{"id":151880,"date":"2022-11-22T12:05:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T06:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/i-thought-i-had-pins-and-needles-but-i-was-terrified-to-learn-my-bones-could-turn-to-dust\/"},"modified":"2022-11-22T12:06:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T06:36:19","slug":"i-thought-i-had-pins-in-my-fingers-but-it-was-terrifying-to-discover-that-my-bones-could-become-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/i-thought-i-had-pins-in-my-fingers-but-it-was-terrifying-to-discover-that-my-bones-could-become-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"I thought I had pins in my fingers – but it was terrifying to discover that my bones could become dust."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Elle Wilson woke up one morning with pins and needles in her hand.<\/p>\n

Elle was only able to feel the pain for a short time, then it disappeared. Elle, now 24, began to worry about her fingers turning red and swelling up, which caused her pain.<\/p>\n

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\"Elle<\/a><\/p>\n

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Elle Wilson, 24 years old, was unable to stand up for everyday tasks due to pain in her wrists, hands and feet.<\/span>Credit: Elle Wilson\/Make The Headlines<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Elle<\/a><\/p>\n

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Elle was diagnosed as having seropositive arthritis rheumatoid. She was concerned that her bones could become brittle.<\/span>Credit: Elle Wilson\/Make The Headlines<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pain began to spread into her wrists, feet, and it lasted for a few months before becoming more severe. She said: \u201cThe pain became debilitating. <\/p>\n

“I couldn\u2019t do normal things around the house – and I even had to get my boyfriend Adam to help me in the bathroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was having trouble putting her coat on and getting toothpaste in her mouth. <\/strong>RA (seropositive rheumatoid) was actually crippling.<\/p>\n

Elle said: \u201cWhen I was first diagnosed, I felt my whole world crumble.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was riddled with anxiety and I feared for the future while experiencing the most unexplainable pain, so much so I couldn\u2019t even lift my arms up or get out of bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seropositive RA is a condition Elle, now 27, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, hadn\u2019t even considered due to her age.<\/p>\n

When the pain became too severe and started affecting her ability walk and talk, she put off going to her GP until 2020.<\/p>\n

Now she is raising awareness of the condition, which affects as many as eight in 100,000 people aged 18 to 34, as she doesn\u2019t want others to suffer for as long as she did.<\/p>\n

Elle said: \u201cAn immune system protects the body against viruses but for me and people with rheumatoid arthritis, our immune systems go into overdrive and it attacks itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedication needs to be aggressive and if you don’t have any treatment, it gets to the point where all your joints seize and are not able to work anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wasn’t on medication and I kept letting it attack, it would eventually turn my bones to dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was completely scared to learn all of this because although I had loads of support around me from my loved ones, I felt like I was on my own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was diagnosed, my rheumatologist gave me a website to look at but it only had elderly people on it and I was 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m usually a private person, but once this happened, I decided to open up and have found comfort in the online community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a bond and a connection with others going through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve met so many amazing people and I’ve had people reaching out to me to thank me for helping them. “Now, I feel confident in my ability to fight arthritis.”<\/p>\n

Elle felt the first pain in her fingers when she was in December 2019. It would subside after a few hours so she didn’t think much about it.<\/p>\n

Elle became increasingly ill over the following months and was unable leave the house. This seriously affected her mental state.<\/p>\n

Elle thought that her fingers would swell up to twice their normal size, and that her wrists would hurt. Elle believed it was due to injury or sleeping in a strange position.<\/p>\n

BARELY STAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elle then struggled to do daily tasks like lifting a kettle in January 2020. Elle knew she had to see her GP for help.<\/p>\n

Her job was in a nursery, but she was having trouble with her daily tasks because everything was so painful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elle said: \u201cI was in tears and I said to my mum, if there was no cure I wouldn’t want to live because it was no life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt put everything into perspective and I really thought about what I wanted, but I also feared for my future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a phone call with my GP in March as it was lockdown. He suggested that it might be inflammatory arthritis and sent me to have a blood test.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctors knew something wasn\u2019t right as my inflammatory markers were off and my rheumatoid was high.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was transferred to the rheumatologist at the hospital and waited for my appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Elle\u2019s condition took a drastic turn. She became so unwell she couldn\u2019t walk, and struggled to talk due to the pain in her jaw – she used a crutch as a walking stick as she could barely stand.<\/p>\n

She woke up paralysed on her right side the day before she was due to visit the rheumatologist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was worried about her arm, which was dead, and that something was wrong with her brain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Arthritis: Signs & Symptoms<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Rheumatoidarthritis mainly affects the joints. <\/p>\n

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According to the NHS it can cause damage in any joint, but the smaller joints in the hands or feet are most commonly the first to be affected.<\/p>\n

Signs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pain – A throbbing, aching sensation in the joints. It can be worse in the mornings, and after inactivity.<\/p>\n

Stiffness: If your hands become stiff, it is possible to not bend your fingers completely or form a fist. <\/p>\n

Redness, swelling and warmth – the joints can become tender and hot to the touch.<\/p>\n

It is possible to also experience: <\/p>\n