lupus because that's the way it always was in House. It turns out that Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis share some characteristics. Next week I'm back to work for a couple of days - let'...

Before I go any farther with this I must mention that without the support of Marian, my wife, I would really have struggled. She has been an absolute saint in helping with so many things that I really couldn't have done on my own. I'm not sure that I would have had the patience. My brother-in-law's comment about this blog was, " Is it going to be full of a dventures and d erring do and interspersed with advice about the use of Whisky as a lubricant? " At one point I couldn't manage to get the cork off the whisky bottle - but now it's a possibility. If anybody would like to buy me a bottle, a Lagavulin 16 or a Laphroaig Quarter Cask would go down a treat. Speaking of alcohol I asked my GP if it was OK to drink while I was on steroids. He said that it was fine in moderation. He gave no definition of moderation so I am making up my own one. (Don't ask!) Today's small victory - I tied my laces.

Today's exciting delivery - I find tying laces a problem so I just ordered these elastic ones. Tomorrow I shall wear trainers! Update - I hadn't tried tying my laces after I had gone onto steroids. I tried today and it seems that I can fasten my laces after all so these can go away for a while. Note to self - when you can't find them look in one of the drawers in the cupboard under the stairs!

This is not meant to be a "poor me" blog - just an account of how I am coping with rheumatoid  arthritis. If it ever descends into self pity please let me know or give me a kick up the bum! Also - please bear with me. I have never written a blog before so I will probably make many mistakes! Rob

 I had had trigger finger for a while - it had been treated once but came back. It wasn't a big deal. My fourth fingers stuck once in a while but it was nothing I couldn't cope with. Then came November 2023... At 67 I wasn't ready to retire yet so I was working as a supply Primary School supply teacher. One morning when I got up my fingers felt stiffer and sorer than usual - bit of a problem but it improved during the day so no biggie. Over the next couple of weeks it got progressively worse and my hands took forever to ease off. I managed to get an appointment with my doctor and he diagnosed what I had already suspected - that I had arthritis. What I hadn't realised at the time was that there were different types of arthritis. I was put on strong anti-inflammatory tablets and had a blood test arranged for a few weeks time.  To my intense frustration the tablets did nothing - my hands got worse, I developed pain in my shoulders and elbows and my neck was stiff. I carrie...