When you are first diagnosed with arthritis, you have a lot to learn. You will need to learn basic facts about arthritis. You will need to know what to expect after diagnosis and what to expect from your arthritis treatment. Some of the things you will need to know can be found by combing through quality sources of arthritis information, such as books and websites, or by talking to your doctor. Other things will come from experience.
Some aspects of arthritis will be more difficult to understand than others. I have found that the most difficult aspect of arthritis to understand and to explain is the variability of arthritis pain. It is not only true for newly-diagnosed arthritis patients. People who have lived with arthritis for many years can attest to how difficult it is to adjust to short-term, intense fluctuations of arthritis pain, especially because you can't anticipate when the fluctuations will occur. The pain variation can be very disruptive and intrusive. There will be times you just want to scream! What steps can you take to help you accept what is just part of having arthritis? Learn more in Variability of Arthritis Pain.
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