Taking control of pain

Wendy Favorito, living with arthritis

I see that as the person living with arthritis I have a very big role to play in my medical management as a younger person I was very easy to be guided by the doctors because you know  they're highly esteemed and they're specialists  and experts in that field but certainly as I've got older and my health knowledge has grown  I feel that I'm actually an equal with them in this relationship that it's not them leading  in me following that there were equal partners  in how we best manage my arthritis and I think it's really important for me and I certainly would encourage other people to do  this is to ask questions and not to be shy to challenge what their doctor is telling them or to ask is there an alternative have you got a plan B or can we try something else before we try that and I think people need to know  that it's okay to ask questions and to put suggestions out there whether they're valid  or not but to have a really open discussion  because at the end of the day it's my body or it's the other person's body we need  to feel comfortable with what we're doing. 

Education and self-management 

Wendy Favorito, living with arthritis

I think education in the management of arthritis is critical and I think that that was something that was certainly lacking in my younger years  and an example that always comes to mind for me is that no one ever told me that fatigue was  the feature of my arthritis and I just thought I  was tired because I just didn't have enough get up and go, that I didn't push myself hard enough, that I was being a bit lazy and when I learned  to myself that fatigue was a huge feature of  not only living with arthritis but living with chronic pain it was really liberating I suddenly realized that there was nothing wrong with me I was pushing myself as hard as I could  and then I had to manage that symptom just as I would manage any of my other symptoms so I think education is really important and I understand  that that doctors said both specialists and GP's  are pressed for time when they see their patients  but I think it's incumbent upon them to educate their patients. I think if the doctors can provide the education themselves it stops people from going to the internet and perhaps sourcing inaccurate information I think it’s better to come from a reliable source and I think  that needs to come from the medical providers.