RECENT news that Lady Gaga had to cancel her European tour because of chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia has highlighted this much unknown area of autoimmune disease.
Ambassador for Arthritis Ireland, Limerick woman Andrea O’Rourke Mc Mahon, knows all about the life altering changes that living with an Autoimmune Disease brings.
Andrea, originally diagnosed with Rheumatoid Disease in 2010 has Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.
“When first diagnosed I was told that I had a serious progressive autoimmune disease for which there is no cure. I couldn’t believe it. Rheumatoid and Fibromyalgia can flare up due to either physical or emotional stress to the body.
“A chronic illness is a lifelong condition that you have to learn to live with. As a busy, working mum of two, this was like a physical kick to the stomach, a life changing experience,” said Andrea.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), is an autoimmune disease which occurs when the body treats its own organs, joints and tissue as the enemy, and attacks them resulting in a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects the joints, but also a wide variety of internal systems such as heart, lungs, blood vessels, skin and eyes.
Fibromyalgia affects the nervous system by sending messages of pain to the brain. Some of the symptoms are chronic muscle pain, chronic fatigue, inflamation, and painful trigger points situated all over the body.
After about a month of blood tests, x-rays, scans and visits to her GP and Rheumatologist Dr Mary Grey and Dr Ronan Kavanagh in the Galway Clinic, Andrea received her diagnosis.
“It has taken me years of trial and error with medications to find a balance that slows down the progression of the disease, but also allows me to have some quality of life. Usually people don’t understand that you’re really ill because it’s an invisible illness, people find it hard to comprehend.
“When you are so sick that you can’t partake in everyday life, relationships suffer, you realise who the genuine people are in your life. You realise that you need to grieve for the life that you thought you would have, but then pick yourself up and start to live again, which I have.”
Initially Andrea was given medication to help to slow down the progression of the disease but the side effects were severe, which made day to day life difficult. At this stage Andrea was no longer able to work and suffered periods of intense pain, chronic fatigue, anger, frustration, and depression.
“I realised that nobody was going to help me unless I took control and learned to manage to live a better life myself.”
Andrea signed up for a Living Well with Arthritis course, given by Arthritis Ireland.
“The benefits from this course were immense. I met people who were struggling to come to terms with their diagnosis, just like me. I learned about the vicious cycle of pain, depression and fatigue and how to break that cycle using distraction techniques, breathing, diet and exercise.
“Being a positive person, I trained myself to see the positive in every day, spent time with positive people and became grateful for the little things. I had the time to commit to slowly making myself as healthy and fit as I possibly could to fight the hand I had being dealt and learn to embrace my new life,” Andrea added.
Founded in 1981 Arthritis Ireland provides support to people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (MSDs) and related conditions. They fund pioneering research to increase the knowledge base and use that knowledge to transform the lives of people living with the disease, and they support the education of healthcare professionals and provide information to people who are living with arthritis, as well as their families and carers.
“Thanks to Arthritis Ireland and Professor Gerry Wilson and his team in Trinity College, Dublin, huge progress has been made, he continues his research into the Genetic origins of RA with the aim of making a permanent change for people with living with Arthritis.”
Having received so much help and support from Arthritis Ireland, and encouraged and supported by her family, Andrea decided to become a volunteer and subsequently an ambassador, with Arthritis Ireland. So far, she has given talks and presentations in Limerick, Clare, Galway and Tipperary.
“It validates me and is a great distraction from my own pain, and it gives me such a buzz when I know that something someone has learned will help them to live a better life. It’s a constant learning curve and I’m meeting some amazing people along the way,” she said.
Andrea has taken courses in counselling and psychotherapy, mindfulness, living well with a chronic illness leadership course, and energy therapy, all of which she finds helps her and thereby she can help others deal with the emotional and physical side of having both RA and Fibromyalgia.
As well as having had many years experience in public speaking, Andrea feels that living with these diseases makes her an empathetic listener, as she knows how it feels and can relate to the people she meets.
Andrea also hopes to raise awareness that Rheumatoid is not just an older person’s disease, it also affects children and women in the age bracket of 35-55 years of age as well as the older generation.
Andrea recommends that people with these illnesses take part in the arts in some form. She sings as a as a soloist every Sunday at St. Marys Church and finds that it helps to raise her spirit and that singing is a great distraction to help alleviate her physical pain.
Arthritis Ireland Ambassador talks take place throughout the year, and the Living Well with Chronic Illness courses are run in the spring and the autumn.
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