Me and AOSD

Approximately 4 years ago I was working in London, and had a sore throat and was noticing some annoying muscle stiffness and pain, I boarded the train to return to Preston and on arrival found I could no longer stand.  By the next morning I was unable to get out of bed due to extreme muscle and joint pain.  The condition was not diagnosed at this time and no treatments were effective, although home care was possible.  After about 6 weeks I was able to return to work.  Very minor reoccurrence of symptoms were noticed occasionally, but they had no affect on my lifecycle or ability to work. 

After about 18 months I had another flare-up, resulting in approximately 4 weeks off work, again with home care being given.  I returned to work however this time I did notice some muscle pain every week or so, however this was never correlated with stress or workload, and had no affect on my lifecycle or ability to work. 

Last year I had a major flare-up, causing almost complete disability, i.e. unable to move unaided, feed myself etc.  I was admitted to hospital for care and whilst there had extensive tests for 2 weeks, no diagnosis was made but my condition stabilised sufficiently to allow me to return home.  Within days the condition flared again and I was re-admitted to hospital for further care.  During this period as a result of records I had kept of his pattern of pain and temperature the diagnosis of Still’s was made with confidence.

A treatment plan was created and within a week I was able to leave hospital and 4 weeks later was able to return to work.

Following my return to work around April last year I have never been free of pain.  I kept daily records of pain and stress levels.  Even whilst continuing to take regular Steroids to suppress the symptoms I had one flare, and since coming off steroids two flares, the last one in January requiring re-establishment of the treatment and two weeks off work.

I approached my company about changing to a less stressful job and working from home, they have agreed in principle, so I am at home right now and decided to start this log.