Stuart Lidbury

01/09/03 : Stuart Lidbury

My name is Stuart Lidbury. I am a 34 year old married man with two children - Paige who is 11, and Oliver who is eight. I have been in pain since I was 14.

I used to get a lot of pain in my knees after I participated in any sport, especially football. I was a keen footballer, playing for an over 18 team when I was four years too young. Athletics was also one of my great activites. Runing the long distance events, I twice ran five miles in only 25 minutes! Along with the cricket, rugby, and anything else that would provide a competitive edge I was a very fit young man.

But that was about to change. The pain in my knees grew worse and rubbing in 'Deep Heat' no longer did the trick. After a visit to my GP he diagnosed my pain as 'growing pains'. I found it very hard to walk, I even once forgot how to run as I hadn't run for ages. It seemed that the only way I could remain pain-free would be to just sit still all day.

I gave up sport when I was about 18, after trying to hold down a team place became too difficult due to always being side-lined with my knee problems. Over the next couple of years there were more developments. I noticed how my fingers were becoming stiff and quite painful in each joint, they were also swelling up like sausages. Again I visited my GP who suggested that I see a specialist about my pain etc. as he wouldn't be able to give me the expertise required.

My first experience of Harley Street didn't go too well. I was told that my pain was 'strange', and that I should look after myself. I couldn't remember the doctor's name that I saw, my GP recommended another specialist - Dr Anthony Yates. He took one look at my fingers and diagnosed me with PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS. He said that the tell tale signs were that I had 'sausage fingers' and that my fingernails were 'pitted'. Confident of his diagnosis he gave me a prescription of Non-Steriod Anti Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). I took two twice a day for the next couple of years.

At 25 I now had fingers which were a little less swollen, but still very painful. My knees were still painful and after another try at sport, I gave it up. I started to feel very depressed now. I could handle the pain to an extent, after all I was very sporty and had taken my knocks over the years. But this pain was constant. I found it hard to do the simplest of tasks such as opening a new pint of milk or turn on a tap. I felt like a young person in an old person's body it was very scary. The last straw came when my left knee had swollen over night. It was the same thickness as my thigh. My GP recommended that I try another specialist, one who could really help me - Dr Andrew Bamji.

This was the start of what we now call 'a professional relationship'. Dr Bamji aspirated my left knee and after the tenth syringe-full, declared that I should try some stronger pills to stop this inflammation. I have since been on Volterol, Salazapyrin, Diclofenac, and now Methotrexate. I have had steroid injections, and injections into my fingers (which were extremely painful), my right knee has been aspirated about a dozen times (three times over the last year), my left knee aspirated twice this year. My body is tired, overweight, painful and fed up. I also have to have a blood test once a month to check my liver function due to the Methotrexate that I take.

Now at 34, I am feeling much the same. My hips and toes now have the pain, I find it difficult to get out of bed some mornings. I describe it like 'being run over, the second you get up'. I have remarried and am very happy despite my condition. I still see Dr Bamji regularly. I have a three monthly appointment with him, this is apart from the times I see him for the aspirations of course. Regarding the drugs, I am currently only taking Diclofenac to ease my pain as I stopped taking the Methotrexate four months ago as my wife and I would like to start a family this year and I need to be off the Methotrexate for six clear months before we can start.

Today, I feel okay. My fingers are a little sore now I've been typing for half an hour, but to be honest I haven't felt this good in ages. My knees have remained their normal size, I can walk without my toes hurting and I don't limp as my hips feel fine. I have to live with the pain, it won't go away. But when I get a good spell, I make the most of it.

If I could be sure that when my knees swell I don't have to wait for two weeks before they get drained...If I could be sure that when I can't walk I don't have to wait two weeks for a steroid jab...If I could be sure that there would be a sympathetic ear on the end of the phone when I felt down, I would be a lot better off.

Okay I feel fine today, but there's always tomorrow...