sticks, stones and stair rails

hi, i am getting over the embarrasment of having two sticks or rather two poles.. much more hip.. get less embarrased with these.. other people in the street have been asking were I got them.. need then as ankles, knees and feet bad.. had a fall at home last week.. not so good at moment and i am reducing steroids.. at moment.. aaagh. 16mg today and prob next 3 days then 15mg and so on.. so joints not happy.. but my blood pressure and weight are getting high.... have some stair rails fitted bout a week ago..

find peoples reactions varaible.. im proud and try to manage as best i can... got a friend to cut lawn last week and another friend carried my vacuum upstairs and hovered bedrooms last week.. in lucky to have some good friends.. but i have found the support and friendship on here so good, as the swapping of advice and light hearted blogs keep me going.. as have been feeling isoloated.. as most of my friends are out at work.. after almost a month of work got a visit from my deputy line manager with a card and some flowers... that was nice

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Hi Alison

Two sticks are very hip - all robust walkers use them!

You sound a bit fed up. Not surprising really, you are so used to being out and about and being with people, it must feel very isolating at the moment. It is good to be able to get on here and chat to all these lovely people. It is brilliant to have your expert knowledge as well, where else would I find this, not at my local coffee morning, that's for sure!

It took ages for me to get used to living on a farm, where I had to get in the car to fetch a pint of milk. I used to hope on my bike or walk to the shops before. My partner had me following him around everywhere when I first moved in, poor chap, I was like a little limpet!

Sounds like you have some good mates and the flowers and card from work were nice.

Keep your pecker up gal, and keep posting.

Take care Julie xx

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Hi Alison, I too have to resort to sticks at times, I use the elbow crutches as they don't put so much pressure on my wrists but have had some special hand splints made so I can wear them and hold my crutches at the same time.

The thing is I don't use them all the time and when I have got them people don't really seem to understand (no surprise there!) "Oh you were ok yesterday" they seem to think I should have them permanently attached to my hands.

If you need to use them, then do. I'm past caring now as to what people think of me when I use them.

Glad you have so many friends to help you through a difficult time let them help too it will do you good to rest. Not always what we want I know as I now we can be so stubborn at times with RA.

Nice of them to send flowers too, show's your missed and appreciated.

take care

mand xx

[Tricia-P]

Hi Ali

Chin up, life seems to hit us hardest when we are feeling a bit low, when I came down off the steroidsI found I got quite weepy, i use a walking stick as my ankle and knee is worse on the left i use it in my right hand guess which one is the one I had the op on thats right. I met the OT for the 1st time and she's getting me a hand formed handle stick for my left hand.

i've had flowers this week from my friend the Pharmy fom Boots, I met Lisa 2 years plus a go, when i was first diagnosed, she became my mentor and now one of my best friends, so shows you pharmys are nice people. My niece is traing at cheltenham to be a Pharmy and she goes to Uni I forget where, but she is really enjoying the course,

So kep up with the help with the drugs don't tell me about ones that miht make me die, mind you if you read all the side effects you would never take these things.

Enjoy the sunshine

Tricia x

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training at chelt hosp? how fab. what a small world?, or is she in retail pharmacy? yes there are some nice people around.. I am looking forward to meeting you for real sometime.. enjoyed the tea party x

[Hidden]

Hi Alison,

Sorry you're feeling blue

I had to come off steroids completely a couple of years ago - as the Mtx dosage went up higher - developed cataracts and wanted to try to slow their progress. Last year I had a lung complication and was on 40mg pred for 5.5 months and absolutely ballooned which was really demoralising as I didn't recognise myself I had so a huge 'moon face' - and no clothes fitted It was hard work and took me 10 months but I did manage to get the weight off by dieting - my joints weren't coping.

I walk with a stick - poor balance and too many falls meant I just had to accept it. I also use wrist splints but not all the time - which puzzles some people.

Enjoy the warmer weather and let it lift your spirits

Cece x

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yes warmer weather is nice , i wear splints some times too x

[Sharon56]

Hi Alison so sorry you are down I used to worry about the stick thing and the wrist splints because some people wonder why you wear them sometimes and not others. Life is too short to worry about such things. Just use what you need to.ducks.

[Penguin]

Hi Alison, hope you're feeling a bit better now. It's great to have friends who can actually see past the, 'No really, I'm fine' that we all seem to feel the need to do, and go 'No you're not, I'm going to vacuum upstairs' or whatever!

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I am fortunate to have some good friends including all the lovely virtual friends on here xxx

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Hey Alison

Just put on a bobble hat, grab the sticks and pretend you're skiiing! People will think you're eccentric and avoid you at all cost Saves the awkward questions!

Lyn x

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had two people ask if I was skiiig, or were are your skis?, some one else liked them so much asked were i got them x