Former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas has shared a health update from hospital in relation to his arthritis condition.
The star, who played Adam Barton on the ITV soap for nine years before departing in 2018, shared before his stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year that he was previously diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which causes pain and swelling in joints on the body.
The actor, who currently plays Donte Charles on BBC soap Waterloo Road, took to Instagram on Monday (October 7) to share that his condition had worsened after opting to come off his previous medication.
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“I’ve been taking a lot of painkillers to get me through and they have helped ease the pain where [I] am able to train but the next day my body is just in bits,” he said, with the actor describing the post as his “arthritis journey”.
“So back to the hospital today to try something else,” he continued, explaining that he would soon switch to new medication on his journey, adding that he would aim to “stay positive” on the “long process”.
Thomas, who has also appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! further explained that he is very rarely “pain-free” due to the condition, sharing that a rare moment of respite came during his stint on Strictly.
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“Even though I was in pain and physically I was suffering, in my mind I wanted to keep going,” he recalled. “The team at strictly mentioned steroid injections to help ease the pain a little and it worked massively !!! I was still shit at dancing but the pain had eased off.”
Thomas ended the post by saying that he needed “some breathing space” to recover, adding that he wanted to share the post for all the people who were “suffering” with similar conditions and that he refused to “give in”.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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