Wren

Rheumatoid disease (RD)* can cause more than joint pain, destruction, and disability (as if that’s not enough!). It’s an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack the...

Told you I’d be back! I recently wrote about fatigue, one of several rheumatoid disease (arthritis) symptoms. It runs with joint pain, chronic low fevers, and feeling puny - my...

I’ve had rheumatoid disease (arthritis) for decades. I’ve written about living as well as possible with it for a long time, and I feel like I have some expertise. I...

Yeah, those. The non-agonizing tweaks and twinges. The background knee-throb. The sudden, sharp jab that takes your breath as you pick up a dish to put it in the dishwasher?...

One evening recently, I noticed my ankle bones. Moments later, I became aware of the tendons attached to them. Out of curiosity, I Googled (as one does) because I suddenly...

I’ve had rheumatoid disease (arthritis) for more than 30 years, and I’m very interested in how the “opioid crisis” affects patients like myself. So, I’ve been reading articles in rheumatology...

I have rheumatoid disease (arthritis). It’s just one of many rheumatic diseases, which, according to the American College of Rheumatology, are “often lumped under the term arthritis, which describes over...

So, I’m just making my bed, a small chore I do every single morning without much thought. Neatening my bedroom for the coming day lightens my mood and puts a...

Keeping my weight under control (if not as low as I’d like) has been an ongoing battle for me since I was a teenager. In the beginning, it was just...

My hands were giving me some guff recently (as they do). I was wearing my favorite compression gloves already, I’d applied over-the-counter lidocaine cream, and I’d swallowed a dose of...

That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Will it get worse? Will this rheumatoid disease (arthritis) I’ve got, which has so rudely and inexorably taken up constant residence in my life...

As I’ve mentioned before, I dislike New Year’s resolutions. They’ve always struck me as another mental self-beating-in-the-making when I can’t live up to them. But I’ve been thinking about it...

OK, everyone. Christmas is just behind us. Although it’s supposed to be a holiday filled with joy, giving, and cozy evenings playing checkers with family and friends, sipping hot cocoa...

In a recent op-ed in The Hill, a Washington, DC newspaper, Dr. Lynn Webster, MD, past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the author of The Painful...

For many of us, planning for, cooking, and serving those amazing holiday feasts is a lot of fun—and for some of us, well, not so much. But whichever type you...

Starting a new drug treatment always makes me hopeful. But I’ve learned the hard way to be realistic. Most of us believe in our doctors. We believe the medicines they...

What happens when your pain from rheumatoid disease gets too big to handle? What can you do when your go-to tools, such as heat/ice; distraction; meditation; CBT; gentle exercise; various...

I believe the two most disheartening words you can hear from a doctor are “chronic pain.” As in “You have chronic pain.” Or worse, “You just have chronic pain.” This...

I’ve had a good day. I’ve run errands, maneuvering miles through heavy traffic to the bank, to the grocery store, and back home to put everything away; then Mom’s hair...

I turned off the dryer and reached in, burying my hands in the deep-heated load of towels that had just finished the dry cycle. Oh, that felt so good! For...