Re: My girlfriend was diagnosed with RA at 18

[Guest guest]

Hi . First I am so glad that lovely young girl found you. When my daughter got married, she went to Manitoulin Island and came home so swollen and sick and sore she could not even go upstairs to bed. Luckily she is tiny and he is 6'3" of big guy. He just carried her up and down like a lil doll. She was tested but no signs of RA. She was 23 then. 2 children later, and she works too, she had more trouble. So re-testing was done. Now they find RA. She has difficult times, but really we do mind her diet very strictly. No sugar, no salt, all natural stuff. Lots of water. She is still very tiny. I believe that helps too. She does not drink, or smoke. Humidity can be a factor too, so they have central air. With pain we use Aspirin for Arthritis relief. It helps. I baby-sit for her, she works at the Post Office in our village, so this enables me to prepare meals for her and care for the children. It is scary because we really don't know how long she will go on without more severe repercussions. Blessings, Carol....

Alvarez <UMPimp24@...> wrote: Hi. I feel a little odd writing on this board since I do not have rheumatoid arthritis myself. I just started looking around on this group and the people who post here seem to be very nice. I knew that my girlfriend had RA when I started dating her, but she was in a good spell so I had no idea just how bad she had been suffering. I recently found out when I went to visit her at school. She's in Law School in DC and I live in Miami so we have a long distance relationship. When I went to visit her, her pains were pretty bad.

[Guest guest]

,

I can tell from what you wrote that you are a very special, caring

individual.

I recently had a romantic prospect whom I was getting to know

better. Then he asked me on a date to go rollerblading after he

noticed my blades in the closet, and I had to explain that I can't

right now because I'm in too much pain. After I explained that I was

living with RA and what that entailed in my daily life that's

invisible to others, he decided I was " too needy " and he didn't want

to be " tied down by an invalid " . My rational response was " if he

can't take 'normal', he'd likely abandon me in the middle of a bad

flare later " , but it still hurts.

Fortunately, I have a support network of friends who really care and

help me when I need it, and understand when I don't feel up to doing

something. For instance, I came home from work today feeling

absolutely awful from a pain level of 8, and 2 of my friends dropped

by soon after for some scheduled time to help me organize. When they

saw how bad I was feeling, they did the things I absolutely needed

them to do and left, telling me to call them tomorrow if I felt

better and wanted them to come finish the job.

It's my opinion that the people in our support networks who are there

because they want to be are invaluable and should be considered for

sainthood. For your girlfriend, you're one of those people.

Sara

--- In Rheumatoid Arthritis@y..., " Alvarez " <UMPimp24@h...>

wrote:

> Hi. I feel a little odd writing on this board since I do not have

> rheumatoid arthritis myself. I just started looking around on this

> group and the people who post here seem to be very nice.

>

> I knew that my girlfriend had RA when I started dating her, but she

> was in a good spell so I had no idea just how bad she had been

> suffering. I recently found out when I went to visit her at

school.

> She's in Law School in DC and I live in Miami so we have a long

> distance relationship. When I went to visit her, her pains were

> pretty bad. She had tried getting off of her meds, (methotrexate?)

> and some injected medication because she says that although her

pain

> was better she felt sicker. She had been sort of self-medicating

> with Ibuprofren and glusamine/chondritin supplements.

>

> Well, the day I left she couldn't get out of bed to walk me to the

> door. I had to pack and leave her there because I would have

missed

> my flight. I felt so guilty leaving her there. Now that I'm here I

> just keep trying to research things to help make her feel better.

I

> worry so much that she has no one to care for her away, her room-

> mates nice, but she's not an old friend or anything. I guess I

would

> really just like to hear from anyone who is either in my position,

or

> anyone who has had any success treating their arthritis. Her diet

> seems to be a key factor, but even when she has good days, she is

> NEVER 100%. Has anyone out there beat this thing into remission??

I

> want to help her but I feel so useless. I'm currently pre-med and

I

> am now planning on going into rheumatology and immunology research,

I

> need to find something to help. I guess I must be rambling, but it

> just hurts to watch your girlfriend, only 21 years old now

(diagnosed

> at 18) suffer and feel so impotent. Is it possible, can it be

beaten?

>

> Thank you so much, and good luck to you all in your challenges...

>

>