Hi, My Name is Brenda

[BPMN]

Hi, I am new here. I am Brenda from Minnesota. Where it is currently -6! I have added a picture of my husband and I at our cabin. Where we spend May- Oct. I am 49 will be 50 in March.

I am looking for support from people who get it. Ones who have OA in the earlier ages. People I can walk through this journey with. I would be willing to share my experiences with others also. If your in a group our something that maybe helpful please share. I shared a lot of my journey on my page.

Looking forward to meeting others.

[Batty1]

Brrr Brenda and welcome to the forum. Ive been told you have osteo of the knees and then told no you don’t its the psoriatic arthritis, either way it pretty much sucks the life out of you.

[BPMN in reply to Batty1]

Yes, it dose suck the life out of you. That is something it has done this past year. Not sure what changed. Thank you for the welcome.

[Mollie22]

Hi Brenda hope your keeping warm. Would be lovely to be in a cabin. Hope your not in to much pain. I have arthritis I have fibromyalgia. I wouldn't be out if wasn't on meds. Have good days and bad days . Take care

[BPMN in reply to Mollie22]

Thanks for saying hi. I was able to go out to appointments Tuesday felt like a heat wave. It was above 0. Lol

[sdds in reply to BPMN]

Hi Brenda. I'm 54 and have been dealing with OA and DDD since I was 41. I've had many surgeries which have helped for the big picture (I'm still able to walk 🥳) but dealing with many aches and pains, days of misery and depression over the things that I am simply no longer able to do, has taken quite a toll on my life. Because of the OA and DDD, at 45yrs old my neurosurgeon told me that I had the spine of a 70yr old and that I was in for a life of pain as it progressed. He was not kidding. I try to stay as positive as I can. I know my limitations but I try to do as much as possible. I know that if I overdo it I will pay for it. Sometimes some things are worth that and I'm willing to pay the price. Sometimes it's not and I have a hard time dealing with that. It's difficult for me to keep up with my friends that are my age and in better condition than I am ☹ Unfortunately I can relate more with their parents most of the time. It has made me feel old wayyy before my time. Sorry, I didn't mean to get dark in this conversation. Just sharing some of the issues that come with having these diagnoses at an early age. I'm glad that you joined. Just knowing what others have been through can help. I'm thankful for this forum. Take care and stay safe and warm!

[HeronNS]

I'm no longer as young as I was 😉 but I was officially diagnosed with osteoarthritis at age 40, probably developing it before that. Two things I want to share with you: try to avoid taking nsaids (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, all that lot) as they interfere with cartilage renewal. I only ever use painkillers for headaches, etc, not for OA. And the other thing is, try glucosamine. For many years I have taken 1000 mg glucosamine twice a day (capsules, not hard tablets or caplets, and always with some food). Although I have arthritis in many joints I am still doing very well. Have had some knee trouble lately, but that is mostly because of a soft tissue injury. Glucosamine is not a painkiller, but it really does help and I think the medical profession is coming around to believing it! Personally I've chosen not to take chondroitin because it's made from animal parts. Glucosamine comes from seashells.

Other things I've done include physiotherapy - exercises morning and evening, to maintain muscle strength and range of motion. And perhaps more by luck than design I am quite thin, which is supposed to help osteoarthritis (although not bone density). Recently from the UK I was able to buy something called Flexiseq which is a non-medicated gel which lubricates the joints! Using it on the injured knee and I think it's healing already after just a few days. I live in Canada and cannot buy it here, but it can be ordered on-line. A person in another community told me she's used it about six years - starting when she was told she needed a knee replacement. So far doing well with the old knee!

I'm now 73 and I just wanted to share that life can go on.