Any techs with experience of working with arthritis?

['chelle]

Hi all

I've recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis:irked:. My general ability to do stuff (including nails) has been on the decline for a while now, some days I can barely move my hands. Now that I've had the diagnosis I am booked in to start the treatment (methotrexate) in 2 weeks and I am told by my specialist that it might take a few months to work, but that once they get the dosage right, I will be back to normal. The treatment doesnt cure the condition but it does slow down the progression of it.

I started my mobile nail business lately. I still only have a couple of clients, and fortunately they are very understanding, so dont mind that I cannot take advance bookings at the moment as I dont know how well I will be, instead they ring on the day, and if I'm well enough I am more than happy to do their nails. I havent done too much in the way of marketing yet, so I have decided to freeze further marketing until the drugs start working.

Whilst I'm looking forward to being back to normal again, I'm told that the condition will still progress but much slower, and that (and these were the consultants words) it could be up to 20 years before we need to consider joint replacements. this isnt the best news I've heard considering that I'm only 30 at the moment!! I was also told that the drugs are quite severe and can have significant side effects.

Now dont get me wrong, I'm not all doom and gloom about this, theres much worse things that people go through, and I know lots of people live with R.A and manage fine. I'm just a bit apprehensive that I'm going to have to retire early from nails, I had hoped this would be my career for life.

Are there any other techs with R.A who can give me some advice based on their experience of working with this condition?

 

[wg19]

What a nightmare for you, although from reading your post you seem to have a handle on it & as you say once the drugs are sorted it's onwards & upwards!

I don't have any personal experience of this, just wordering what you struggle with the most when it flares up? If it's filing it may be worth looking into efile training & use. Just a thought.

Hope you are sorted as soon as.

 

[loubylou]

I was diagnosed with this when i was 7, yes 7 yrs old, i had knelt on a sewing needle and it went into my knee, my mum removed it and cleaned it but by morning my knee was the size of a football,
i ended up in hospital with septic arthritis of the knee joint and the docs wanted to amputate my leg above my knee but luckily for me they didn't, they replaced my knee with a plastic one? and hoped for the best, said i would need tablets as i got older and it got worse,
the only part of my body that never gives me any trouble is my knee lol, i get loads of pain in my neck, shoulders and upper back but find that stretching exercises help this and painkillers of course,
i use an e-file to help me out with this but i only use it to debulk on the rebalance,
i never did get round to getting medication from the doctor, just never liked the idea of it and i can manage with exercises hth

 

[Susie H]

I have been told that warm paraffin wax treatments are a big help.
Other then that a drier climate then we get in England, which sounds like a bril reason to move to a sunshine land.:hug:

 

['chelle]

I have been told that warm paraffin wax treatments are a big help.
Other then that a drier climate then we get in England, which sounds like a bril reason to move to a sunshine land.:hug:

I will book a paraffin wax treatment and see what happens, thanks.
oh and yes a warm climate would be nice. I was referred to occupational health, and they asked what they could provide me with to help things along. I said that arthritis is much better in warm weather so could they get me a villa in the carribean for the winter months. I'm still waiting to hear back from them:lol:

 

[ladybgemini]

I have arthirits in my neck and a condition called Hypermobility Syndrome. I am currently having problems with my neck as my joints are so slack, my discs pop out on a regular basis. I trapped a nerve this time last year in my left arm and now it appears that my right arm is being affected. Am booked into the chiro on monday and hopefully i've caught it in time.

 

[KellyT]

Definatly do the paraffin treatments as they do provide temporary relief.
My mum has arthritis in ther wrists and each time she came to see me i would do paraffin on her hands and her wrists.
Now usually she cannot hold a newspaper etc the way we do (holding the pages) she has to rest the paper on her hands. But after the paraffin treatments she could do whatever and hold the paper normally.
Now as you may be aware it not a permanent cure but does give temporary relief and mum said it was the best feeling and i think for her it lasted a few days!!
I hope i have helped
All the best

 

[Glamnails72]

Sorry to hear of your news - must have been alot to take in.

My Mum was diagnosed with RA when she was in her early 40's - some 20 odd years ago, and then they didn't do lots of early treatments, just anti-inflamatory tablets, so her disease spread quickly, so its good that your consultant is taking things seriously.

Parafin wax treatments are helpful for RA, but not if your joints are in active flare-up (red and swollen), Mum said that when this was the case, she would prefer the old bag of frozen peas in a towel!

Get as much physio as they'll give you, also if you can take evening primrose oil / glucosomine as this helps to an extent too. Your OT will be able to give advice on any work aid that may help you, but if you need an understanding ear - pm me xx :hug:

 

[Nataliya]

Sorry to hear doll.

You should do paraffin wax treatment this really helps. I would postpone doing nails just so you would not get worse, until you had your treatment.

get well soon:hug:

 

[slhallford]

I was diagnosed with RA when my daughter was 4 months old. I literally lost the ability to pick her up. It was awful. I had a number of years when it would swing back and forth and get better and then worse. I did the methotrexate for quite a while and then alternated with antiinflammatories and steroids.

My daughter is four now. For the most part it is under control now. I have been off everything but the antiinflammatory drugs for a year now. The treatment that works the most for me is regular exercise. I walk 4 miles a day. The more I exercise, the better I feel consistently. When I slack off, it gets increasingly worse. Yoga has helped a lot in the past but I haven't done it regularly in a long while.

RA doesn't have to take over your life! Everything that I've read has indicated that the more proactive a patient is, the better their prognosis. I hope you'll feel better soon.

S