Rheumatoid arthritis-mum, type 1 diabetes son.

[munkoo]

Hi, my first ever 'thread'. Pretty major topics. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis just after my son was born. He is now 7. Last summer he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The last 9 months have been pretty tough shall we say. Firstly I wanted to know if anyone else out there developed RA after pregnancy and how they are dealing with it-drugs? Yoga? Homeopathy? Diet? And secondly if anyone has any similar experiences re their children's health? It has been an enormous learning curve recently and still learning.....look forward to responses, thanks

I don't have RA, but I do have a son who has Type 1, diagnosed age 4, now aged 5. We have learnt so much about managing this horrible condition over the year. No family history and no obvious reason as to why he developed the condition. He just did, and I hate that fact every day. I hope your son learns to keep a good control on his levels and i hope you find a way to manage your RA.

Thanks for your reply. Same as you, no history of any diabetes on either side of the family except for an aunt who developed type 2 in old age. Is an extremely challenging condition to manage. We have good days and not so good days. It was the most devastating news we have ever experienced. Fortunately we have an incredibly supportive school, strong network of friends and family (even though they are 50 miles away). I hope you have solid support too, only way to ease the burden. My son is doing well, on the whole, hba1c currently 7.5mmol, down from 8.9, 8 months ago.......and so the constant monitoring continues. Small steady steps, ay by day. Stay strong, doesn't have to be too horrible....x

There is a RA support thread somewhere on here & can I suggest heading over to the Arthritis Care webpage for their discussion forum.
I know nothing about your sons condition sorry, but I developed RA 15 yrs ago after a bout of illness when I was at university. My RA is pretty much controlled by combination drug therapy which gave me my life back. It wasn't clear from your post if you are being treated by drugs with alternative supportive measures or your looking for a drug free alternative. If it's the latter can I suggest a note of caution. RA is a serious auto immune disease and if left uncontrolled by drugs can wreck long term irreversible damage to your body. & can shorten your life. RA drugs are nasty (and scare the hell out of most people) but the disease is nastier, the drugs are the only proven way of controlling this disease. Sorry for preaching if you already know this. I support my drug therapy with Physio & swimming which helps my core strength. I also eat a relatively healthy balanced diet.
I believe that tai chi & yoga can be very good if aimed at the right level for your body but there are no convenient classes round here.

Much appreciated. I have been on methotrexate since September last year, currently taking 25mg-max dose. Took prednisolone steroids for about six months on and off, not needed them since December 2012. Am working part time have 7 year old and 4year old and a very lovely husband. All try to work together and remain a strong and happy family, extremely challenging at times, just take each day as it comes. Will search for RA thread and check out arthritis care webpage. Thanks, good luck. X

I have had diabetes, since aged 1, and over the years there have been some great threads about people who have just found out that their child has been diagnosed as type 1. Have a search and see what you can find. And please ask anything, and I will certainly help, if I can.

Hello munkoo,

Sorry to hear you and your DS have both had a tough time health-wise recently. I have a 15 year old with T1. He was diagnosed aged 5. He also has two other auto-immune conditions.

The Children With Diabetes (CWD) mailing list was a lifeline to me in the early days and months after diagnosis, and I always recommend it on these threads. At least one of the other mothers who posts on there has RA.

Like Oblomov, happy to help if I can.

Sorry, I forgot the link.

CWD

Thanks so much. I have only been posting for about a week it you guys have been so helpful. It's feels great to be heard. I will certainly check out the CWD link, thanks oblomov!