Looking for local arthritis support group

General
1

I live in the Washington, DC metro area and have not been able to find a local arthritis face-to-face support group.

I sent an e-mail to the arthrtis foundation a over a week ago asking for help and they haven't responded.

Any thoughts and ideas on how to find a support group is very much appreciated.

Frances

2

I wish you luck with this Frances. I've looked to see if there is anything in my area, outside of NYC. The only thing I've seen is in NYC. I'm looking for ideas as well.

3

Hi Stoney,

I'm going to pursue this search for face-to-face support groups and will keep you posted. Meanwhile, I did find a mentor program for PsA at the National Psoriasis Foundation site:

http://www.psoriasis.org/newly-diagnosed/one-to-one/mentors

4

Check meetup.com

Meetup is super active in the Seattle area, with groups for everything (game night, unicycling, etc) but also have chronic pain support groups, various disease support groups, etc. That's how I found my local autoimmune disease support group.

5

I belong to several meetup groups and there are no arthritis or related meetup groups within 100 miles of me.

6

You might want to start one...My friend started the meetup group last year and within 6 months we had almost 80 members. And ours is just for the Eastside (about 20 minutes east of Seattle is a 2nd huge grouping of cities). Meetup can be expensive, but you can require members to pay dues to make up the cost. If you decide to start one, I'd be happy to share what worked for our group. The great thing about being the owner of your own group is that you get to choose how YOU would like to get support and set up times and places that work for YOU.

Frances said:

I belong to several meetup groups and there are no arthritis or related meetup groups within 100 miles of me.

7

Thanks Marietta. I did think of starting one, but in crisis mode right now with my PsA not responding to treatment and I'm in chronic pain. (diagnosed months ago and have gotten progressively worse) Missed work last week, unable to go out socially and barely get my basic daily needs met.

So, I would like to start a group when I'm better.

thanks for all your suggestions - much appreciated.

Frances

8

I understand. My disease is only about 25% under control right now, and I can't imagine trying to work at the same time. It's REALLY HARD to even meet my most basic needs when in this state.

I met one of my closest friends last year when she started the Meetup autoimmune disease support group. I never wanted to start a Meetup group myself, I didn't have enough energy. When I met her we hit it off right away, even though she has Lupus and I have PsA, we juggle so many of the same issues. I offered to help her run the group and now we take turns...whoever is feeling worse asks the other one to do group stuff.

Hang in there Frances! It's really tough when you don't have in person support and you are in a flare and juggling too many other things. (((hugs))) I hope things improve for you soon.

9

Hi Marietta,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. My sister has Lupus and lives near me. Maybe we could start a group together? Thanks for your thoughts.

Frances

10

Thanks for this post, I am going to look for one in or around Greensboro, NC. Anyone know of one before I start the search?

11

I emailed them a few weeks ago and got a response today. There are no support groups in our area. I have been thinking that maybe I should start one. I am a registered nurse and I work in orthopedics and with patients with chronic pain, so I have a little experience. I am looking into finding a location to meet. I am trying the local hospitals first, then I’ll look at religious facilities. I can not bear any out of pocket expense at this time.

It seems that there might be a need for an inflammatory arthritis support group in the DC metro area. If anyone else is interested, let me know. Until then, I guess I will actually move forward with this.

Frances, if you need to talk send me a message and I’ll give you my number.

12

Spondylitis Assoc. of America

www.spondylitis.org

13

Hi Lar837, thanks for posting the link. There isn't a group near me, but it's given me ideas for searching for other related support groups.

Thanks !

Frances