Welcome!

This blog is to show people what it's really like to live with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 18. When I was diagnosed, I searched the web and found very few accounts showing the difficulties of dealing with this disease at such a young age. On top of this, there were NONE that described the college experience living with RA, which has inpired me to start this! I hope my account can provide hope and support to RA fighters of all ages, and especially to those who have just been diagnosed!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Mono.

It has been a while since i've updated this, but I have been quite busy lately!

My freshman year went very well, but I do have one more story that many college students may relate to. Mononucleosis.

At the end of April I woke up one morning with extremely swollen glands in my neck. Worried from the sudden onset, I watched them for the next few days. They did eventually go down, but I began to run a slight fever and was soon overcome with extreme exhaustion. Yep, it was mono. And if anyone has ever had it, you know how tired it can make you feel. This, along with the normal fatigue from RA and the side effects of the methotrexate made it horrible. I would go to bed, wake up for class, come back from class, and go right back to sleep. (Although I normally did this for a power nap after class ). The difference however, was that I would wake up around 4 still sleepy, and would soon feel ready for bed.

After a few days of this, I decided that I needed to go to the doctor again. I was pretty worried that I would catch another illness, considering the medications I am prescribed are immunosuppressants. There we contacted my doctor, and I was ordered to stop all medications for at least two weeks. Having  mono and decreasing my bodies natural defenses would only make the illness last longer.

And dear lord, I really did begin to notice how much I need a treatment. My joints began to stiffen just a few days after stopping, and it made me realize how thankful I am for my treatments and doctor. Without them, I would still be in the pain that I was in highschool. Unable to participate in activities and unhappy with life.

Two weeks went by, and sure enough I was was feeling much better. I was given the okay to start my pills and injections again, and quickly was back to my normal routine :) So just a heads up for anyone who might be questioning if you have an auto-immune disease with mono, it is actually bearable haha. Luckily mine was not a bad case, but it is really important to stop medications. I feel that it really did help, and i'm glad I went to the doctor to find out!



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