I believed I had arthritis when I was a teenager but my GP always said that I’m too young for it. People around me always said it was an old-person’s condition. But is that the case? Are we misled? And how do I now treat my arthritis?
A few years ago I was finally diagnosed with arthritis in my wrist and some of my finger joints during a bone scan that was being done to find something else!
Please remember: I am not a medical professional, I am a patient sharing my personal experiences and those that I know about. Please seek professional medical advice for your personal case.
If you would like to watch a video version of this blog post then you can right here, otherwise scroll on to read…
What is Arthritis?
Very simply explained, arthritis is an inflammation of the joints. The two most common types are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
But you know what’s crazy, there are over a hundred different types of arthritis! Imagine that!
Treatment depends on the type of arthritis one has but I thought to specifically speak about three types of arthritis and there are reasons why I speak of these three, which I’ll explain as I go along.
I also want to share how I manage my arthritis – which is actually the most important part. I feel doctors can give us generic ways and standard medicines, but as patients living with it, we end up being innovative in trying our best in helping ourselves.
1. Living with Osteoarthritis (OA)
I have osteoarthritis and guess what, it can happen to anyone at any age, but it’s supposed to be most common the older you get since its main cause is joint wear and tear, when the cartilage between the joint breaks down and the bones rub against each other, but that age-rule doesn’t apply to all – obviously since I am a clear example of it.
Wear and tear can happen to younger people too for various reasons, for me it could very likely be because I have endometriosis as I’ve explained in this post:
I mainly experience pain and stiffness in my fingers and wrist, but many also experience inflammation and tenderness. I also fall under the commonly affected areas category of fingers and wrist. There are other common areas which are spine, hips and knees.
So if you feel all these symptoms then you should push to have it checked out.
Because, OA is known as one of the most chronic forms of arthritis, and cartilage issues aren’t the only reasons that cause OA; dislocated joints, tendon injuries, repetitive strain injuries, metabolic diseases, genetics, bone deformities and a few other reasons can all be factors to consider before being dismissed from this diagnosis.
And another thing, osteoarthritis…
“causes changes in the bone and deterioration of the connective tissues that hold the joint together and attach muscle to bone. It also causes inflammation of the joint lining.”
Which, I believe, also connects with my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder. Upon further reading and speaking to my doctor, people with EDS appear to be more susceptible to osteoarthritis too.
At the end of it, everything is connected – but does addressing the cause fix the additional issues that come from it?
From personal experience I’ve found that working on the source of the problem may help reduce the possibility of a new comorbidity showing up and may help an existing one, but eventually the existing comorbidity has a way of living independently in the body!
Are Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis the Same?
They’re not. Osteoporosis is the loss of bone mass, which is usually diagnosed through a test that checks bone mineral density – a DXA scan, which I feel especially women who are more prone to osteoporosis should get checked when they’re younger (I had mine at 31) so they know the density of their bones. If there is a loss in bone mass, they can see their doctor and come up with a plan to help themselves.
Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of one or multiple joints. For me, this was diagnosed through a bone scan. For others, I have seen MRI, blood tests and joint fluid analysis done – thankfully for me it was quite straightforward.
Although an error during the bone scan messed up how I handled MRIs! Confused? Please read here for that…
2. Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, which means the body attacks itself. In the case of RA, the body attacks your healthy joint and tissue causing pain, inflammation, morning stiffness, joint deformities, even a burning or tingling sensation in those areas and.. and in many cases, pain on both sides of the body occurs.
I speak of RA, because my mother has it and she’s been dealing with these pains since before I was born. But my mum also had endometriosis and adenomyosis. Endometriosis is known to play a role in triggering RA.
Again, you can get more information about its connection with endometriosis here:
There are multiple blood tests to help diagnose RA, such as rheumatoid factor, ESR and c-reactive protein, but there is so much more to diagnosing RA than just these blood tests. Symptoms and medical history also play a vital role in being diagnosed with it.
In these last few years, I have been suspected to have RA, but it’s not been a conclusive diagnosis but then I already have OA, Ehlers-Danlos, endometriosis and other issues, so a lot of the treatment for RA is being covered while dealing with these other conditions so it’s not like I’m being denied a course of treatment.
To know more about what I do to help both forms of arthritis, read on…
3. Living with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS)
Ankylosing Spondylitis is a rare form of arthritis.
And as WebMD explains…
“”Ankylosis” means fused bones or other hard tissue. “Spondylitis” means inflammation in your spinal bones, or vertebrae. Severe cases can leave your spine hunched.”
I speak about this condition here, because a really kind and sweet friend of mine, Carrie Kellenberger has AS and I want to direct you to her site.
If you believe you experience stiffness in your lower back, butt, shoulder, hands, ribcage, thighs, feet, heels, hips – if you have a rigid spine, swelling, trouble breathing and wish to understand more from a patient’s perspective AND you DON’T want to wait 10 years – yes that’s how long the diagnosis can take, then check this out…
Carrie’s story:
How I Treat My Arthritis (Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis)
My treatment of arthritis is solely based on having osteoarthritis and possible rheumatoid arthritis. I obviously am limiting my treatment plan but there is one thing we must remember – these are not cures, these are treatments because it cannot, so far, be cured.
Also, please remember that I also have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, endometriosis, PCOS, osteopenia and fibromyalgia amongst other conditions that also play a huge role in my pain levels.
There was a time when I was on steroids for my EDS flare up, but now, I am not on them and don’t feel comfortable being on steroids because they mess up my energy levels, they damage my hair and skin and I find I take longer to comprehend sentences and situations.
So no steroids for me. But they are very helpful for others so I won’t ever knock them for others, but personally I’d rather avoid them.
Then there are anti-inflammatory medicines. On some of my worst days, I do find myself reaching for them. Again, they do reduce the pain, but they also slow me down for the next 24 hours with a lot of drowsiness. I’m not a fan of these either but I don’t shy away from taking them if needed.
My favourite ways to help treat my pain are the more natural ways, such as taping my fingers and wrist, using finger splits, bandaging for compression, hot water bags (my favourite) and taking natural anti-inflammatories like ginger-turmeric tea.
I have a list of all the things I do to help my pain in this article:
Or, if you wish to see a video version of it then you can see this:
I also follow an anti-inflammatory diet. More information can be found in this article:
There’s also a video version of this, just in case you prefer video:
Let’s conclude, I have arthritis. It is now believed that I’ve had it since I was a teenager and unfortunately, despite Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis actually existing as a type of arthritis – it somehow wasn’t an option for me.
Arthritis isn’t just an old person’s condition. It can happen at any age, so please never believe otherwise.
Have you ever been diagnosed with arthritis? Was it an easy experience? What do you do to treat your pain and stiffness? Please do share so that we can help each other out with our experiences.
Thank you for reading.
If you’re a social media person, then you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or YouTube.
I have a podcast too. You can check them out here along with their transcripts or if you don’t wanna read them then they’re available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts too.
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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am a patient and have created this platform to share my experiences. This is all purely informative and in no way am I providing medical advice. Please consult a medical professional.
It’s so strange how doctors put an ‘age’ on some conditions isn’t it. I’ve had it a number of times with other conditions, and you would think that they would learn that age is always a determinant of our health.
I have Joint Hypermobility Syndrome and it is common to get arthritis early in life but my doc doesn’t seem to think so… she thinks all my pain is fibro. But I have this horrible wrist and finger pain that is worse in the morning and definitely worse with weather changes so I am pretty sure it is arthirits. I have been treating it myself with supplements common for arthtiris and a brace when I need it to type… and that has helped a lot. Those supplements have been really helping me and since that pain was bad I am relieved it has. But I do not like the fact my doc ignored me on this.
There’s not much can be done, is there. Just the pain management used for chronic pain, it seems. So far, I have been told that I don’t have artritis, but I’m wondering about my fingers in my right hand. They get “stuck” at the joints (mostly in the mornings). Is knowing if there’s arthritis important? Or do I just continue what I do?
Shruti,
Thank you so much for writing a comprehensive guide to some forms of arthritis. There are over 100, but you’ve covered the top three. If I could get one message out to people about arthritis, I would tell them that arthritis, even inflammatory forms of arthritis like RA and AS, are actually very common! They’re not rare. AS is more prevalent that CF, MS, and ALS combined. It’s also more common than RA. But we’ve only seen more knowledge and awareness about it in the past 10 years as doctors have learned more. And of course, arthritis does not discriminate. I know patients as young as 8 years of age. Arthritis is not a senior disease.
It’s sad because doctors seem very focused on age being a factor. But scans and bloodwork can have very telling results. For me, I do not have RF but there are lots of examples of patients who are seronegative. Chronic Eileen (Eileen Davidson) can say more about this since she has written about this topic extensively. I also don’t have the genetic marker for AS, but that is just one part of diagnostic criteria for AS. I was diagnosed because they could see it in my spine in my x-rays and MRIs, and my inflammatory blood markers (CRP and ESR) are always high. And recently, of course, they’ve just added Psoriatic Arthritis to my list of health problems and this was something I flagged in 2015 after letting my doctors know that both my grandmothers had inflammatory arthritis and so did their sisters. (Specifically PsA and RA. We don’t know about AS because doctors weren’t diagnosing women with AS very often back then.)
I appreciate and LOVE YOU for including my story in your write-up. And to answer your questions very briefly here:
Have you ever been diagnosed with arthritis? –> Yes, osteo in my 20s in my feet. Axial spondlyloarthritis (Ankylosing Spondylitis) in 2009. Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) in 2020. AS and PsA are both classified as forms of spondyloarthritis.
Was it an easy experience? –> No. Like you, my doctors thought I was too young even though I had all the classic symptoms by 20 years of age. It is very painful, esp in the spine.
What do you do to treat your pain and stiffness? –> Biologics, painkillers like Tramadol, pain patches, heat, ice, Medical Marijuana and CBD when I’m home, and a positive mindset. Those flares do end and there is always light at the end of the tunnel. *Until the next one!
Also, I don’t know how I missed this post when you posted it. I see the timestamp for other comments is late August and I think I was taking a break then. I will do better! Sending spoons and lots of love as always!