No sympathy, please.

[tangentgirl]

Congrats on the Masters in OT. I watched my mom get her bachelors in OT, the year she turned 50, then get the OTR. Talk about intense, yeesh.

My two cents from here...

1. Talk to a mental health professional. Someone on the doctor side of things if you can. You a) just finished up something very stressful and b) the RA is a life-changing diagnosis. Those things on their own are BFDs so together...ya see?

2. In the meantime, give yourself a break, mentally and physically. Working out 5-6 times a week sounds like it's counterproductive for you at the moment. If you are in physical pain and beating yourself up mentally, then what are you getting out of it?

Also, all the stuff KnottedYet just said.

[OakLeaf]

I don't have personal experience with a physical blow like that, but I know from depression - and from what I've seen of other people with traumatic spinal cord injuries, etc., you're the same person you were when you were healthy.

When you were physically healthy, you were already ill-equipped to deal with a serious physical blow, and that hasn't changed. This should be your goal now. It's hard work. Much, much harder than a marathon. Can you find a glimmer of respect for yourself for committing to the work of therapy? The sooner you start, the better.

[NbyNW]

Yes, please talk to a professional about that depression, and perhaps also about figuring out how to adapt.

If you're turning 40 and this is the first time you've had to deal with a major setback, then one way of looking at it is that you're luckier than most. Another way of looking at it is that you don't know how to deal with a major setback at age 40.

I'm not yet 40, but when I was 14 I was going on 40. Age is just a number.

Give yourself a good swift kick in the pants when you're feeling sorry for yourself, and give yourself permission to rest, mentally and physically, when you need to. Rest is an important part of healing and rehab. Active people tend to hate it, but we all know from experience that if you push too soon and too fast you can set yourself back. Again. It's a delicate balancing act.

I'm not very happy with my life right now either, but instead of boring you with the details, I'll tell you that it's an exercise in making lemonade when life gives you lemons. Focus every day on the things that you CAN do, on taking pleasure in whatever it is that makes you happy. Let these changes in your life take you in new directions that you hadn't explored before. Grow.

[kermit]

You will find on this thread we all have similar stories, and as an over 40 gal myself, I am fighting it every step of the way. I believe age is a state of mind, I am now mature enough to be able to take something and make sense of it. I have been knocked down and broken a ton of bones in my younger days and have arthritis myself everywhere. I do what I can for myself...I will never be a Chrissie Wellington but it's the challenge to be the best me I can. You might find that what you did before is not going to make you happy... Evaluate what you want to do for you and DO IT!