Deidre’s Personal Story
Deidre’s arthritis story began in 2022 when she began feeling fatigued after a walk. In November, her knees began to give her a lot of pain and she would struggle to walk or stand for very long, until she found it difficult to stand in her kitchen to prepare dinner.
After x-rays confirmed her arthritis, Deidre’s GP advised her to use Panadol for the pain, which wasn’t effective. ‘My husband found The Arthritis Movement’s community health seminar on Google and I discovered your website which has so much information,’ she said. ‘I hobbled into the seminar feeling very sorry for myself and came out saying “I can do this”. I had a complete change of mind,’ she said.
Deidre adopted many of the strategies given by our Health Team. ‘I learned so much about the benefits of exercise and the Mediterranean diet. I’ve been doing your dance classes and strength classes.
‘I’m using hot and cold packs on your advice. They help me get back to sleep when the pain wakes me in the night. The seminar also advised me to lose weight, so I lost five kilos on the Mediterranean diet and intermittent fasting.
‘I’ve noticed a gradual change for the better and stopped taking pain medication. I believe it’s a combination of everything I’m doing. I’m very driven and I’ve put 110% into getting better,’ she said.
‘When I was first diagnosed, we thought we’d have to sell our caravan because my mobility was so bad, just going up and down the caravan steps was challenging,’ Deidre said. ‘But I’m so much better now and feel very confident that I could manage my condition when we next take a holiday.’
Disclaimer
The views and experiences shared in this post are those of the individual and may not reflect the views or experiences of The Arthritis Movement. This is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare team before changing or starting new healthcare management strategies. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this story, no warranties or guarantees are given, nor is any responsibility accepted by the publishers, its agents or anyone else involved in its production for any errors which may occur. Names and images have been changed for privacy.
