My Type of Arthritis Makes Me Vomit

Flu-like symptoms

Inflammation in neck, jaw and tongue

At 3am I was awaken by a mixture of pain and severe nausea.  My mouth was watering as I attempted to prevent myself from vomiting, but due to an inflamed esophogus it made swallowing difficult so I ended up toggling between choking and gagging.  My body was aching in too many places to count, in a way that resembles being beaten or recovering from an accident or injury.  There was no need to take my temperature, the sweat saturating my pillow case was enough proof that my body was in full attack.  The fatigue and stiffness was so extreme that I struggled to get out of bed, and as I did I could feel the saliva accumulating, stinging the sores that align my tongue and the other soft tissue in my mouth.  I did manage to make it to the bathroom in time to relieve the nausea and then return to bed to get some sleep til morning.

Most people who awake in the middle of the night with these symptoms probably think, "I have the flu," and may grab some medicine from the cabinet and consider calling in to work the next morning.  However, I am not dealing with the flu, I'm dealing with a disease. I can't go to the medicine cabinet and find something to make this better.  There is no cold or flu medicine that can ease the symptoms and over-the-counter pain relievers cannot touch this level of inflammation.  I just have to wait out the flare, which could be gone by morning or could last for several days.  If it gets too bad my option would be to visit the ER for pain medication or cortizone injections.  I try to consume peppermint to help with the nausea.

Exhaustion even after rest

This situation happened last night, which instigated this post today.  I want people to know, in the moment, what it feels like to have Rheumatoid Arthritis (or Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Still's Disease or the other Autoimmune Arthritis diseases).  It's been 10 hours since this episode and I have yet to injest anything other than 2 pieces of dry toast and some seltzer water.  I am completely exhausted and winded, yet I haven't done anything past lie in bed or sit on the sofa. I can't quite tell you exactly every place that hurts because Rheumatoid Arthritis is an Autoimmune Arthritis, not a Degenerative Arthritis.  This means it affects not only the joints but also the soft and connective tissues and sometimes organs.  Also, because it's an autoimmune disease, it causes severe muscle weakness, fatigue and fevers and the pain jumps without notice because it is caused by cell interaction, not overuse. 

So how will this affect my day?  My fingers are swollen and so sore some would find it tough to type, but I think I'm so used to it that I just fight through the pain.  Laundry is taken off of the to do list, for even if I could get the loads to the washer, unloading, folding and putting the clothes away wouldn't be possible due to weakness in my wrists, forarms, shoulders and tricep area.  Also, I live alone so there isn't anyone to help get the laundry back up the stairs. After the nausea subsides I need to make lunch, which will be dependant on what I can physically make and what isn't too acidic as to agitate the soft tissue flare in my mouth.  Later this afternoon I will likely need to nap, which I detest.  I have always felt naps were a waste of time, however, my body will soon shut down and I will be left without a choice.  Those without Autoimmune Arthritis may find this rescheduling and reworking daily tasks frustrating, but for me it's become a way of life. 

The type of arthritis I have is Autoimmune Arthritis.  It causes me to rearrange my day, at any given time, due to fatigue, fevers, exhaustion, joint pain and muscle weakness.  It causes sores and inflammation in my soft tissue, particularly on my tongue; when my jaw joint flares at the same time I may go a whole day on a liquid diet because it's twice as hard to open my mouth or to chew food.  It wakes me up in the middle of the night and makes me vomit.

All arthritis isn't the same.  If you have any type of arthritis, before you say "I have that too" to another patient, know what type you have and what type they have...because if your arthritis doesn't make you vomit, or at least cause nausea or flu-like symptoms, it may not be the same type of arthritis.


This post is based on personal experience and is not resourced to facts from any other source. 
Learn more about differentiating your arthritis at www.IAAMovement.org.

Let's Tip the Scale to Better Understand Arthritis Types

For years we've seen this statement: "The most common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)." Arthritis, defined, means joint inflammation.  So in essence this sentence reads, "The most common types of joint inflammation are Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)."  There are two major issues with this statement.

First, this statement suggests that both OA and RA only involve joint inflammation.  While this is true of OA, it is not true for RA:
 

Osteoarthritis (OA)

• Limited to joint involvement primarily in the weight bearing joints
• It is caused by degeneration due to age, wear and tear, injury or excessive weight, that leads to cartilage damage
• It is treated primarily with over-the-counter medications, diet and exercise
• Advanced cases lead to complete wearing away of cartilage, causing disability and, at times, joint replacement surgery

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

• Can involve any joint in the body, as well as connective and soft tissues and sometimes organs
• In addition to the physical pain, patients also experience fevers, severe fatigue and flu like symptoms
• It is an autoimmune disease caused by cell malfunction that causes major inflammation that damages joints, tissues and organs.  It is not limited to cartilage.
• It is treated primarily with anti-inflammatory medications, mild chemotherapy drugs and biologic injections or infusions
• Advanced cases lead to inflammation damage to the joints, connective and soft tissues and organs, causing disability and, at times, joint replacement surgery as well as eye, skin, lung and heart issues (although any part of the body can be affected).

So yes, it is true that Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis are the most common types of arthritis (joint inflammation), however, grouping them into the same sentence without explaining that one stops at arthritis (joint inflammation) and one is arthritis plus an autoimmune disease merely skews the interpretation of what RA truly encompasses.


The second issue with this statement is that Osteoarthritis affects 50% of the population. Rheumatoid Arthritis affects 3% of the population.  With a 47% margin in "common types" should these two arthritis types really be grouped together in the same sentence without differentiating them?  Without any type of separation the 1 out of 2 people who have Osteoarthritis are bound to assume that the other most common type of arthritis is much like what they are experiencing.

Here's a thought... why not group Rheumatoid Arthritis with the other diseases that are most closely related to this condition?  RA is a joint and connective tissue disease.  There are a handful of autoimmune diseases that are also both joint and connective tissue diseases, hence the term "autoimmune arthritis".  They are: Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE), Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), Still's Disease (SD), Primary Sjogren's Syndrome (SS) and Juvenile Arthritis (JA).  While SLE also affects approximately 3% of the population and PsA affects 2%, the rest combined adds millions of people to the weight of the scale. 

 

Also, in addition to the Autoimmune Arthritis diseases mentioned above, there are two other conditions that fit this category:  Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease/Undifferentiated Spondyloarthropathy (UCTD/USpA) and Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD).  Undifferentiated disease means the patient is exhibiting symptoms of Autoimmune Arthritis but the symptoms are not clear enough for an exact diagnosis.  Mixed Connective Tissue Disease is where the patient exhibits 3 very specific diseases at the same time, often called "overlap disease", and is most commonly a combination of Lupus, Scleroderma (a primary Connective Tissue Disease) and Polymyositis (primarily a Muscle Disease).  They are still primarily joint diseases so they too are classified under the Autoimmune Arthritis category.

 

So now RA doesn't have to stand alone on the scale.  If you combine all of the Autoimmune Arthritis diseases they make up for approximately 10% of the population.  Now we're getting somewhere.

 

So let's change the statement "The two most common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis" to explain actual types, thus making the scale of awareness a little more even:

"The two most common types of arthritis are Degenerative Arthritis and Autoimmune Arthritis".

 

Now that seems much more accurate and understandable than "The most common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis."

50% to 3% isn't a fair assessment of "most common".  50% to 10%, now that certainly tips the scale towards better awareness.  While the weight of 50% is still much heavier than 10%, we still have to factor in how loud that 10% of misunderstood voices can be... now THAT is what will bring balance to the scale.

If you define and differentiate 'arthritis' people will understand.  You can help bring awareness to arthritis, just start using the politically correct language and it will happen.  Let's work together to tip the scale!


Resources:
www.IAAMovement.org
www.psoriasis.org
www.stillsdisease.org
www.rheumatology.org
www.lupus.org