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chauncyrenayCHANGED
Posts: 788 Member
Hi! I'm Chauncy. I'm 28 y/o. I was FINALLY diagnosed with RA about 2 years ago, but I've always had the symptoms. I've been on MFP for 1yr and 1 week now and am only 9lbs away from my goal weight. 
I'm really looking forward to getting to know all of you.
Feel free to start a topic or join a discussion. This is our place to share ideas, confide with one another and to vent!
I'm really looking forward to getting to know all of you.Feel free to start a topic or join a discussion. This is our place to share ideas, confide with one another and to vent!
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After a year of excruciating pain and immobility off and on, I finally am closer to a diagnosis. My bloodwork indicates R.A., but my rheumatologist isn't quite sure, since my symptoms also indicate a very rare form of rheumatism called Palindromic Rheumatism. I'm 42 and this problem seemed to spring out of no where. I felt like a hypochondriac becuase it was so hard to get to the doctor in time to get the flares. After many tests and MRIs and bone scans, at least I'm nearing an answer.
I took the possibility of RA very hard, and got very scared. I want to exercise without aggravating anything, and I don't want to feel sorry for myself. So I'm glad this group exists!0 -
Hi! Nice to meet you. My name is Jamie, and I have had R.A. since I was 11, and I am 23 now. It certainly hasnt been easy.
And go you, that is a lot of weight you lost! I am/was also your starting weight, doing this for about 4-5 weeks now.
Love the group name btw!0 -
Hi all, nice to meet you guys! I'm 28, had RA symptoms since 15, my mom was diagnosed with it at 32, was put on permanent disability at 36 and was constantly battling her pain/joint issues. I get yearly blood work for it with my physical and until I get the "you have it" I just keep trying to ignore it and forget about the joint issues. Stress and weather, are always triggers for me.0
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Hi, I am Cindy, everyone calls me Mommawarrior.
I have dealt with RA for quite some time now, but I have learned to control it all with my diet. I am blessed to be able to do that. My issues were very bad, but I refused to go on meds and instead did a a lot of researching on my own and am so thankful I did. There are no side affects from a healthy diet and the expense is much less. My doctor is not thrilled with me but I don't care. I control everything with diet and am very picky about what I eat and I have never felt better in my life.0 -
Hi Everyone!
I'm Kyla. I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was 10. You're supposed to "grow out of it" by the time you're 15, but I didn't. :ohwell: About half of my years in junior high and high school, I was exempted from PE; but I didn't really start to gain weight until my Sophomore year of college. Now, *several* years later, I'm almost back down to my college weight and heading to "healthy".
I'm glad this group is here and look forward to the discussions :happy:0 -
This is awesome. I'm looking forward to talking to other people who deal with the same crap that I deal with..0
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Hi everybody!!
I was diagnosed with R.A. back in 2001, when I was in college, I ended up dropping all my classes one semester because it hurt so bad to even get in the car to go to school, let alone walking to classes. In 2008 it put me in the hospital for a few weeks because of the uncontrollable swelling I had, I'm much better now, it's controlled with medication; however I'm hoping that with continued healthy eating and exercising I can get off the medication which would save me financially, as well as overall well-being.
I've been exercising since early August, and I haven't really had flare-ups, and I've been feeling a lot better. My current job has me standing for long periods of time (retail...ugh), but it's not as bad as it used to be, and I'm hoping that with what I'm doing, I can make the pain go away.
I'm so glad to meet other people who are going through the same thing I'm going through, and understand how painful it is to do physical activitiy sometimes.0 -
Hi Everyone,
I have had RA for 19 years now, I need to exercise more, lose weight of course. I am hoping to get some more energy, I have very little. I am on prednisone every other day, it makes it very hard to lose. The RA has scarred my lungs and I get out of breath easy.0 -
hi, y"all! i'm Betsy. i was diagnosed about 5 years ago now, not only with RA but OA and fibro. needless to say, exercising is a major production. but, today, i was thinking, i feel pretty good these day. think tomorrow i'll start walking the dog again! i have 2 rotties, and the older one and i used to walk a lot. so we're gonna try again. i was doing really good losing the lard, but got really depressed and stopped trying. and have only gained about 3 lbs-go figure! so, now i'm going to get back on track and lose some more of this. i want to be back in my skinnier jeans, and be able to get on my horse more easily. 0
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Hi I'm Robyn.:bigsmile:
I haven't been formerly diagnosed yet. I joined MFP as well as a gym membership in Jan 2011. 35lbs and 5 mos in to it my knees were swollen and I couldn't kneel or stand from siting on the floor without help up. I know I don't have to even mention the pain. Went to the Doctor and after x-rays he said there was bone spurring. Gave me an anti inflammatory. No more stair master or tread mill (which I physically couldn't do anyway. :sad: ). I am now riding the stationary bike and weights. I have stayed pretty much 150. I am back on a strict diet of 1200 calories and the gym 5 or 6 days a week. Well just started this week.
Thanks for the invite!!!! Nice to meet y'all!!!!:flowerforyou:0 -
HI all! I was finally diagnosed with RA about 4-5 years ago after struggling without a diagnosis for several years. It was really hard to control at first and I was on prednisone for 2 years, during which time I put on a lot of weight. I finally got off the prednisone and now have a pretty good medicine regimen and don't have too many flare-ups, which is good because since my initial diagnosis and treatment I have lost my insurance. So, no more rheumatologists for me, but luckily the free Native American clinic I go to has kept me on the same medication and so far it hasn't needed to be changed.
I'm having a mini flare-up in my thumb for the last couple days (from weather change and stress I believe) which is bumming me out, but I always have to think back to the days when I couldn't get out of bed or walk because my hip was so bad, and the time I almost wet my pants because I couldn't turn a doorknob because my hands were so swollen.
I know if I can lose some more weight the pressure will be off my joints and I'll feel even better, but I haven't been very motivated lately. I am seeing a nutritionist tomorrow so I will get back in the weight loss game!0 -
Hey all, my name is Heather and I've had symptoms of RA ever since I was very young (can't remember a time where I didn't). It hasn't been officially diagnosed yet, however, because I'm never having a flare-up when they do blood work. However, they have it down as "atypical RA"0
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Hi everyone. I'm Pam. I've been diagnosed with RA and OA since 2001, but have a collection of knee braces from what they kept calling 'runner's knee' for about a year prior. I'm a nurse, and have recently gone on disability due to the RA worsening. I've been through a host of medications and am currently on old faithful - methotrexate, and arava. I was (un)lucky enough to contract MRSA in a hospital visit a couple of years ago, and can no longer take the IV medications that seemed to work so well because it keeps bringing the infection back.
I do my best to get in exercise daily, usually in the form of one of my exercise bikes(upright and recumbent), but this colder weather is making that pretty difficult to do regularly. I find it so frustrating because just 5 months ago, I did the 30 Day Shred in 35 days!
To all of you that haven't been diagnosed yet - Get after those doctors!
So glad that this group is here!0 -
Hello Everyone! I'm Susan, I was diagnosed with RA just a little over a year ago. It took me 6 months to get diagnosed, by my OB doctor since none of my other doctors would listen to me. I'm very thankful to her and she diagnosed me during our first meeting! I've been on Enbrel and haven't looked back! Although I'm not a big fan of sticking needles into me, I haven't had any pain or flare ups! I've comepleted P90X and will be starting Turbo Fire soon. I've taken a bit of a break from working out, but I'm ready to get back at it. I have about another 25lbs to lose to meet me goal weight!
I have two boys that keep me on my toes along with my husband who is in the Marine Corps and is going through pilot training. We just moved to Florida, so I'm looking forward to getting out and enjoying the sunshine! It's great to meet all of you and hope I'll be able to encourage and support all of you! Good luck! Thanks for starting the group too!0 -
I'm Barbara; I was misdiagnosed with JRA when I was 9 and slapped in to full length leg braces until I was 16, which made school fun. I still played hockey and ran tack and field whilst wearing the braces. We're talking 1960s so the tests are now much better and I actually didn't have JRA. I'm actually symptomatic for Lupus, but the tests are not definitive. I do have OA in both knees and RA in my knees, hips, hands and shoulders. Movement is the key to keep going!0
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Hello,My name is Rachel.I was diagnosed with RA a year ago,I take humira shots ,every other week I exercise ,I try to eat healthy.It gets very draining at times but I cope with it as best as i can. I am looking forward to getting to know you all. 0
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Hello everyone. I'm 43...almost 44 and I've had JRA for almost 40 years now. I think I'm doing pretty good but will be doing better as I loose more weight. Joint pain, easily strained ankles and many other issues have made exercise a challenge on a good day. I do medicate for my RA, just changed shoes per a recommendation from the podiatrist. Doesn't help that I also fight migraines and bipolar...but I'm going to get there.
Good luck everyone... let's all get there together.0 -
Hi everyone, my name is Christina, and I am 34, I was diagnosed with RA about four years ago, but have had symptoms since I was about 23. I am taking Humira now, and it seems to be helping, but I have a lot of weight to lose. I had been working out regularly all summer, but I'm having a bad flare and only working out twice a week, so I am going to try to go back to every day exercise now that my meds have been adjusted. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone! 0
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Hi ! I am Holly, I am 28 years old . I have R.A. , Lupus, Asthma and Hypothyroidism. I was first diagnosed with adult still's disease at about 22 , I was so sick for a 6 months and no one would figure out what was wrong. They finally put me on prednisone said if I was better, they knew what was wrong and sure enough I got better. That is when they said if was adult still's disease which is juvenile ra. I've been on prednisone ever since , trying multiple times to get off with no success and lots of depressing weight gain /moon face. My dh and I began trying to have a family , we lost several pregnancies which we now know was due to the lupus and then in 2010 our daughter was still born again due to the lupus which at the time they didn't feel the need to treat with anything. It was at the begining of that pregnancy they found that I had lupus, which they had believed I had all along but was never positive on blood testing and all of a sudden ever lupus test was glaringly positive. We started me on higher doses of prednisone, hydroxchloroquine, and baby aspirin . I had a sucessful pregnancy that led to the delivery of a beautiful baby boy in May . I am wanting to lose a bit more weight before I feel comfortable getting pregnant with our second and last child before going on lupus/ ra medications in which I cannot breast feed or become pregnant on but will be able to come off the dreaded prednisone and hopefully get down to low 200's which is my biggest goal. The joints the bother me are my hands, fingers, arms, and my toe joints. I look forward to getting to know you all.0
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Hi, my name is Christie. I was diagnosed with RA in the fall of 2009 and in June of 2010 my rheumatologist confirmed that I have lupus.
I have had strange symptoms since 2003 and I always felt like a hypochondriac because the many, many doctors I saw couldn't find anything definitively wrong with me. I had asthma, fluid on my heart, endometriosus, migraines, and bouts of nausea when I would lose lots of weight because I couldn't eat. In desperation they said it was Crohn's in 2007, but then the "Crohn's" went away and I had period of decent health.
During this time I got married and then pregnant. Sadly my son was stillborn during labour at full term. (Holly my heart goes out to you; I know what it feels like.) At the time the doctors thought that I had autoimmune hepatitis, but they did not think that it had caused the death of my son.
Not long after, my husband and I separated and soon after, the stress made the lupus flare, causing RA. One day I was jogging and lifting weights in the gym and the next my feet were swollen about 3 times their normal size. In the ER they gave me a shot of torodol, which felt great for about 6 hours, then wow, I was back to being crippled again. Too bad we can't take that stuff all the time!
I went on Celebrex eventually, but it didn't help enough so I'm also on Plaquenil now for the lupus. I seem to do okay on this regimen, but sometimes I take the maximum dose of Tylenol Arthritis to get me through. Like someone else said, you have to remember the really bad days to be able to accept the not-so-great days. It's tough though.
After 2 years since that first blow-up of my joints, I am finally back to jogging again and lifting weights; but somedays I have to take it easy. I've lost 32 lbs of the weight gained partially during pregnancy and partially during my health struggles. My doctors think it's amazing that I can jog and that I shouldn't complain at all, but some days I wish for 100% health. Is that too much to ask for? Or do we need to be happy with what we have?
I'm hoping that losing weight and working my way out of the depression of losing a child, my husband and my health will help me find a new and better life where lupus and RA are not determining what I can do.0
