Originally Posted by
Crochetlady
I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at the age of 20. At that time they didn`t treat arthritis as aggressively as they do now, so I was on massive doses of aspirin for many years. By the time they gave me stronger meds, the joint damage was done. I found one way to cope with constant excrutiating pain was to close my eyes and visualize a tranquil scene. (my favourite is the mountains) Imagine you are there, feel the gentle breeze, smell the wildflowers. Whatever works for you. It helped me to relax, which in turn helps the pain. These days I don`t have to use that much as the joints in my fingers, toes and wrists are mostly fused so I don`t have as much pain anymore. Also it`s controlled much better with the new (very expensive) drugs that are available.
As you said Skippy, there are always people that are worse off than we are and it helps to remind us to be thankful for the good days we have. I hope we all have a good one today.