Inflammatory Erosive Osteoarthritis

Well,  I've recently been diagnosed having Inflammatory Erosive Osteoarthritis.  I've had pain in my back since a 2001 car accident and another in 2008 where I was hit and my car fliipped.  Escaped serious injury, but was left with neck and back pain.  On and off I've had mysterious pain in shoulders and feet.  Two weeks ago I woke up having intense pain in my fingers, hands, wrists, neck, elbows, shoulders, knees, feet and toes.  Blood tests came back negative for RA and Lupus.  X-rays of feet and hands showed erosive arthritis.  Rheumatologist prescribed sulfasalazine 500mg twice a day and tramadol 50mg twice a day.  I go back in two months to see if the meds are working.  The pain medicine takes the edge off, but I am still constantly in pain 24/7.  I don't know what to expect in the future.  I can't even do my normal exercise routine at the gym.  I'm thinking of trying swimming and water aerobics.  Anyone else here have IEO?  Any advice?  Thanks, Sherry

Hi Sherry,

I'm sorry to hear about your dx. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 2002 and I found the diagnosis and limitations hard to accept. My advice is to give yourself time to process these new changes. It's okay to feel angry or upset or depressed about it - goodness knows, I certainly felt all of that for the first year or so! After that, I started to focus more on getting on with things. A big change I made was breaking my housework up into little 15 minute segments instead of having a marathon. I also changed my exercise routine to include more low-impact activities, like walking or riding the bike instead of jogging. Swimming is also great. It's hard to get used to chronic pain - my best advice is to focus on anything but your aches, since thinking about them makes them worse. Over the years I've devised several good ways to distract myself and it seems to really help.

Regards,
Brandi