Blog post 3 - Episode 2 - After effects of reactive arthritis
- jeddison54
- Dec 6, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 15, 2022
How did I respond to that bout of reactive arthritis that started my journey?
My immediate response was to reach for the comfort blanket of retreating into myself, isolation, and distancing myself from the world.
As I concluded at the end of the 2nd blog in my series, the initial bout of reactive arthritis hit me with pain, swelling and an immediate impact on my way of life. When faced with such a shock to the system, it is our instinct as humans to respond by going to a place that brings us comfort. For me, I have always been a reserved person, introverted, insular focused and comfortable in my own company.
An example of this is the hours I would spend as a child and teenager working my way through fantasy cricket games, on pretend scorecards. A game my Dad taught me of assigning cricket scoring outcomes to letters of the alphabet and playing a game by using a book or the paper to play out matches. This stayed with me for life and I can instantly recall the scoring system I adopted even now, years later, which is reflective of my ability with numbers. This was a skill that led to me being referred to as Rainman (yes, the film character) during my college A-Level statistics lessons.
Anyway, my reaction to the arthritis was as expected. I firmly reached for that comfort blanket following the initial pain and even after is started to ease off. I shut myself off from the world for weeks, this was not that unusual. I would often do this from time to time, usually during the summer when I could consume the ongoing cricket. A lot of my friendships that had lasted the test of time that is high school, were based around the pub and drinking. Before my arthritis I could be in the pub 4 or 5 nights a week.
Safe to say those long-standing friendships started to break down during those months with reactive arthritis. As part of me distancing myself from the world I did not go to the pub for months. This was in part due to the pain but mainly I just did not have the desire to. It became a very lonely time, not many of my friends reached out. Once I was not in that cycle of nights in the pub, I became the forgotten man.
Tentatively venturing back out into the world, the pub, friends, drinks, socialising but with that feeling I was a different person.
I had spent nearly three months away from the environment that had been a massive part of my life at that time, the local pub. The festive period was coming to an end and one friend, who had continually reached out, convinced me to venture to the local for the New Year celebrations. Although there was still pain and I was not 100% mobile, I decided to give it a go. I remember all the walk being slightly uneasy about it and nervous about how the night would go.
It was a normal night for most of our group and the rest of the pub, but for me it never felt comfortable. I was wary of drinking too much given the medication I had been on and the fact walking was still not easy. Despite that I stayed until after we saw in the new year. My overriding memories are of a real lack of enjoyment. There were many discussions with friends and acquaintances through the night that were very awkward. That awkwardness was as much my unease at being out again and them not really knowing what to say to me. This though basically left me thinking that they did not get what I was going through.
Arthritis and mental health – inextricably linked and influence each other
Reflecting now on this period and the feelings that were present as I struggled with this illness, it was the first signs of how it is clear that physical and mental health are inextricably linked. I really understand that link now but at that time it was not clear, and it was difficult to understand the emotions that I was experiencing.
According to NASS research 59% of those with AS report experiencing mental health problems compared to 25% of those with musculoskeletal conditions overall. This highlights the challenge of managing both your condition and your mental health.
Versus Arthritis have some good tips on managing your condition and mental health, such as:
Talking to someone trusted
Don’t let stress build up
Getting arthritis treatment will help mental well-being
Exercise to release feel good chemicals
Get some sunshine and vitamin D
These are all tips that have become part of my plan for managing my condition. More information can be found here: Versus Arthritis
Emerging from the haze; the pain subsides, life goes on and moving on from reactive arthritis.
My reactive arthritis remained and was treated using medications such as diclofenac and sulfasalazine, basically strong anti-inflammatory drugs. They worked as over time the swelling completely went and the pain disappeared. I remember at this time a few visits to the hospital for ongoing treatment but for me I was just going through the motions, hoping it would get better. I never considered let alone bought into patient led care. My attitude was just make me better!
I returned to normality over the period of months with attending university lectures again. I had a reliance on mum to help by driving me around and making sure I made it to where I needed to be. The easing of the pain enabled me to get back to cricket training in the new year both for club and uni. This gave me hope I could get back to where I was. Early in the new year the pain completely went (for now anyway) and life returned to normal with plenty of nights out back to the local pub routine, coupled with uni nights out.
It felt like the reactive arthritis was gone and I could move on, a relief after a difficult few month that changed my life in ways that at the time I did not realise.
Click here to give to my next walking challenge, a 50km hike around the Lake District to raise funds for NASS.
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