Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - Introduce yourself and meet others

I just want to get rid of lumps and want to know how beyond me rubbing them and tens unit apple applied. I want to know if anyone else has them and what they have done to get rid of.

I am an 82 year old retired teacher who spent most of my life in northern Labrador when I started teaching Inuit children mostly at Nain. I was in the U S Army for three years, spent mostly at the Arctic Test Center in Alaska doing research on frostbite and chilblain. I believe my situation started from skiing and snowshoeing a lot when I was younger and frostbiting my feet many times when I didn't head home soon enough.
Over the years I had arthritis in different parts of my body after falling when jogging in the rain and slipping on grass and hitting my elbow on a rock. I fell later at my cabin and had a concussion that was followed by all symptoms of parkinsonism that lasted for around 5 months , slowly recovering.

I think my present condition started around two years ago with neuropathic ulcers on my feet, mainly toes. The ulcers have flared up with bleeding periodically. I wore oversized shoes, and lastly boots four sizes too large, wearing them with thick wool socks. They aren't too wide, and give my toes free rein. This has helped a lot to reduce the neuropathy. If ulcers break open, I clean them with rubbing alcohol and put a mild antibiotic and band aid on them for no more than three days. Every morning I rub my toes with Jojoba oil a pen-friend sent me and the rest of my feet with Vaseline Intensive Care. I did go once to the emergency at the hospital here . The doctors prescribed a strong acid antibiotic that caused the skin to peel off my feet, so I stopped using it. I told them that I thought the problem was from frostbiting my feet. Later I saw on line that my feet were identical to a photo of neuropathic ulcers on the feet of someone with diabetes. I went to the pharmacy where I now live in central Labrador and was given a blood sugar testing kit, thinking I might be diabetic and not damaged by frostbite. My blood sugar level was shown to be normal.
I have symptoms of R A. My eyes are causing me increasing problems. I have struggled with events in my life resulting in depression and anxiety. These seem to follow flares with the R A.
This psychologist with the Geriatric Outreach Program in Ottawa, when I went down there to help my son, wanted me to go on drugs for depression and anxiety, but I didn't want to do that. I think the mind is the best way to deal with issues with the mind. I later read certain drugs for mental issues can interfere with drugs for R A.

I have lived here for over three years in a shed on one of my son's land. I am happy as the storage shed I live in has a wood stove, and I feel like I am in the cabin we built up north. I went out to check to see if some ravens that I have been feeding came behind my place to eat. I slipped on the icy snow. I hit my back on a wooden support for a lean-to covered with a tarp. This resulted not just in a sore back but later with pain in my arms and shoulders, legs, places I didn't even bump. I think this is an aspect of R A, as it goes where anything is not strong and makes more trouble, as with my eyes. I am getting very sensitive to bright light. My daughter sent me good clip-on sunglasses. I think before that a lot of issues were taken on by the family as a whole, even the extended family. This seems to have been eroded by the decline of the family farm. The nuclear family resulted in the scattering of family members. Still friends can be a true family.

I find that I get tired very easily now. Before I never fell asleep except at night. Another issue is the dysgeusia. This seems to follow with erratic flares with RA. Food that can taste alright can the next day taste rotten, and vice versa. Two foods that taste alright by themselves can taste rotten together, and the next day taste all right. Favorite comfort foods can be just the opposite with no warning. It seems no place in the body can't be affected by issues in the autoimmune system. My schools teaching or substituting for 46 years has made me very patient. I am now actually more at home with children than adults, although I rarely see any. I haven't seen my grandchildren for three years. The R A has taken me to a totally different level. The depression seems settled on going back years and years, even to my childhood, remembering every detail,, where I should have stood up for myself, but didn't. Now the people I should have stood up to are gone. I think this has been a factor in my R A experience. When people force you into a situation where you can't be yourself, it seems something has to happen and the autoimmune system is just waiting to "open the door" to what really were unaddressed issues. Then neuropathy and R A are let loose. I still don't regret what I have done, but loyalty and perseverance have very dark shadows. It doesn't seem forgiveness for others, or even oneself can change things. We can't change the past. We do need to find healthy way to lives on into the future. Wanting to die is not a solution, as it goes on to be falling out of the frying pan and into the fire.
I have feeders for the birds and squirrels. The little chickadees eat out of my hands. They always give me comfort. There are all different forms of medicine. We have to make an effort to find them.

I am very grateful to find this. There's a lot I'm processing after my diagnosis, and my awesome Rheumatologist is doing her best to get my treatment plan working for me.

That said, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the diagnosis, and am dealing w the mental stigmas of having scoliosis, fibromyalgia, and RA.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I do take walks, use a yoga trapeze, and do massage and heat on my joints. It feels like a vicious cycle at times. I appear healthy, so no one understands the pain involved. Any encouragement or suggestions would be amazing.

Encouraging you to ask your doctor to customize your plan for YOU. We are all different and so many of us don’t tolerate the standard treatment drugs - but trial and error will get you there if your doctor works with you. Good luck.

Educate yourself. You need to read articles from legitimate sources; Mayo Clinic, Arthritis Today, Arthritis Foundation, NIH, and Web MD. There is so much quackery floating around. Be careful.

RA deals with inflammation. Please stop using heat. It is like putting fuel on the fire. Heat is soothing for fibromyalgia, but not RA.

I have had RA for 41 years. The drug therapies available today are fantastic with few side effects. The hardest part for me is the emotional battle. Antidepressants have helped tremendously. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Most RA patients need help in this arena; talk therapy is wonderful.

I was once “disabled” but now lead a very active life. I wish you well.

@onetowatchst I certainly understand your not being able get your head around your diagnosis. I have a different AD diagnosis and I just couldn’t accept it. I think a few years went be before I admitted it to myself. And, yes, you appear healthy so no one knows what’s going on. Whenever I went for walks, I was sure everyone thought I looked drunk. Now, I just say “who cares what people think!” I also wear a pin that says ‘fighting invisible diseases’. 🙂
It’s great that you are being active! I wonder if warm water exercises would help by reducing the stress on your joints.
Can you ask your doctor about better pain management? Pain just makes everything else so difficult!
Please stay in touch with me!

Thank you. I will stay in touch.

Hi 👋. My name is Becky. I am not taking meds for RA. Currently I’m in a flare for 3 weeks. My husband helps in every way. I follow an anti inflammatory diet. Sugar is a huge culprit leading to pain, etc.
so glad I came across thus RA group. 🥰

@beckydubolsky Hi, Becky, I’m Becky, too! Small world. So you don’t take any drugs for your RA? But you must have painful joints, especially in a flare. What else do you do besides the AID?

Rest mostly. Wait for good days. Prayer works for me. How about you, do you take any meds?