Interview 22  

Interview 22

Age at Interview: 40
Sex: Female
Age at Diagnosis: 2
Background: Unemployed due to redundancy at time of interview but commencing new part time admin assistant job shortly. Single. Shares accommodation with flat mate. Personal assistants paid via direct payment. In receipt of Disability Living Allowance. Member of Arth

Brief outline:Diagnosed 1964 Juvenile Chronic Arthritis. 11 years of steroids limited growth. NSAIDs 'til age 37. Now Methotrexate 10mg/wk + folic acid, daily Prednisolone 5mg, Naproxin 100mg, Niozadadine (anti-ulcer) & iron. 2 hips replaced age 26 & 2 knees, age 30.


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Female
Her doctor advised her to stop drinking alcohol, but this affected her social life.

 



I've had to go back onto the steroids, which I am quite disappointed with and also another stronger drug as well, where they have to monitor my liver, which has stopped me drinking alcohol, which is a damn because I love alcohol so.

Well I did cheat on Saturday night and I was ill all of Sunday. So it does make you, that is probably one of the side-effects is it can make you vomit, which it does, so.

Have you talked to your doctor about an alternative that you can drink alcohol with?

I have done that and she said that the drug that I am taking is the strongest and most effective for the flare ups that I've been having so I've tried that, yes. But I've sort of done, sort of like a lot of psychological, thoughts to myself, like I've been thinking, looking at alcohol and thinking 'do you want that, or do you want to be well?' So I've sort of, sort of looked at it and said, don't, thought I'm not going to let that little bottle of fluid keep you from being well, so I do a lot of that to myself, but every now and then I do think, 'Oh God this is hard' and it has actually altered my social life quite a bit because I try and do other things which doesn't involve going to pubs, because it's very difficult to go to a pub and sit there with all your friends, that you've been drinking with all of your, most of your adult life, watch them all have a few drinks and you can't, you've got to sip water, or drink coffee. And I have found that quite hard, but I tend to take my car and that stops me, if I haven't got my car I do find it difficult to resist, and I have found I'm best having none than just two.

Does two make you sick or?

Yeah but I don't stop at two.

Rheumatoid arthritis
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