So...first of all, it turns out that I don't have RA at all and they are now calling what I have JIA - (Polyarticular) Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis - meaning that it started before I was 16, of an unknown cause affecting more than 5 of my joints (how about we try all of them?!). I feel really weird about this change in diagnosis. Obviously my condition is exactly the same, the treatment is going to be the same but I had got my head around having RA and now it has thrown all that in the air. I don't really know what this means for me as I thought I understood what RA looked like and how to cope with it.
The new consultant felt all my joints and it was so painful that she had to stop and let me have a break before carrying on. She said that all my joints were painful (uh huh!) but none were swollen which apparently is very common in JIA as is normal blood work (that's me too). She has given me Hydroxychloroquine which is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) that reduces inflammation and so reduces pain and swelling. I have been assured that this medication is fine to take whilst trying to conceive and in pregnancy. I really hope that it works quickly as I am feeling so unwell at the moment and the thought of having to manage at work next week is not filling me with happy thoughts. I love my job but I feel so terrible that I have no idea how I am going to cope. At the moment I am lying under a duvet on the sofa on my day off when I should be out seeing friends and having fun.
oh my gosh, a change in diagnosis is hard, you know where I am if you need a chat x
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