My ankles and feet are the worst now…my feet hurt sinice I was 22 but was wearing steel toed boots and always on my feet….I’ve been dealing with the pain for many years, its almost normal for me…then one day I woke up and was stiff all over, felt like I was hit with soap in a sock.

It’s like I lost my freedom…cant do nothing without being tired after 10 mins…

I hate RA….its the worst thing knowing u cant work, play,walk, etc….with out feeling like you played 4 quarters of football with no pads.

I have been on the common meds…nothing really working…meth-o..worked the most but my liver was starting to fail…so much for that….tried orinica….got sick as a dog…got three treatments…1st good..2nd bad…3rd..no more..dizzy,puking,list goes on.

Mad that i got the short straw and getting this crap.

Went from pulling $3300. in a month to $1250. on disability( which I had got in one try..all the stories on going to court and fighting to get it. I luck out in this case) and sitting at home being board,and feeling like “WHY ME” ? …

ANYONE FEELING LIKE THIS TOO?

by FRANK (BOARDMAN,OHIO) – http://www.livingwithrheumatoidarthritis.com/its-like-i-lost-my-freedom.html

Reactive Arthritis is the modern name given to Reiter’s Syndrome. Apparently, the first name lost favor because Reiter was a Nazi. The name “reactive” refers to the fact that Reactive Arthritis occurs in reaction to an infection. It is also referred to as “post infectious” arthritis.

Usually Reactive Arthritis occurs as a triad of symptoms that includes eye inflammation, urethritis, and arthritis. The illness may last only a few weeks or become a chronic condition as it did for Columbus. It is triggered by a bacterial infection; suspected culprits include: salmonella, campylobacter, shigella, and Chlamydia. Reactive Arthritis may begin as enteric, which is intestinal in origin, or genitourinary, which is sexually transmitted.

Another Spondarthropathy

Reactive Arthritis is part of the same group of conditions as Ankylosing Spondylitis, Psoriatic Arthritis, and Crohn’s Disease. Patients are almost always seronegative for Rheumatoid factor and positive for a gene marker called HLA-B27. There are other commonalities: foot / heel pain, rashes / psoriasis symptoms, and axial skeleton arthritis which may lead to fused spine.

The gene difference is seen as a predisposition to this type of arthritis. However, an environmental trigger is required for the disease to commence.

How is Reactive Arthritis like Rheumatoid Arthritis?
•Joint and muscle pains
•Genetically linked autoimmune disease
•Typical pattern of flares and remissions
•Frequent fevers, morning stiffness, and fatigue
•Prognosis varies widely among patients
•Various other body systems may also experience inflammation
•Treated with these medications: NSAIDs, DMARDs, steroids, and Biologics

How is Reactive Arthritis different from Rheumatoid Arthritis?
•Can more often be “cured” with early treatment
•Is more common in men than women
•Typically involves urinary tract symptoms
•Much more rare than RA
•Occurs most frequently during the 30’s (slightly younger peak onset age)

Remarkable observations:
•Perhaps the mysterious onset of Reactive Arthritis is partially responsible for the stigma of autoimmune illnesses.
•Ironically, the original illness usually resolves before the Reactive Arthritis begins to flare.
•Reactive Arthritis itself is not contagious regardless of the initial infection.
•Many healthy people carry the HLA-B27 gene.
•Dr. Frank Arnett, rheumatologist and Columbus expert, says he would have treated Columbus with a TNF blocker like Enbrel. “Columbus should have been on one of these drugs. Who knows? It could have changed history.”

Copyright © 2009-2011 Kelly Young, All rights reserved.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 6:06 am and is filed under RA Education.

http://rawarrior.com/christopher-columbus-part-3-how-does-reactive-arthritis-compare-to-rheumatoid-arthritis/#comment-76965

All around me, life goes on as normal. In the midst of seeming normalcy, I can’t walk properly or open a car door or whatever. It’s frustrating. Or I look down at the toes that I feel pulling and there’s no rubber bands on them. Or at the ankle that’s being stabbed. And there’s no blood. Nothing to see. When my shoulder won’t move an inch from my side for two weeks, an ER doc says it’s perfectly fine because he can’t see anything.

This is how it it’s been for five years all day, every day. Every joint. But, it’s all only my reality. No one lives it but me. Do you know what I mean?

One of the first difficult things when all this (unrelenting RA) started was the way people look at you when you claim you can’t do something. I couldn’t hold an iron or a soap bottle any more – and at times even a cup of coffee. Even if I asked them not to, people handed me heavy things and looked incredulous if I said I can’t hold that. It’s just hard for the mind to overcome what they eyes see.

In the privacy of my house, when I’m frustrated, I call the normal façade of RA “The Lie.” I say, “If only The Lie were true. If only I could find the door into that reality.” It seems like the whole world has the benefit of The Lie, except those who are stuck in RA-reality land.

Even I have been fooled by The Lie as I tried to find the door back into the normal world. With enough medication and rest, I get fooled into thinking that my shoulder or knees are doing better. RA is not that bad.

Go ahead and laugh at me if it makes you smile. Just the other day I was lying on the sofa thinking, “Oh, my knees are fine now” until I tried to walk to the bathroom.

RA pain won’t yield to the “The Lie”

I’m very tired of pain. I imagine that those around me are just as tired of hearing of it. I can’t say it out loud or write it out loud every time I’m typing. There are so many topics I want to write posts about that I have long lists of them! But am I the only one who feels frustrated by others assuming that the RA is only bad when I say so?

I know that we are not all in the same place. Many readers don’t even have RA themselves. I try to tell enough of what I deal with to help paint a true picture, but not more than people can handle. Hopefully, it’s sufficient that the world will at least begin to doubt the “The Lie.”

Postblog: Back in May, I was offline for a week because my computer caught a virus. This time it was my turn. Our house was full of fevers, sick stomachs, and the headache from hell. I passed some miserable days when I couldn’t get down any food or meds to mask the RA. I absolutely hate it when so many joints are screaming that you can’t do anything, even read. I doubt I’ll ever catch up on emails and or anything else, but I’ll do my best.

Copyright © 2011 Kelly Young, All rights reserved.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 at 12:15 pm and is filed under If you don’t have RA, please read. http://rawarrior.com/ra-reality-versus-the-lie/

I have been both the coach potato and a DUSTY fixture in the bedroom, lost friends because I could not bear walking and “Going Out.” After speaking with my nurse practitioner about depression and the need to seek professional therapy, she introduced me to ZOLOFT. Yes, it has side effects, but so does everything you take for RA, some of these drugs even cause depression and suicidal thoughts. My nurse practitioner could not understand why I had not been placed on an anti-depressant sooner (after 20 years) because of the medications I had taken and was currently taking.

I still have pain, inflammation, and at times depressed because my body puts up a fuss. Nevertheless, since I have been on the anti-depressants, I go to the movies, walk, and the only dust I remove is off my shoes.

Written by Felicia Williams-Elliott, survivor of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis for 17 years.

Foods that may reduce inflammation: fresh vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, green beans, garlic, spinach, kale, leeks, and sweet potatoes), fruits (apples, lemons, avocados, papayas, grapes, oranges, strawberries, and blueberries), oils, grains, meats, fish dairy, products, seeds and nuts, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, extra-virgin olive oil and omega-fish.

Write down what you eat for a week and make a few alterations the next using my concept. Let me know if it made a difference in your life.

Written by Felicia Williams-Elliott, survivor of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis for 17 years.