Living with chronic illnesses

One thing that really upset me about this path of medication ( methotrexate ) I was about to travel, was that under no circumstances was I allowed to get pregnant while on it. For a lot of people with this condition that would be OK, because some of them are at an age where they have had their children and aren't looking to have any more. That’s fair enough, but for a near 23-year-old who had not long had her first baby, this hurt. For as long as I can remember, a family has been one of my main goals in life. Having children was something I couldn’t wait to do. I felt I was put on this earth to have children and be a mummy. The last thing I expected was for something to come along and stop me from being able to do that. At 22, who would? There were alternative options, of course there always are, however methotrexate seemed to be the most beneficial medication for my health and the way I was feeling at this particular time. I just didn’t want to say no to taking it. It felt like

At the beginning of all of this I remember waking every day with the worst pain and stiffness in my fingers. It took maybe two or three hours for it to get better, but the pain was still there - it just eased a little. I’ve never experienced pain quite like it and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe it to anybody. I often wonder if we all feel the same in regard to the rheumatoid pain, or was it just so bad for me? I do know that as the weeks went by, I started to feel worse, so that some days I couldn’t keep my eyes open because I was so tired. No amount of sleep seemed to help - I just couldn’t catch up (I did also have a new baby so catching up with sleep was never easy, ha!). The days became a gradual procession of pain, so I would wake up and there would be something new that was hurting, and I just didn’t understand why. Some days I needed family members to help me with my new baby while Mike was at work. I mean imagine that - you have a new baby and you can’t even

About me Hey, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Jessica, I’m 25 years old and I have a fiancé (Michael, 26) and two beautiful boys (Harry and Alfie). Harry is two and a half and Alfie is a one year old. It’s mad, I know...hard work but I wouldn’t have it any other way. We live in Derbyshire in our new, recently bought home and are currently doing everything we can to get by in these crazy times! I’m here to write my story about two chronic illnesses, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, both of which I live with daily. This blog is not about me asking for sympathy, but about the harsh reality of living with two medical conditions that are very much life changing. I’m doing this partly for my own mental health, because truth be told I haven't yet come to terms with having these conditions myself, but also because I would like to think that others living with the same or similar illnesses can relate to this and maybe get some kind of clarity that actually no, you are