I've had RA for so long (44 years) and my experience is that they don't really want to know how you feel - they just want to complain about their own issues. If you're feeling terrible - they feel must worse. My blanket response for anyone who calls is that I'm good. If I'm in a flare up I normally won't answer the phone and if someone calls, I'll send a text saying I'm having a flare up and will call them back when I can. During a flare up I really don't have the patience to listen to someone go on and on about the pain they're in because they twisted their ankle or broke a nail etc. To me, unless they have knives sticking out of all the joints in their body, then they don't have a clue how I feel!

Unfortunately some people look at us and don’t see anything wrong, assuming we are just fine. Hard to see the joint pain we are having.

I guess we all deal with ways to handle our pain. I have a tendency to keep it in until it gets really bad and I go through a lot of depression handling it this way.

I find its easier to say things here as each of us deal with similar pains and we listen I am ever thankful for this site as i can vent and no one treats me like I'm crazy

You are definitely not alone in this. This right here is the reason I literally signed up for this app. I feel like no one understands what I am going thru because on the outside, I look fine. But, inside im hurting and emotionally and physically drained. I feel like im in a downward spiral.