You have probably noticed I have not been around much this year, especially the last couple of months.

Most people on here know that I suffer from arthritis in all my major joints, as well as some fingers on my right hand. Just after New Year my pain levels and stiffness started to increase, until they reached a level that totally put me out of action, as I was just trying to get from one minute to the next. It seems that my Dicolfenac anti-inflammatory was no longer working.

I was put on a course of steroids to try and get things under control, and for the first time in the 28 years I've had this condition (zero negative arthritis and spondylitis), they done nothing for me. They are usually a miracle, and have me running around like a lamb. I have to keep their usage to a minimum, as after a prolonged course 15 years ago they caused me to have osteoporosis, something I didn't need but am now stuck with.

Anyway, over the last 2 months I have been trying different tablets, all of them useless. During this period the disease has spread to both of my wrists, and this has made long typing very painful, so I have tried to keep it to a minimum.

I have had to go back on Dicolfenac and just put up with the additional pain and swelling, and hope that it eventually settles down and I build up some tolerance and learn to live with the new problems I have due to my wrists.

The good news is that I am still breathing, although some on here may not think that is good news.

I'll try and be on here a bit more to annoy everyone, but now you know that stories of me being abducted and probed by aliens are untrue.