Living

Having lived with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for 50 years, these days, not much surprises me RA-wise. I’ve lived through a lot, and changed over the years as a result. The...

“Mommy, can you open this?”, my 3 and a half-year-old requests, moving a teeny tiny toy into my vision. “I’ll try, bud,” I reply, feeling as though I might admit...

Among those of us who have been “officially” diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there is always discussion about how long it took from the onset of symptoms to get that...

Four out of five people with arthritis-related conditions suffer from poor sleep. We’ve already discussed the pros and cons of mattress and pillow options. This time, we’re talking about sheets...

As rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, we constantly have to cope with the disease wearing at our joints and the damage that can occur. It can be slow and constant, like...

Lately, I’ve been feeling like my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been stopping me at every turn. Like a hockey goalie who drank too much coffee, this stupid illness seems to...

Something I've never thought could possibly be related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA)?? Stretch marks. I've had this recent cropping-up of stretch marks on my stomach and across my legs. I'm...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the BFF none of us want. This disease sticks to us like glue, never leaves us alone, and affects every decision we make. Just like with...

This is a topic that I'm intimately familiar with because it's part of the reason why it took me forever to seek help for my rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Even when...

Although I’ve struggled with joint pain since childhood, it didn’t lead me to seek additional testing or a second opinion until shortly after college graduation. In the midst of developing...

Traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biologics are life-changing for many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While other drugs relieve arthritis-realted pain from damaged joints, these medicines prevent further joint...

Does this sound familiar? You wake up one morning with an unusual and random spurt of energy. It's still not very much energy, of course, and definitely not a long...

Living in pain has been my reality since I was two years old when I was first diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It has been a state of being, instead...

I’m debating whether I even want to delve into this topic because I don’t know if it is possible to understand this disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is so unpredictable that...

When I was a child with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, now called juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), the mental and emotional aspects of adjusting to and living with the disease were very...

Okay, quick: you have 1 minute. Think of the stuff you would grab if the building were on fire or if there was a gas leak? I will wait. Would...

I am a good patient. I work with my rheumatologist and follow my treatment plan. The first call I made when COVID-19 appeared in my state was to my rheumatologist...

We’ve all be wondering: when will this pandemic be over? What will break the thrall of this virus? To some degree, it is time. To another degree, it is the...

I have had dry skin for most of my life but did not know, until several years after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), that I also had a very...

Ugh. Pain. It’s... painful! As I write this, I’m sitting here in the special kind of pain that affects people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic illness more than most...