fighting pain

[beaker]

Sometimes when RA is flaring up,l feel like curling up in a ball,and keeping away from my family, l know its wrong but cant help it,l go to see RA doc all l get is lose weight you'll feel better, its like losing weight is the new wonder drug, or is it doctors just dont care anymore/ or is once RA gets to a certain level theres nothing more they can do, ? lv found when the pain is bad l go to my facebook page and write grumpy things like tattos why paid £50+ for a tatto on your back, heres a idea take a foto of it n frame it

[sylvi]

Weight now there's a topic the doctors go on about. They tell us to lose weight,but how do you move about more to lose said weight when your in so much pain.I'm in that catch 22 situation,waiting to have my knee redone and i keep being told to get knee done first and then we'll sort the weight afterwards..

Like you i have not had a good week with pain and i get very fed up nwith sitting about doing nothing.This is by doctors who don't suffer from ra so don't really know what it feels like.

Hope next week will be easier for you,

sylvi.x

[Hidden]

Ha! I have one question for a doctor or nurse who says that "loose weight" thing: How does that explain all the thin, lean, skinny people who have RA? Or the children? That comment is just a flippant disregard for the patient sitting in front of him, who he just wishes would stop weeping and just go away!

He should just admit he doesn't know enough to be of any further help, but will refer you to someone who will! Then do it.

[allanah]

Oh i know the feeling, when i can walk i'll try to exercise and when i am not so pained i'll cut the food down, doctors!! They just dont get it sometimes

[Gina_K]

Hi,

Sorry to hear you having bad time and hope you get better soon/

I think they say about weight, because the heavier you are the more pressure on your joints and hence more pain? i don't think anything to do with actually getting R. arthritis.

Gina.

[helixhelix]

I wouldn't mind so much if the NHS provided some support to lose weight - I asked if they could give me a "prescription for health", which would be a weekly free pass to swimming pool. But the swimming pool is in the next local authority area - so they wouldn't. £7.50 a time is just too much.

[swoodge]

Yes i got exactly this when i went to see the consultant last time, its oh you've put on more weight, try not to just lay around on the couch!! If i wasnt so stunned i would have sworn!! I did explain that i am in a hell of a lot of pain, awaiting her approval of my next Anti TNF which she is buggering about at getting approved for me, giving me steroid injections, and that i have a 10 year old who keeps me on my toes, and i do keep a house running and i do NOT lay around on the couch all day!! Bloody cheek i was fuming by the time we got back to the car thinking of all the things i should have said!! I did manage to say that i was hardly eating as i feel so sick all the time and her reply was its not what you are eating it how active you are oh and the steroids dont help!! She obviously doesnt have RA has no idea how it feels and is a skinny who has no idea what its like to say that sort of thing to an overweight person in a lot of pain with RA who at the present time has a DAS score of 5.97 awaiting a new wonder drug having been nearly in remission on the last one with a DAS score of 2!!! Its extremely unfair and hurtful and insensitive. I do think consultants should go on a training course about how to actually speak to people as if they are REAL people not just a number. So thats my moan for tonight and now i'm going to sit on the sofa!!!!! love to all Sue x

[Hidden]

I've lost a stone & a half - I'd like to say that the weight loss has made a remarkable difference to my joints, especially my knees - but it hasn't!! I'm still in pain & need to take pain relief. I am able to get out & walk but I don't think it's made much difference to my arthritis.

[andrea-GN]

Hi I understand how you all feel. Aswell as R.A I have M.E. I once asked my M.E nurse how does someone with this condition loose weight. "you don't" was the response. I try and move a little more, then get fatigued on top of fatigue. So goodness only knows what we can do. .

[Hidden]

I can't comment from being in same boat, but can confirm being a size 8 makes it no less painful! I think it's more about trying to reduce the pressure on your joints, and one way can be to lose weight. I have really struggled trying to exercise, partly because I'm so sore but also a huge factor being the constant fatigue I have. I have yet to cancel my gym membership, because despite not having gone for probably 9 months, I just can't come to terms with the fact that I haven't been able to.

Try to find something small you can manage, even just a 10 minute walk (go and get your morning paper or something). I found yoga was very good despite being the least able in the class. If there was things I couldn't do I just sat them out or did something I was comfortable with. A lot of people recommend swimming but I have found my knees swell up like footballs every time I go

Hope it improves soon x

[Hidden]

I've lost 3 stone in around 9 months and I am in as much pain now as when I was heavier. I can't exercise as the pain after is awful and although I can swim it is impossible to do so as I am totally exhausted when I have gone. I have only recently been diagnosed and I have thus far found my consultant to be very understanding and helpful. I am waiting for the results of recent MRI's and ultrasounds. I had to change GP though as I had been suffering for years but he kept telling me to take Athrotec and there was nothing more to be done. My current GP saw the state I was in almost a year ago when I switched and refered me to physio and my rheumy and arranged for a series of tests. I follow the weight watchers plan. Sending a hug x

[mildy]

i myself have experienced the loose weight situation with my gps i visited mine for a referral to an orthapaedic surgeon regarding my feet and toes and was told the only thing he would refer me for was a gastric bypass i promply told him to get stuffed which didnt go down well ive also had problems with my back and hips for well over a year in what ive visited my gp service for again i was told loose weight i then went back and demanded something be done i went to a multiskeleton practioner who found out they were about buggared its the same all over with some gps they like to pass the book,my gp cant cope with more than 1 ailment at a time you have to go again if you have anything else wrong with you its a laugh and as for understanding r.a theyve no idea what it feels like