Good morning everyone, this is my first time posting or joining in. Can you all tell me how do you cope with this nagging desease

Hello, , and welcome. While I am sorry to hear that you're dealing with some unbearable flare ups, I'm so glad that you've reached out here. I hope some of our community members can share the things they've found helpful when dealing with a flare. But in the meantime, I wanted to share this article with you one of our advocates put together about her flare action plan, https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/flare-action-plan. And another advocate wrote about some of her to-gos and favorite pain relief therapies in this article, https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/pain-relief-therapies.

I'm not sure how long you've had your diagnosis, but are you working with a rheumatologist? Are you on any treatment for your RA?

Please don't hesitate to reach out here anytime, whether you have questions, need to vent, or could use some support. Sending you gentle hugs. -- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)

Hi . It's good you have sought out a place you can get information and support. I actually have the same questions as Christine about how long you have had RA and your treatment? I ask because if you have been on treatment for a while than it raises the question of whether it needs to be adjusted or changed. Our patient leader Kelly (full disclosure - I'm her husband) wrote here about how to know when to change meds: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/when-to-change-medications. I also want to share with you an article she wrote on questions for the doctor, which covers things like quality of life and goals for treatment: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/questions-for-the-doctor. If you are not seeing a rheumatologist and on treatment then I want to stress the importance of aggressive treatment to avoid damage. I hope this information is helpful and please feel free to ask additional questions. There are people here who have been where you are and this community is here for you. Best, Richard (Team Member)

Hi - it can be very hard to cope at times, I get it. I have really bad days/weeks/months sometimes.

Have you ever seen the comedy tv series called "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"?

If not, it's about a young woman who was a member of a weird religious cult, who managed to get out. While talking about her experiences, she says:

"You can stand anything for 10 seconds," Kimmy says in a flashback. "Then you just start on a new 10 seconds."

The idea behind this mantra is essentially how I stay resilient and cope with the really shitty present that is RA pain. This may or may not help you, but it helps me.

I have had RA for over 22 years. I have found that one medication works for 2-3 years and then it’s time to switch medications. I also learned that people with RA usually take more than one medication. You adjust you life to what your body tells you. Two things that I have found helpful during a flare is a hot tub and an electric throw blanket. A positive attitude works as well as a biologic. I have a basket next to my recliner that contains things I can manage during a flare. Cooking meals and freezing them is handy to use when in a flare. It’s very helpful to be flexible. I have to adjust what I can do daily. Before RA I was constantly knitting or crocheting. That was a hard loss for me. Last summer I had therapy on both hands three times a week. Guess who now is crocheting and knitting! Don’t ever give up !