It has ruled her life since her early 20s. After years of battling to cope, and a worrying slump in weight, she's back in control.

EMMA GREENHALGH spoke to her.



OPTIMISTIC, bubbly, full of personality.

They are all characteristics of Paula Bell.

There's nothing so surprising about that. After all, she is a woman in her 20s with her life ahead of her. But the smiles mask a story of a women crippled by a condition usually associated with the older generation.

Paula has lived through almost a decade in a body which has been racked by pain.

Imagine it. You are 22 when a doctor tells you that you have rheumatoid arthritis. Naturally she was stunned.

What followed was years of battling to cope. At one point, she was in so much pain she would come home from work and go straight to bed.

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After years of trying numerous different types of drugs, and suffering the debilitating side effects of them, Paula has now found a treatment that suits her.

As a result her life has transformed and she is now able to concentrate on enjoying herself and keeping fit in a bid to lessen the pain she is left with.

She said: "At the time, you feel like your life is over but young people need to know it's not the end of the world."

Paula initially went to the doctors when her knees swelled up. But it was when her hands became stiff as well that medics became concerned and she was sent for tests.

She said: "No one in the family has rheumatoid arthritis so it was a complete shock to me."

Paula was put on a cocktail of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Her arthritis was being caused by her own immune system attacking her joints and so she was also treated with a drug that inhibits the immune system.

It took six months to take proper effect. In the meantime, Paula came down with "every cold that was going about".

She said: "I was just sicker and sicker. My arthritis was just not under any form of control. All my joints were always swollen and I was always in pain," said Paula, who was born in Watford but moved to Greatham on the outskirts of Hartlepool, in 1988.

"I was walking like an 80-year-old cripple."

Paula's weight plummeted from 9st 7lb to 7st because she could not keep the drugs or food down.

Things came to a head when she flew to Guernsey for a family party and was mistaken for a child by a member of staff at the airport because she was so thin.

She said: "I felt like I was going to fall over. The family realised it was wrong and it should not have been like that and I should be able to have a life." On her return Paula went to the University Hospital of Hartlepool and was given steroids and immediately felt better.

It was a feeling that lasted for weeks and meant she could eat properly and keep the drugs down.

The battle was temporarily won. The war wasn't over.

She tried three different types of drugs that all reacted badly with her system.

In 2006, she was rushed to hospital after a throat infection proved life threatening.

The drug she was on had wiped out her entire immune system and she spent a week in hospital when her white cell count – which should have been between four and 11 – dropped to 0.1.

Paula, who now works for Shields Interiors, in Whitby Street South, Hartlepool, found that the drug Humira, transformed her life.

Instead of taking tablets she now has an injection every two weeks and is able to live relatively pain free from day to day, although she still suffers excruciating flare-ups every now and again.

She said: "It stops the hassle of having a cocktail of drugs. I was like a walking pharmacy.

"In a flare-up, if I were to knock myself, it felt like someone was breaking my leg."

Paula, who lives with her partner Joe Addison, 36, in Greatham, is now able to exercise regularly and has signed up to Hartlepool Borough Council's Healthy Hartlepool scheme, where she works with a fitness instructor for 10 weeks.

She said: "The doctors have said that for every half stone that I lose, it can reduce the pain by 20 per cent because the joints have less weight on them."

Paula's mum, Beverley Bell, 60, who is recovering from breast cancer, is also taking part in the scheme.

Paula now swims three times a week and goes to the gym twice a week.

She hopes a cure will eventually be found for arthritis and is positive about the amount of research being conducted at Newcastle University.

She has three brothers, Warren Bell, 43, Stephen Bell, 40, and John Bell, 30, and dad is Fred Bell, 67.

Arthritis Care is the UK's largest charity working with and for people with arthritis, empowering them to take control of their arthritis and their lives. For information about its services, contact (01924) 882150, or visit www.arthritiscare.org.uk.