Originally posted by: Grasshopper27
You're lucky HC, most women fight tooth and nail to lose weight, the reverse problem is easier to solve in our McDonalds world (but don't actually eat McDonalds, that food is nasty!
:| STFU - do you know how hard it is to make myself eat, and how closely I watch my weight to make sure I don't lose any more? A woman overweight doesn't have to worry so much about her health. If I do what I'm inclined to do, I'd drop weight in days, very easily. Do you realize how how dangerous that is? I have to constantly monitor what I'm doing and what I'm eating so I don't wind up having to be treated for it. That's a little worse, IMHO, than having to watch what you're eating because you want to improve your figure. So, thank you very much for pushing the cultural standard - I hope you never EVER wind up talking to an anorexic, telling her that she's lucky because she has trouble gaining weight.
Excuse my naviete how does RA affect your ability to eat? It hurts to eat? what other body systems are affected?
Storm, RA is an autoimmune disease. Besides affecting the joints, systemically - so that all joints are vulnerable, it can produce major fatigue, loss of appetite, and other side effects. Those two I have dealt with, the fatigue mostly taken care of by the meds, but I am _never_ hungry, and always have to remind myself to eat, never feel like it, and often a few bites really convinces me I don't want to eat any more than that, and I have to anyway. The meds can produce all sorts of side effects too, none of which I have. The right side of my jaw is also affected by the arthritis, so it can be painful to open my mouth more than a little bit, at times.
Other than that, my hands, knees, feet, and neck are affected by the disease. On a good day, everything works. On a bad day, I limp to classes and come home and sleep. Mostly good days right now, but there is no cure, and the disease is degenerative.