staying at work

hi. i work with the same condition. its very difficult at times when i have a flare up. if you can get the occupational health to see you and they will support you at work

Yeah, get Occ Health involved. They can make changes to your work area/equipment to make you more comfortable.Explain your condition to your line manager and colleagues, so they don't get all huffy if they think you';re getting special treatment. My employers let me take a laptop home and work from there 2 days a week. You can also access funds to pay for you to travel to/from work - I used it to get cabs instead of use the bus. Having said all that, I took voluntary on ill health grounds earlier this year, but I am a lot older than you, and the arthritis has left me unable to do any heavy duty typing. As a secretary, that was leaving me basically unable to do my job. I'm on Methotrexane now, and if it helps, will be trying to get some retraining.

my work place doesn't seem to care think im taking the micky its my feet I do find so hard to stand all the time with pain and breaks in skin I cry most days before I go wish they would only understand

I have recently been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. I found working, which involves long hours on my feet, excruciating. I am taking steroids for six weeks and then will need to progress to methatrexate and another drug. I am not looking forward to this. I believe it is a very strong drug. I wish I could find another alternative form of relief. Work are ok, but I have had a lot of time off and never know when I am going to have a flare. It affects my feet and hands and wrists. As someone who has been a chef for years, I have been very badly affected by this.

I have recently been diagnosed with psoriasis arthritis and am waiting to start treatment! I have had aches and pains for years with no diagnosis then July last year my knee became fixed and I now have a fixed deformity of my left leg so find it difficult to get comfortable and walk. I was off sick for 4 months last year as was in so much pain originally sent to orthopedics as they thought I had torn a cartilage. My work were good in January they let me come back to work full time working at home with a laptop which I have been doing at home ok now for 7 months making sure I breaks etc. Now I have been diagnoses they have referred to occupational health who I can saying I should be working part time at home with a look to start treatment and hopefully return to work when I am more mobile. My argument is I don't want to cut my hours at home as I am working perfectly ok and work have given me the laptop to make this possible...Can they go back on the original agreement? I know working at home is not a long term thing with my company.

I've worked throughout my diagnosis and treatment, that started four years ago. Initially I just went to work and then slept or rested when at home to get through, which was not great but I didn't want to stop working as I felt if I stopped working I'd never go back. Fatigue is the thing that catches me out as you can't always plan what will tire you. Stress causes fatigue too, so currently on a flare up as my father dies last month and I'm having to drive much more. As much rest as you can fit in helps but keep mobile. My ankles, knees and wrists are affected as well as the constant fatigue. Although the medication has helped with joint pain, I found NHS physio was key to get me moving. Work then had a gym, so there was access to a physio through that. When I moved I found the council gym had 'rehab' support I could access by a referral from my GP. Over time gentle exercise helped to build up muscles to support the joints better and helped me get even more active.T his gave me confidence to back into a public gym on my own eventually. Over time, I still have good and bad days but much better than not moving about. Hot baths really help me to relax the muscles, as I feel most of my pain was from weak muscles. Joints didn't swell as much once moving. It feels counter-intuitive to do this as I was told to use cold compresses on joints. I asked my GP about fatigue and a blood test showed I was Vit D deficient. This improved a lot after supplements but still a feature. These are some of the support methods I built in at work which may help or not: 1) Spoke to occupational health initially, who allowed me to have an on-site disabled pass (on a short-time review) so I could park near the building where i worked (I worked for a University) When I moved and then travelled by train, I was able to use local buses at each end to reduce walking. I later moved jobs and made sure I found links for busses that avoided walking when I felt tired but had options to walk when I felt able. 2) I made sure I allowed extra time to get to meetings and used a stick to walk around. This supported me better, to keep my posture balanced but was also a visual reminder to people that although I 'looked' okay, I wasn't! After the gym sessions, I was able to stop using a stick but do use it, if I have a lot of walking to do, or need to make a point!! 3) I made sure I had regular breaks or stretches at my desk (the software workrave.org is good to help) and took a proper rest at lunch time. 4) At times I put a box under my desk, so I could elevate my legs and reduce the swelling in my ankles - this helped quite a bit. I also bought an hand exerciser to keep my fingers mobile. If you have regular meetings with your manager, it's good to find a way to explain to them that you are working hard at keeping active, then hopefully they will be supportive when you need it. My new job has a rubbish Occupational health so I now have to manage my own time and recognise sometimes I'm tired and need to do less. the choice is doing less at work or doing less at home. I don't have children and a very supportive husband. He was also a student for 3 years of this, so I was the only earning, so had to keep going at work.

Thank you for the response...I have been trying to continue to swim as much as I can and also walk in the water. I find walking hard work at the moment because of the swelling in my leg and also driving is difficult. I agree about working I don't want to cut my hours and working makes me focus on something I am only 34 so don't want to give up work but occupational health are saying I should be working less until I start my treatment. which I don't want to do. Physio was stopped as they said my knee was too swollen and wanted me to wait till I had a diagnosis so not j have physio again on Thursday this week. Just really want to start my medication hoping for some slight relief from that.

Hi all, Well I've had psoriatic arthritis a long time and have had very long periods off being unable to work due to the pain and stiffness in my joints, trust me i know what its like to keep on struggling in work and not wanting to give in and either stop working or reduce hours, in my case i had no choice because the job i had and trained very hard and was good at was a chef, which meant very long hours on my feet and after each shift i could barely walk and my ankles and knees were very swollen. In the end i was forced to stop,because the biological treatment that had been working so well suddenly stoped working! I have had periods of being down and not having any hope but i got through those tough times,maybe im lucky that im mentally strong but my body isn't lol i am thankful that i am able to work part time now but its still tough and a daily struggle and recently had x rays on my hips and i was shocked at how much damage has been caused by the condition. It looks like i will have to have both hips replaced soon and my right ankle will not straighted now so looks like will have to have some sort of surgery maybe fused straight? Its so heartening that were not alone with this condition and forums like this are around to help and give support 😀 Karl.

It is so nice to hear other people's experience with the problem I have also in October be diagnosed with CLL which now thwy are saying is feeding my arthritis so I have cut my hours for the time being and only working part time. Started my sulfazalzine tablet and a month prescription of steroids but nothing seems to take away the pain