“我仍然是我，患有类风湿关节炎并没有改变这一点。”

34岁的Ananthi担任科学家，并于2020年6月被诊断出患有血清阳性rheumatoid arthritis（RA）。

She tells us how she’s learnt to adapt to the unpredictable nature of her RA and the importance of making the most of every good day.

“我注意到2020年1月底的症状。”

At first, I had a bit of pain in my knees and feet. As these coincided with my gym classes, I thought I was just overdoing it.

Then one of my shoulders went and I had severe pain. I couldn’t lift my arm up. Then as quickly as the pain came, it disappeared.

A day or two later it went to the other shoulder and a similar thing happened with my wrists. I also noticed my fingers were starting to resemble sausages.

“I made an appointment with my GP and had a blood test in March.”

看到GP后，我的血液检查结果对类风湿因子呈阳性，我预计会诊断出类风湿关节炎。

但是，我们都知道第一个锁定发生在2020年3月底！我的医院预约被推迟了，我被留给了自己的设备。

As I’m allergic to ibuprofen, a lot of the anti-inflammatory pain meds are not suitable for me and I didn’t want stronger pain meds, so this left me with limited pain-relief options.

“In the months I was waiting for my appointment, the pain quickly went from 0-100.“

During this time, it would take me about half an hour to physically be able to get out of bed in the morning.

I had to take paracetamol, wait an hour for it to kick in, so my hands were ok enough to make breakfast. I’m talking putting cereal in a bowl and adding milk, nothing fancy.

I was struggling to walk, and I was scared to drive as I didn’t trust my control of the pedals, and I was unable to grip the steering wheel.

“我曾经喜欢体育课，主要是Zumba和Les Mills BodyCombat。”

在大流行期间，第一个锁定不仅是健身房的关闭，而且我实际上无能为力。

我正在努力走路，更不用说更活跃了，然后我找到了一个Instagram帐户，他们展示了椅子瑜伽。我开始做slowest stretches每天几次。那是痛苦的，但我觉得我在做某事。

I also altered my饮食quite a bit. I now mainly eat fish (salmon) with a plant-based diet. Occasionally, I treat myself to chicken and lamb.

我确实有一个荒谬的爱吃甜食，这并没有太大变化！

“我终于在2020年6月底在医院被发现。”

At my appointment, I was told that I displayed the typical rheumatoid arthritis symptoms: the swelling, the pain in the joints, the symmetry of the disease.

我得到了短暂的路线类固醇和甲氨蝶呤作为我的长期药物治疗。类固醇踢的almost immediately, it felt great to be a functional human again.

When I say functional, I mean getting out of bed and dressed in the morning wasn’t agonizing any more.

I also started taking methotrexate which I was a bit nervous about at first. Mainly because I knew this was a low dose chemotherapy. I previously had ovarian cancer and managed to bypass chemo back then, but this is another story.

At first, I had side effects, nausea, a bubbly tummy and a headache for a day or two but these have settled, and I’ve been mainly ok with methotrexate.

“After I started my medication, I was able to do more walks especially during the summer and early autumn.”

I’ve carried on with 20 minutes yoga stretching every morning and now I don’t need the chair.

我做阻力乐队的工作以加强我的关节，也开始将有氧运动引入我的政权中。虽然，因为我的脚关节开始抱怨，我无法像以前那样发挥高影响力。

考虑到我去年四月 /五月无法走路，我对自己能做的事情感到非常高兴和感激。

“I have chosen not to tell many people about my diagnosis.”

Only a couple of people in my family know about my arthritis and my closest friends. I find it a lot easier this way.

对于我选择说的人来说，他们的态度并没有改变我，但我也确保我的诊断不能定义我。

我仍然是我，患有类风湿关节炎并没有改变。

我的妈妈一直是我的支持和动力的主要来源。她花了数小时研究关节炎，并且几乎成为该主题的专家。

I also started a dedicated profile onInstagram. I’ve never met such a supportive group of people; everyone is so willing to share their experiences and offer support.

As much as you have the support of family and friends which you certainly cannot do without, there’s something special about receiving support from strangers within this community who quickly become friends and knowing you are all sharing something in common.

我对关节炎的人的建议是：

• Take a day at a time and do the best you can for each day.
• Be patient with yourself and allow yourself to have those restful evenings, or even whole days if needed.
• Remember, rheumatoid arthritis is not a textbook condition, it’s different for every person.
• No one knows your body better than you, spot those trends and point them out to your doctors.
• 压力在RA症状中起着巨大的作用。尝试确定什么造成压力，并在可能的情况下，消除或减少这些区域。
• Be kind to yourself, especially on the tougher days.

每当您需要我们时，我们都在这里。

• If you would like to talk to someone, you can call our freehelpline在0800 5200 520
• Chat to our Arthritis Virtual Assistant
• Join ouronline community
• Stay in touch and follow us on推特,Facebook和Instagram