Hi,
I've recently been diagnosed with inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis and have been signed off by the G.P as "Not Fit For Work" for four months. I've been put on immune-suppressant drugs to treat my symptoms and I've been told it can take up to four months for them to take effect so I'm having to undergo the stress and uncertainty of just waiting to see if I have a positive outcome.
I won't go into the details of the symptoms. I just wanted to know if anyone has had a similar experience. The reason why I'm asking on this forum is due to a conversation I had with the charity the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society where I spoke with a lovely lady called Debbie who covered a hell of a lot of relevant information over our forty minute phone conversation.
One question I asked was whether or not R.A was hereditary? She answered that if both of your parents had R.A then there was a higher, although not guaranteed, chance that you could develop it. Due to a lack of a hereditary link, and due to my own personal history, I then asked if there was a connection between stress, burnout, and R.A? Her answer was that there was a 99.9% correlation... after which she said make that a 100%... relationship between people who'd undergone massive personal tragedy (bereavement, loss of job, loss of home, divorce etc) and the ones of R.A.
I know that we have to endure many challenges on a daily basis. Anxiety, depressions, non-acceptance, low self esteem etc etc Has anyone else a) developed R.A, and b) think/feel that the onset of their condition was attributable to their emotional state?
God bless (I'm actually an atheist but I do approve of the heartfelt sentiment in that statement)
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