tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-189621312024-03-08T03:02:08.230+00:00The river is wide.... fibromyalgia & rheumatoid arthritis enriched life<p><i>"The water is wide, I can't cross over. And neither have I, the wings to fly, give me a boat, that can carry two. And both shall cross, my love and I</i>."<p>
<p>More than 10 years after I was first diagnosed with RA, I can now look back and say,"I survived it all". It has been a long journey</p></p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-6314873224237105752012-04-18T17:18:00.001+01:002012-04-18T17:45:52.210+01:00Spring cleaning this blog
When this blog was started in one bleak winter morning in 2005, I was quite ill with arthritis and fibromyalgia. Not only was I too ill to work or finish my degree, I had also decided to move with my husband to a totally new city. I was far from my family, and friends.
This blog was really important for my healing, and while writing it, I hoped that it may some day offer some solace or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-44957094881828140492012-01-22T19:30:00.000+00:002013-01-15T01:06:16.560+00:00Being the "weird woman" on the bus
This article was first written in winter, early 2009, but I was so tired, that I had not realized that I did not press the "publish" button then. There were lots of problems with the writing, and I can't resist editing the more horrible ones. Other than that, it is what it was. I am so glad that I did not get into trouble with the teenager.
p/s: I took the bus, because it was less Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-67522824717149932872011-11-03T23:33:00.002+00:002012-04-18T19:11:00.616+01:00Arthritis and fibromyalgia - impact on my life in numbers
It has been 10 years since I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and about 11.5 since my RA started.
Impact?
PERSONAL/WORK
Post grad degree finished: 1
Post doc position: 0
Broke up with boy friend: 1
Getting married: 1
Suspension of studies because of RA/Fibro: 1
Number of years without a job: 1-2
Number of years with part time job: 2
Number of years settling for an overqualified job: 5.5
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-4006353374291452452011-10-12T15:10:00.003+01:002011-10-13T18:21:50.751+01:00Those were the days - being told to "get a life" was "oh so common"
I am down with a cold today, and have a little "fogginess". This blog had been "abandoned" for a while - it has been very painful to revisit the difficult times, and be totally surprised not only by what I had written, but how the posts were written. I have been shocked so many times by the grammar, spelling errors and places where I seemed to have skipped words in a sentence - all due to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-55049573807577117172011-10-07T23:38:00.000+01:002012-04-18T18:15:38.781+01:00Winter preparation 2012
Winters are different if you have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.
There are a list of things to do:
HEALTH
Apart from the cold and bad weather which can make morning stiffness more uncomfortable, I also try to prevent the winter infections such as cold and flu. For some people ( including me), a bad infection where your immune system works like crazy could trigger a flare. This Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-37034908508500552792011-03-05T20:42:00.001+00:002011-03-05T20:43:22.143+00:00Exercise helps for CFS? Check the definitionThere is a very good article in New York Times, explaining the findings of a study published last month in The Lancet, which reported that exercise and cognitive-behavioral therapy could help people with the illness. That study is already quite well known, and used as a basis to push many CFS and fibromyalgia patients to exercise. My doctor had also suggested me to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-53686546271346059412011-02-26T22:04:00.002+00:002011-03-05T20:24:34.553+00:00Still alive and kicking!I am still alive an kicking! In fact, I am better than ever.
RA and fibromyalgia still rears its head often, and can cause pain and problems, but most of the time, I am pretty alright. My mantra is simply
God grant me the serenity,
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things i can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
I guess, my "prayer" is mostly answered.
There Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-15180232957816210312009-11-20T17:54:00.000+00:002009-11-20T17:54:27.536+00:00My weather predicting bones...agrees with the weather prediction man.
I am aching all over!!Saturday day weather Heavy Rain
Max: 15°C 59°F
Sunrise: 07:29
Sunday day weather Heavy Rain
Max: 12°C 54°F
Sunrise: 07:31
Monday day weather Grey Cloud
Max: 14°C 57°F
Sunrise: 07:32
Tuesday day weather White Cloud
Max: 16°C 61°F
Sunrise: 07:34
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-55214047949979489192009-10-26T23:38:00.001+00:002009-10-26T23:40:06.592+00:00Swine flu or H1N1 virus - does it affect people with arthritis more?I have been keeping an eye about the latest developments of swine flu and checking the websites. The information on the Arthritis Care website is rather generic, I would say, compared to the information in Arthritis Foundation website which provided H1N1 information that is more specific to arthritis patients.
Many of us would probably be on some immunosupressants which puts us on an Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-91381972454177559162009-10-23T01:42:00.001+01:002012-04-18T19:05:21.050+01:00Cheap heater fans are perhaps not that great - "to invest" in better ones
The cheap heater fan I bought in the high street store for next to nothing was really noisy. I was really afraid that it would explode or something! In the end, I decided to send it back to the shop.
Since the heater fan was really a good idea (practical and economical heating!), I did not intend to give it up. I decided to invest in something better. Surprise, surprise.. Amazon andUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-83534199593037479072009-10-21T23:51:00.002+01:002012-04-18T19:08:14.042+01:00Fan heater - it is actually economical!
I got a little fan heater :) It is just a tiny gadget and it consumes 2.4kW.
Now that the weather is not that cold yet, I just need to turn it on for about 5 minutes every morning when I wake up and change to get to work. It is another 5 minutes when I get home so that it is all warm and toasty when I change. Because it is portable, and I literally "POINT n BLOW" to warm up a section Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-5922466760520753322009-10-20T00:24:00.000+01:002009-10-20T00:24:57.144+01:00Winter heating - storage heaters are not that economical at all!Storage heaters are false economical solutions - I think.
Although they use the "off peak" night time electricity to charge up (at about half the day time rate), it is still seven hours of electricity consumption per day. To make things worse, they make the room too warm in the early morning - when they are warm enough and start discharging the heat, but the room would not be warm enough in the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-90441688404880228852009-10-19T00:01:00.001+01:002009-10-19T00:03:59.778+01:00Signs that you are not keeping warm enough?When winter comes, keeping warm is a decision - do you want to spend that money to keep warm?
Like many people, we try not to turn on the heating until November. Turning on the heating "on demand" would result in sky high bills. I have been putting on layers since the beginning of October, and going to bed early, before I really feel the chill.
Perhaps that is a bad idea. I am now Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-67142453087172470582009-10-13T15:06:00.000+01:002009-10-13T15:06:44.212+01:00Autumn...It is that time of the year again. The colours begin to change, and Mother Earth is preparing itself for a long good rest.And it is also the time for me to ask that question again " How do I manage my arthritis in the winter?" "How do I prevent my fibromyalgia from worsening in the winter"?
I have a strange love for winter. I love its quietness, I love the opportunity for a rest. No one bothers Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-36665484604874819822009-05-26T19:30:00.005+01:002009-05-28T23:07:40.443+01:00Sibutramine-maybe it is good to stay away if you have fibroThis is purely my personal experience - not a medical adviceI found some sibutramine capsules while cleaning up. They are still good, unexpired and I have been working hard to lose weight. So, I thought why not restart these weight loss pills.The effects were obvious - I felt less hungry. However, the suspected side-effect which prompted me to stop it more than a year ago was prominent. I stoppedUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-9717098327478682452009-05-20T16:46:00.002+01:002011-10-12T14:43:48.232+01:00Calm and happy = happy joints!
There is no mistake in the title.
I am just reinforcing the message -- to myself. It is funny when I would advise others about staying calm and happy , when my own life had been filled with some sort of heaviness. I have not really smiled or laughed for more than 3 weeks, apart from the time I spent in the at work. Funny, isn't it? Work is heavy but at least, I have some really funny Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-28787442365766036042009-05-13T19:21:00.004+01:002009-05-13T19:36:19.090+01:00Top tips for a good night's sleepI watched a programme about ten tips to sleep well, and I thought it is a good one to note down. Many of these are stuff we already know, but it is still a useful checklist.Take a warm bath 1 hour before bed time. The key thing is the warm bath increase you core body temperature. When they body temperature drops back to normal, you relax and feel drowsy!Try squeezing and relaxing of muscle groupsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-10439972947401511112009-04-30T18:50:00.004+01:002009-04-30T19:07:04.346+01:00Swine flu is not a problem, until it istoo late.Reading the swine flu reports and the publics comments makes me wonder, are people not worried? It is now phase 5!There are some brave people wondering what is the panic about - so many people die of flu every year, anyway. Yeah. You might think differently if you healthy 25 year old son die from it. You may feel different once you see healthy healthcare professionals die from it.Then there are Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-21499781579497138422009-04-29T15:54:00.007+01:002009-04-29T16:33:44.229+01:00Falling behind.. the quiet resentmentBeing off sick is an unfortunate excuse to check out facebook and catch up with friends a little on msn while having my lunch.It is both fun, and also depressing. Without catching up with school friends, I am perfectly happy in my own world, proud of my small progress from being in bed most of the time to working slowly back to a full time job, and fit enough for my 10km walks.However, all these Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-66742080922757474362009-04-28T21:25:00.001+01:002011-10-12T14:49:43.684+01:00down with flu
feel like rubbish. Aching all over. Thankfully, RA did not FLARE up
my sister calls it "swine flu".. ie I am the swine. Not funny.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-92126964061166101892009-04-27T18:55:00.002+01:002009-04-27T19:02:44.708+01:00Wow, I am walking so much!In my valiant attempt to loose weight and increase energy level, i decided to walk more. In fact, I walked a lot. Last week, I walked at least 25 km, and I am just counting those "long distance" walks I did, not those "usual activities" walk. On two days, I walked for 2 hours per day in the evening, covering 10 km each time.My body is still holding up, but I suspect I was overdoing it a bit. I amUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-395831455410307002009-03-25T01:56:00.004+00:002011-10-12T15:19:30.843+01:00Good luck, Woman. Hope he gets well soon
My best friend, who I call "Woman" just told me some bad news. Her husband has reactive arthritis, since a few months ago. The symptoms started not long after a flu jab, and he has been getting flares since.
A myriad of thoughts and feeling went through my mind, and I just wish to hug Woman tightly, and tell her, "It is alright. You will manage".
Woman is a strong woman. She dealt with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-45670295394969422562009-03-11T23:38:00.003+00:002009-03-25T01:55:30.915+00:00No goodbyes.Winter was peaceful. Everything is well. Just as things seemed to get better, I started to get excruciating pain again this afternoon. Stress. Things will get better, but I must persevere. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-39888164194053909462008-12-23T15:12:00.000+00:002011-10-12T15:16:25.171+01:00The cost of a bath...
Or rather, the extra cost of taking a hot bath..
I need to turn on my boiler for another 1 hour. That equals to 3 units of electricity!
Gosh! what a luxury...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18962131.post-329313207144311942008-12-09T14:09:00.003+00:002008-12-09T14:16:14.745+00:00Fibroaction UKI have added the link to a new patient support group for fibromyalgia based in UK: http://www.fibroaction.org/Default.aspxThe support group was founded by Linsay Middlemiss, who had been blogging for years. This is my favourite website so far for fibro support - it has such a positive vibe there! Plenty of information and actions to raise fibro awareness! Check out their events section too. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0