Anyone diagnosed with JIA/Rheumatoid Arthritis in the 70s??

[reg01]

I attended Taplow hospital when I was diagnosed in 1974.

I am wondering if anyone else here went there and how you are now. I was 13 years old at the time and was there for about 4 months. I’ve had several flares since then but the latest has really hit me hard, probably due to the damage already happened to my joints, muscles, tendons and all that stuff. I feel that nobody including consultants really understands the problems I have now.

My hands, wrist and fingers, elbows, shoulders and feet and toes are worst affected. Struggling and a retired bank manager.

I am fairly happy and have two grown up children who are well.

Would be good to contact anyone who has been diagnosed so early! I am 63 this year.

Thanks for listening/reading!

[Parislilly]

Hi There is a Facebook group for people that were at Taplow. From I hear they are very interactive group. They have also previously provided articles for NRAS and what was the JIA@NRAS magazine. However I think they have stopped the JIA Membserhip. All the best.

[reg01 in reply to Parislilly]

That’s interesting thankyou! Will try find the facebook group. 🌞

[Nicola-NRAS Partner in reply to reg01]

Good afternoon, did you have any luck finding the Facebook group? Do let us know if not and we can see whether we can help. There are also people living with JIA over on our NRAS HealthUnlocked site which is a bit more active so you should be able to connect with people on there too. Best wishes, Nicky, JIA-at-NRAS.

[WilfDog in reply to Parislilly]

Hi I have found a Facebook group called Canadian Red Cross Memorial, but there doesn't seem to be much activity on there. The last post was over a year ago. Do you know exactly which group it may be that you know about. It would be really good to connect with people from Taplow on Facebook. Many thanks

[WilfDog]

Hi Reg01

I was diagnosed in 1973 with Stills Disease and went to Taplow in 1974 after hearing about Dr. Ansell by another young boy in our village who went there. We lived in the North West and so took the long journey down there. I was with Dr. Ansell for many years until 1989. Having several stays as an inpatient. I have heard of a handful of people who have been to Taplow since. I too would like to find a Facebook group for people who went to Taplow. Did you find the group?

After being very seriously ill at seven and never going back into remission after the age of twelve I have chronic problems and a lot of damage throughout my body but try and be as proactive as possible with self-care. I have a great rheumatologist who is nearer to home and I have been on biologics since 2008 after trying many DMARDs. I trained later in life as a systems engineer but was made redundant due to being in and out of hospital. I'm now 55, and I'm writing a book about my Stills to help other people and am a Wellness Advocate for Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils and Supplements.

Here is a link to an article I wrote for the RACCUK Charity

raccuk.com/living-with-syst...

It is good to connect with others who attended Taplow. Thank you for posting.

[Wolfhowl]

Hi, I was diagnosed with jia in early 1973. I also spent around 5 months in Taplow when I was 6/7 in 1974. The rheumatoid has had a huge impact on my life as they did not really know how to treat it back then.. all of my joints have been pretty much destroyed. I was sent back to Taplow in 1982 for hip replacement. I remember Dr. Ansel being the specialist there.