Please Do Not Make Assumptions

Even if you have walked the walk, please do not make assumptions that what works for you will work for others.

I had one of those around and around and around arguments discussions yesterday with someone (not my husband) yesterday. He kept saying that what he does to make himself feel better will work for everyone else, especially for the person we were talking about. I chose to disagree and we ended up arguing discussing it way too long.

My point was that with rheumatoid you may be able to go do something for a bit and then you need to take a break and rest for a while before doing something else. And sometimes that rest period could be a few hours before you were up to anything else.

His point was that if you were sitting for a few hours, reading or whatever, you need to get up every hour and do some exercises. And you need to go for a walk or two every day and you should never just sit around.

I tried to explain that with lots of pain or different types of pain, rest may need to take priority and getting up and doing exercises every hour may not be a reality. I agree that sitting around all the time is not a good idea but sometimes when the pain is too bad, that may be all you can do.

He would not let go. He insisted he was right because it works for him and that he has pain too (but not rheumatoid) and he is just stubborn as hell. He assumed because he has pain too what works for him works for everyone else with pain. I ended up being very upset and made some excuse to get off the phone.

He assumed the wrong thing. That pain is pain and it is no different for one to another. But it is. I find this so aggravating. Please, if you have learned anything from your own medical issues, do not assume what worked for you will work for everyone else.