An ‘interesting’ 55th birthday!

Well, it's been over two years since I had a serious flare, which is why I've pretty much abandoned this blog, and I don't suppose anyone is now reading it, but it's a useful diary for me to look back on, so I'll update it! That all changed about three weeks ago, when the minimal …

My personal sleep study results

So … how long have I been saying, ‘I really must post about that sleep study I took part in?’ Well, for over a month, since I got my results back from Katie, who’s running the ‘QUASAR’ study at the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology in Manchester. Oops - bad Penguin! Why QUASAR? A …

RA Blog Week Day 3: Advice

I'm taking a 'wildcard' option today. The topic is 'Biologics' but I'm still on good old methotrexate and likely to remain so unless things get much, much worse, because biologics aren't an option for mild RA in the UK. So there are two wildcard options - depression and advice. I don't suffer from depression although …

RA Blog Week Day 2: Active or Reactive Patient?

Well, what a dismal excuse for a blogging penguin I am! I completely forget that yesterday was day one of RA blog week. I guess this makes me a reactive blogger, or at least definitely not an active one, but now it's day 2 and we're discussing active versus reactive patients. Well, I'd like to …

The 2nd Annual RA Blog Week is on its way

Those of you who know me, either in person or through the blog (or in Carla's case both), will know that the chance of me blogging once a day for a whole week is ... erm, let's be honest ... pretty much nil, and I'm in total awe of those of you who manage to …

Ankles, Knees, Brain and Healthline

First of all thank you to Healthline for selecting my blog as one of the best arthritis blogs of 2016, and congrats to my online (and in Carla's case actually met in person) friends who also achieved one. Good to see so many old friends listed, as well as Carla, Wren,  Cathy, Andrew, Amanda, Kelly and …

Two steps forward, one step back…

Well, yes, the knee flare was completely over ... for a few days. I was just getting back into the swing of things, gradually building back up the length of my lunchtime walks from a few hundred yards to half a mile, to three-quarters of a mile ... thinking I'd soon be back to the …

The frustrations of not having a relationship with your doctor

Thanks to the state of the NHS today (which, if you read this blog often you will know I harp on about endlessly) it is simply not possible to have a relationship with your GP these days (unless you're incredibly lucky or live on some tiny island that actually has its own GP or something!) …

Hospital appointment – only 7 months late

I've just had my April hospital appointment - well, it was supposed to be in April - then they moved it to June .. then they moved it to August ... then they moved it to September ... then they moved it to November... but this time it didn't get cancelled. Right, I thought, I've …

National Arthritis Week – 12-18 October in the UK

It's National Arthritis Week in the UK from 12-18 October and Arthritis Research UK are running a 'story wall' in its honour. My story (in 250 characters, which is a bit mad, but there you go, we're the Twitter generation!) is up there somewhere on the wall - or will be soon. Why not go and put …