My positive attitude has helped me navigate the years since I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, highlights Shama Amin from The Apprentice
Shama Amin is a strong woman. She has five sons and runs her own business. Shama does not do weak. So when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis almost 10 years ago, Shama decided that she and her husband would keep the diagnosis between themselves.
In her early thirties, Shama had four sons under the age of four years old. One day she woke up with painful hands and fingers. Putting it down to overwork, Shama carried on as normal, but the pain progressed for a couple of days, and she made an appointment with her GP.
“My GP referred me straight to rheumatology and within around a month of my first symptoms I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis,” Shama remembers. “I had a million questions. I didn’t even know what rheumatoid arthritis was. And I certainly wasn’t going to broadcast it to my friends and family.”
The rheumatologist explained that Shama’s condition could become much worse without medication but, unfortunately, Shama was in denial. “At the time I was overweight and believed that was the source of my health issues,” she explains. “I thought that if I lost weight, the arthritis would disappear. I just didn’t want to accept it.”
Determined as ever, Shama lost four stone in three months by sticking to an extremely regimented exercise and diet regime. To an extent, it worked… at first. “The weight fell off me and although I now had pain in all of my joints, it felt better when I exercised,” Shama outlines.
“But when I stopped exercising in such an extreme way, the pain returned, fiercer than ever, and in all of my joints.”
Broken, Shama phoned the rheumatology nurse, and asked for an emergency appointment. “I knew it was time for me to take the medication, and after a few adjustments and bumps in the road, it worked well and my symptoms eased,” she says. “The relief was incredible. Finally, I came to terms with the fact that that I had rheumatoid arthritis and I had to take medication in order to have any kind of control over my symptoms.
“Since then, I haven’t had a single pain-free day. But my arthritis is under control. Every day is different and I take pain killers when I need to.”
Top tips
Shama is working her way through different diets, trying to establish if any foods particularly make her arthritis flare and if others improve symptoms.
“I’m sticking to a gluten free diet at the moment, to see what impact that has,” she explains. “Every day, I also grate raw ginger and turmeric into a small pan of boiling water and drink the water when it’s cool enough. It’s made a notable difference to my joint pain and stiffness.”
Exercise continues to be key to the way Shama manages her arthritis. “Walking every day definitely makes a positive difference to my arthritis,” she says. “It does tire me out though, so I walk later in the day when the majority of my work is done.”
The Apprentice
Shama believes that our life experiences make us who we are. “I’ve always been a big fan of The Apprentice,” she outlines. “I have built my business up for eight years and fundamentally I wanted Lord Sugar’s investment and expertise. I like a challenge and decided to prove to myself and other women that background and walk of life do not matter. Just go out there and believe in yourself.
“It’s a competitive process just to be accepted, so I felt like I’d won by getting a place on The Apprentice and am so grateful to the production team for believing in me and giving me the opportunity.”
A personal journey
Without doubt, Shama has a strong character and a positive outlook. Her journey with arthritis has been immensely private. But now she is speaking out.
“There are many reasons why I didn’t want to share my diagnosis 10 years ago. For one, I felt that if I told people, they would think I was weak. And I didn’t want rheumatoid arthritis to be an obstacle to my ambitions. “My positivity has come, in part, from my spiritual side. I am Muslim, and while I know that I have a chronic debilitating disease, I am a strong believer that everything in life happens for a reason so I treat my disease as a blessing. God only gives us what we can bear, physically and mentally.
“Life doesn’t come to a standstill when we are diagnosed with an illness. So I have not allowed my positive mindset to waiver. I have dreams to fulfil and along the way I appreciate the small things. “Life is a test. Let’s pass it with flying colours.”
First published March 2022
PS Did you know that Arthritis Digest Magazine is labelled the best UK Arthritis blog from thousands of blogs on the web ranked by traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness?
*Image credit BBC/Boundless/Ray Burmiston
