Jodie's hidden battle - 'CHRONIC PAIN CAN BE ISOLATING'

The Kiwi star is working to find the right medication to help manage her rheumatoid arthritis

- Cloe Willetts

Beloved Kiwi actress Jodie Rimmer was spending her days working on the Netflix favourite Sweet Tooth two years ago when her health took a drastic turn one evening. While alone at her Auckland home, the mum-of-two suffered excruciating pain as her neck and right arm seized up. Panicked, she called an ambulance.

Worried that Jodie might be suffering a heart attack, paramedics arrived quickly and took her to hospital, where she stayed overnight as doctors unsuccessfully tried to pinpoint the reason for her pain. It wasn't until two months later that the former Shortland Street star was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease.

"My kids were at their dad's house and I had my puppy here, who was really young and slept through it all, thank goodness," laughs the mum of sons Xavier, 13, and Theo, 11, as she chats to Woman's Day from her bed.

"It's all very dramatic when I talk about it now, but it has been a bit of a journey through pain and the mystery of pain when they didn't know what was causing it, which was scary. But when I got referred to an orthopaedic doctor and had a bunch of specific blood tests, I finally got diagnosed."

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder, which creates painful swelling in Jodie's joints, mainly affecting her hands, feet and knees. In hindsight, she believes her symptoms started four years ago, when she noticed her hands, wrists and fingers hurt, but the In My Father's Den star put it down to everyday living.