Things I wish I’d known.. 

Posted on by SingleRheum

What do I wish I had known at diagnosis? This started out as a short response to a seemingly simple question and ended up here, I guess I always figure why use ten words when you can use hundreds!

1. That there is a fantastic, amazing and committed online support community. That these strangers would become my home, my family, my friends. There is an amazing bunch of people out there, living #chroniclife just as I do, and they are all passionate about providing support, information, safe places to chat and vent, and somewhere to go at 3am when the regular world is asleep.

2. That getting the diagnosis is not the end, it’s the beginning. Just after I very first joined a wise RA’er told me that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Three years later I get it.

3. To take all the RA stuff seriously, but learn to laugh at it at the same time. It’s very easy to get bogged down under it all, so spot the funny moments and treasure them, they do help! (Getting stuck in a hotel bath springs to mind!)

4. That everyone’s RA is different. There are similarities within recognised parameters, but you may suffer some things badly and others not at all. That doesn’t make you odd or weird, we all feel this differently
5. That #selfcare is the single most important thing you’ll learn to do. You can’t pour from an empty bucket, so look after you properly, then you can be there for others. Putting even family before yourself is a mistake, I always think of the airplane oxygen rule, you first, children next.

6. That it’s perfectly possible to have even severe RA and live your life with love and joy and hope. You’ll find your way, and there are others who are here to help, always.

7. That it’s OK to scream and rant and rave and be angry too. We all do it, venting is welcome! Letting off steam occasionally is I believe an essential part of processing and accepting your diagnosis

8. That no one can tell you how a medication will work for you. Not your rheumy, not your doctor and not us. Unfortunately RA treatment is trial and error – many people hit their magic med first or second time and probably never join online groups because they don’t need them. Others will have meds fail them over and over, or provoke allergic reactions. The only way to know what will work for you is to try it with your rheumys support and guidance.

9. That you will find your way through this. You’ll learn how your RA behaves, what helps and what doesn’t, when you need to rest and when you need to work through. It’s not a quick or easy process, but I promise you will get there 💙

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RA & Lung Disease, or my struggle for breath

Posted on by SingleRheum

Firstly my apologies for sneaking in a wildcard at the end of RA Blog Week, but I’ve been suffering badly with fatigue which is unfortunately not conducive to blogging!

It’s been a long year already, and it’s left me a little tired. Let me take you back almost 12 months….

October 1st last year I started coughing. An irritating dry cough that was constantly annoying. By the beginning of December my GP ordered a chest xray ‘just to cover all bases’ and prescribed a steroid inhaler to help with the cough, which we thought might be Bronchitis.

Around Xmas I started getting breathless on exertion, and over the next few weeks this got worse. My xray came back showing ‘some scarring’. I’ll cut a long story a little shorter here but over the next few months I had a number of attempts at spirometry tests which failed as I coughed too much, though they did indicate a restrictive breathing pattern. At this point I was referred into the hospital, and after more detailed HRCT scans, Fleuroscopy, a bout of pneumonia and extensive lung function tests it became apparent that the RA has attacked my lungs.

In the last meeting with my thoracic consultant I got to see the scans, including a short “video” of my lungs breathing. It’s fascinating to see, you know me and wanting the fine detail! What it’s also shown is that on top of the lung damage – which is very likely from the RA – my right hemidiagphram is significantly elevated, though still thankfully working. The diaphragm is essentially the muscle that moves your lungs when your brain says breathe.

I’m saying it looks like RA damage because the jury is still out, there’s still a small chance it could be pulmonary fibrosis and not interstitial lung disease – further tests will keep an eye on progression of the lung damage and help identify the cause.

But essentially parts of my lungs have become inflamed, and then hardened, reducing my lung capacity and making it harder to breathe. On top of that the raised hemidiagphram is squashing the bottom of my right lung which just increases the breathlessness. We don’t know why that’s elevated so investigation is needed there too.

There is no fix, no cure. Lung tissue can’t be repaired. At the moment my consultant doesn’t feel this will significantly shorten my life, but we all know life don’t come with guarantees. I’m not being negative here, just sharing the facts as they’ve been put to me.

Unfortunately whether I live another four years or forty, I will have to live with this constant breathlessness. It was particularly difficult the first few days here in Cyprus as my lungs struggled with the hot air, making breathing incredibly hard even on mild exertion. This has now eased somewhat, hopefully in part due to the new inhaler I’m on.

But daily life has become that much harder. What makes me breathless? Making a coffee. Having a shower. Getting dressed. Turning over in bed. Walking short distances on crutches. Cooking. Basically everything. I’m also increasingly tired, probably due to low oxygen saturation levels which are being monitored, but on top of ME/CFS this has been a big drain on my already limited energy. I’m slowly learning to take pacing activity to the nth degree, quite literally tiny baby steps.

There have been moments when this has been very scary, but I’ve come to realise it’s almost like starting over again with a new chronic illness. Except this time I’m better prepared. I don’t need to slog through the ups and downs of adjusting mentally because I’ve been there. I’m certainly not willing to allow – or even in a place where – this can knock me down.

So, both mentally and physically I take those baby steps forward. I still meditate regularly, practice mindfulness and gratitude daily and these help keep me sane (ish!). In all seriousness without these I’d have been floored by yet another chronic health issue, but living in the now definitely reduces stress reactions. I’ve had my moments believe me, but they’ve been mostly manageable.

I think it’s important to remember that as with my first diagnosis of RA, this isn’t an end but the start of a new, slightly tougher path. And with the support of some amazing friends and family I can learn to live with this too.

Please remember as always nothing on my page is intended as medical advice and any errors are my own!

Acceptance is….

Posted on by SingleRheum

I was asked a question recently by a newly diagnosed young lady in her early twenties. She wanted to know how to find a way of living with RA – she was already in a lot of pain and her RA was quite severe which had her worried about her future. I was really touched that she felt able to ask me, and I was pondering what to say when it hit me – how blessed was I that RA didn’t raise its head until I was in my forties! I can’t even imagine how horrid it would have been to have found myself in these shoes at a younger age, when you’re still finding out who you are, what you think and where you want to be (Not saying I have those down now, but I worry about them much less!).

My initial thoughts were around Acceptance, as it’s been the key for me in finding a way to live alongside my illness. But how do you explain that to someone young and newly diagnosed? Someone who is upset, scared, angry and confused. “Just accept it, you’ll be fine” is not going to cut the mustard. So this is a much longer (and more edited) version of my reply to her, which I really hope might help not just the young and newly diagnosed but the older (!) ones amongst us finding chronic life the emotional as well as physical rollercoaster it often is. So, Acceptance.

Where to start? Meaning? Let’s give this some context. Chambers English says to accept in this sense is to tolerate, to take on board. Not exactly cheering words. I know people often see acceptance as giving in or giving up, and it’s certainly not that for me. Acceptance doesn’t mean stopping researching treatment options, chasing doctors or not eating healthily. Let me digress for a moment – often in chronic life Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ seven stages of grief are referred to. Originally published in her book ‘On Death and Dying’ it was soon realised that it’s a really useful tool for understanding grief in any form, including grief for what and who we were after significant life changes. Diagnosis with a chronic condition certainly fits into that category. It helps us validate what we’re feeling as well as letting us know we’re not crazy, and we’re not alone.

The stages are usually described as Shock or Disbelief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Guilt, Depression and Acceptance. You can see a good explanation of those stages here, but I will just note that these are not linear, it’s common to jump back and forth between all of them, we process these in our own time. So whilst Acceptance is listed last, it doesn’t mean you have to cycle through the others first, although in all honesty it’s likely you will. It’s perfectly possible to go from depression to anger to bargaining and back to anger again, and it’s likely you’ll do it more than once. And that’s absolutely fine; there is no “right way” to grieve. Be kind to yourself, this is a lot to deal with.

It’s often a long road and I certainly didn’t get here overnight. Believe me I’ve ranted, railed, been depressed, had severe anxiety attacks, not wanted to go on, screamed why me – the whole box of tricks. I’m sure this shows in my earlier blogs! Acceptance is a tough thing to do with a chronic illness, but it’s such an important step, as it can bring us to a place of peace with our illness. Anger in particular is very wearing to carry daily, and hurts us emotionally.

You’ll need to find your own path to peace, no-one can do it for you. For me it’s been psychotherapy, leading to meditation and spirituality, alongside antidepressants and some great support from friends. For others it’s religion, counselling, psychology, support groups, medication, and sometimes just having a good scream! All of these are great tools. But I promise you too can make your peace with this.

Acceptance – to tolerate? So, eventually I’m back on track! Toleration suggests a kind of grudging version of putting up with, like your illness is an albatross around your neck. For me it’s much more profound and much simpler. Acceptance means non judgement. It means I stop attaching emotions to my illness. I accept it just is. Like a table or a chair, it exists, but I don’t have to feel anything about it. It’s not evil or bad or personal, and it’s not something I need to fight with or be angry at. Who has the energy for that?! Using mindfulness has made me much more aware of what I’m thinking, and if I find my thoughts are drifting towards anger or guilt I just return to my breath, and I remind myself they’re simply not helpful.

Acceptance takes work, it takes practice. It’s not easy, it means changing the way we think. Of course chronic illness has had a massive impact on my life, there are many things I’ve lost, so it’s important we choose where we focus. I’m fortunate; there are also so many things I’ve gained, including a fabulous support community across social media. I choose daily to focus on the good.

We all know things will change, chronic life throws us new symptoms and challenges frequently and I’ve found that if I try to accept and roll with these rather than fight them my life becomes calmer. Does it work every hour of every day? Nope, I still have anxiety triggers and a recent new diagnosis had me reeling for a few days. But previously that would have sent me down the rabbit hole for weeks if not months, so I call that a win.

Life is precious and there are no guarantees for anyone, so certainly for me the best thing to do is enjoy every moment. Really enjoy it. Even on the worst of days we have choices about what we focus on and how we think. So on my less easy days I’m really grateful that friends drop shopping off and I have a warm bed. On better days just sitting outside and feeling the sun on my face or the breeze on my skin reminds me I’m alive, and I make a conscious choice to be happy.

PEM – or Bed Now Please

Posted on by SingleRheum

Having just started to come out of a bad incidence of PEM I realised it’s something I’ve not specifically posted about. Yet it’s been a huge part of my life for over three years. So I’m going to try to explain in personal terms just how incredibly debilitating it is. A little background is probably necessary.

According to the NIH* “Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM) is a cardinal symptom of the illnesses referred to as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).”

A cardinal symptom is one that must be experienced by the patient to confirm diagnosis of the condition, in this case ME. Although my official diagnosis of ME wasn’t confirmed until about eighteen months ago, my GP and I are both in agreement that this has been ongoing for me since the time of my original RA diagnosis.

So, what exactly is it? And how does it differ from the fatigue experienced by patients with RA or other autoimmune conditions?

The NIH* states that “Unlike generalized fatigue, PEM is much more profound and reduces daily functioning. This symptom is characterized by a delay in the recovery of muscle strength after exertion, so it can cause patients to be bedridden for multiple consecutive days.”

And this is exactly what I’ve just been through. More recent studies into PEM recognise that the earlier criteria of ‘exercise’ was misleading and led to confusion amongst patients affecting diagnosis, ‘exertion’ is now used to provide a clearer picture, and it’s recognised that this can be mental or physical exertion, and that the physical exertion has a much lower baseline than in the standard population, as patients with ME are rarely able to exercise.

So we know PEM is profound and reduces daily functioning. But what does that look like? And how does it feel in real patient terms?

The NIH* describes it as “a worsening of ME/CFS, ME and CFS symptoms including fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, cognitive deficits, insomnia, and swollen lymph nodes. It can occur after even the simplest everyday tasks, such as walking, showering, or having a conversation.”

Seriously? Showering? Having a conversation? Actually yes, and in my experience having conversations, chatting, talking, call it what you will is incredibly draining. That doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed, but it does mean I’ll often pay for it later.

I’ll try and describe as clearly as I can how I was affected this weekend. I came home Sunday evening from visiting my Dad, which involves more driving than I would usually do. I want to make it clear here that I’m not blaming you Dad!! ❤️ Going to Waitrose or even popping out for lunch can have exactly the same effect. That’s the point. It doesn’t take much. And it doesn’t have to be physical. Dealing with simple paperwork for a short time can do the same thing.

So, Sunday afternoon. The first sign for me is usually yawning. Before I had ME I never thought of yawning as being a physical thing, but this can drop me to my knees. It’s like my whole body yawns with me. A couple of friends in my regular social circle will spot this a mile off now, and they’ll simply say ‘time to go home’. Apparently I suddenly look exhausted. Always attractive!

I’d say that on average within twenty minutes of this yawning starting I’ll be asleep, there is no choice, no putting it off. It’s like my whole body is simply shutting down. My head stops thinking, my muscles go heavy, and I can barely walk.

I lay down on the sofa at about six pm on Sunday, and only came to properly at about 6am this morning. So that’s 36 hours of basically being unconscious. I know I woke twice when my alarms went off to take my meds, and I know there was a third alarm I ignored so I missed a dose. I know I briefly came to and made a coffee at about 7pm on Monday, and it took everything I had to get into the kitchen and back. The rest is a blur of weird dreams involving a pub fire, going swimming in Italy and a trip to a theatre. Strange but true.

So that’s 36 hours lost so far. When I woke at 6am this morning I knew the worst had passed, the almost coma like feeling had gone, and my mind is awake to some small extent. Enough to slowly write this at least. But I have zero energy, and little concentration. From experience it will take another 24 hours at least before I’m able to actually get up and shower. I won’t be able to read or follow a TV plot properly, and I will probably sleep a lot today, though hopefully more refreshing sleep, not the passed out exhausted-ness of the past two days. Although it’s not an experience I’ve had I imagine I probably feel about the same as a marathon runner the day after, when everything hurts and you can barely move!

This is not a rare occurrence, it happens about once a week. I can lose from one to three days. I do pace my activities quite carefully, plan down days around days I have to be up and out, whether for medical appointments or social. I live alone so I try to get out three times a week for a couple of hours each time, usually a couple of coffees or soft drinks with friends. It’s incredibly easy to become isolated with chronic illness and it’s so very important we don’t.

So today will be a ‘sofa day’, as it happens it’s very rainy and dark outside so a perfect day for a couple of daft movies and snoozing. Then, fingers metaphorically crossed, I’ll feel human again tomorrow 😊

Footnote – it’s curious but common in #chroniclife to feel the need to validate ones symptoms and experiences, especially with something like ME which is incredibly still dismissed by some doctors. In this instance I’m actually glad I was wearing my sleep tracker, which has recorded 23 hours of sleep for yesterday. Proof!

*I have referred to and quoted from the American NIH or National Institute of Health because I find their website carries clear and up to to date articles. The full text that I’ve quoted from can be found here.