0:04 It's kind of wake up on the day and see
0:07 how it is.
0:08 My friend quite literally talked me off
0:10 a bridge when I was suicidal.
0:12 She saved my life and I particularly
0:16 don't like to feel seen cuz my hair's
0:19 falling out cuz of the medication. I
0:21 don't know what to do.
0:23 [Applause]
0:24 [Music]
0:25 [Applause]
0:30 Being a young person with arthritis is
0:32 definitely a bit of a complex challenge
0:34 in that there's a lot of unknowns about
0:37 it and misconceptions. People think it's
0:39 just for old people. Um, and that is one
0:42 of the most frustrating things that we
0:44 get thrown most of the time. I think you
0:45 guys will agree.
0:46 Getting told you're faking it.
0:48 Yeah. Yeah.
0:48 You got a limp or you use crutches or a
0:50 wheelchair. It's always you don't need
0:52 that.
0:52 Yeah. Or it's like, oh, you're okay
0:53 yesterday and now now you're not. What's
0:56 going on?
0:56 Perhaps just lazy actually.
0:58 You don't want to do the sport.
1:00 You're doing it for attention.
1:01 Yeah.
1:02 It's always my man has it.
1:03 Yeah.
1:03 It's always like every time. Come up
1:06 with something more creative.
1:07 I was diagnosed when I was 11, but it
1:10 took me about 5 years to get to that
1:13 point.
1:14 I was diagnosed at three. I first
1:17 started showing symptoms at two. The
1:19 condition to me can feel so allconsuming
1:23 at times that it's not really one
1:26 feeling. It's just everything all at
1:29 once. Like you can't think through it,
1:31 but
1:33 the pain is like a burning and an aching
1:37 and then it's just multiplied when you
1:38 have it in lots of different places. You
1:41 can't think through it and then the
1:43 fatigue is just just knocks you all of a
1:46 sudden like a wave. I think the impact
1:50 that having arthritis has on the
1:51 dayto-day are like the little things
1:53 that you don't normally think about or
1:56 you don't have to account for like
1:57 giving yourself an extra like half hour
1:59 to an hour in the morning to defrost and
2:01 like get your body ready for just to
2:04 walk.
2:04 Think like brushing your teeth or like
2:07 even having the energy to go to brush
2:10 your teeth.
2:10 I've been on a lot of different
2:12 treatments and medications to try and
2:14 manage. Most of which didn't work. some
2:17 of which sent me into anaphilaxis. The
2:20 medication on now really does work for
2:22 me. It's made a huge difference. I've
2:26 had issues with needleophobia. It's not
2:29 really a side effect, but it's one that
2:30 I've that is because of my arthritis and
2:34 my medications. I ended up being in so
2:36 much pain from them that I was terrified
2:38 at the thought of having more needles.
2:40 There was a lot of jargon and the
2:44 consultant was mainly just talking to my
2:46 mom um and not bringing me in on the
2:49 conversation at all. And I wasn't stupid
2:51 at 11 years old. Like he was kind of
2:53 talking as if I wasn't there at points
2:54 and it was very frustrating.
2:56 And then they found new medication which
2:58 I'm on now but then I've had side
3:00 effects of that and it's caused now
3:03 seratic arthritis. They're putting me on
3:05 adult medication now. It's finding the
3:07 right ones because obviously in an adult
3:09 clinic they no longer prescribe you
3:11 children's medication. So it's kind of
3:14 what do I do now? So a lot of the time
3:17 the like mental health side of it is as
3:20 hard to deal with as like the physical
3:23 side.
3:23 Yeah.
3:24 I didn't know about the charities for
3:26 quite a while and I think I felt quite
3:29 alone in that
3:32 reach.
3:33 Not having a lot.
3:34 Yeah. cuz it's quite like a vulnerable
3:36 thing as well. Like it's quite personal
3:38 and then to have this network that you
3:40 can tap into like versus arthritis is
3:42 really beneficial cuz yeah when I was
3:44 younger and I got diagnosed I felt like
3:46 the only person on the planet that had
3:48 it and it was so isolating. Life's
3:50 changed loads for me since I've got on
3:53 medication I guess like from being
3:55 completely immobile to now being fully
3:57 mobile is like yeah it couldn't be more
3:59 different. So in that sense, yeah, it's
4:01 given me my freedom back, I guess, which
4:03 I'm so grateful for.
4:05 Like being diagnosed so young, I never
4:08 was able to go and play with my friends
4:09 or run around the park with them.
4:11 Whereas now being on medication and it's
4:13 it's like helping with it. I'm able to
4:15 do that again. And I think that just
4:17 like helps me mentally as well, knowing
4:19 that I am still able to do that.
4:21 I'm just proud I got all my
4:22 qualifications to be honest.
4:24 I was having such a bad flare and I
4:27 still got four A levels. So
4:29 yeah, nice for A levels, girl. Get you
4:32 smarty pants.
4:33 Okay, I have a big one. I walked down
4:34 the aisle.
4:35 Huge.
4:36 Yeah, that is huge.
4:39 It took like 2 years of practice and I
4:41 had crutches and lifting equipment and
4:42 my parents walking behind me just in
4:44 case, but I spent I wouldn't have been
4:47 able to do that without my medication.
4:49 Well done.
4:49 Well done.