Articles

When I was a child, I remember the quiet urgency of my visits to the rheumatologist. The blood tests, the questions, the non-answers. How was my inflammation? Are the blood...

I tried to get up, but anguish reacquainted my face with the ground. My thoughts echoed in my head, prodding me on as if I were a mindless herd animal...

As someone who’s lived with pain from rheumatoid disease for many, many years, I’m no stranger to drugs. I’ve been taking NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) on and off since 1987, DMARDs...

Some things run in my family: brown hair and hazel eyes, a love of reading and travel, and autoimmune conditions. My family tree is laced with type I diabetes, hypothyroidism...

Sometimes I try to remember my life before the scars. It seems like a long time ago, because I guess it was. But there was a time before surgeries and...

There are lots of opinions about the best way to combat rheumatoid arthritis. Between all the various pharmaceutical treatments, over the counter products, diets, alternative therapies, and vitamins and supplements...

When my immune system declared mutiny and began to throw the synovial lining of my joints overboard, I was in the final year of a Masters program in psychology. Like...

My typical day begins early with exercises and includes a busy day of work, quality time with my husband, and ends with aqua-therapy. I like to create a balance of...

My primary RA medication is a biologic that I get via infusion every four weeks. Normally I get the treatment in a dedicated infusion room at my doctor’s office. There...

Last week my husband took me to a fantastic concert—a performance of The Who on their 50 anniversary tour! As we made our way to our seats, I joked with...

People often ask me, once they hear I have RA, what exactly does your day look like?  How do you move through a typical 24 hour period? Well, let’s start...

While an office job may seem better suited for a person with rheumatoid arthritis than manual labor, the repetitive tasks and long periods of sitting involved in most office jobs...

Though the statistics vary somewhat from state to state, nationwide about 65% of all disability claims are denied on the first application. Luckily, receiving a denial does not mean that...

May is arthritis awareness month, it can certainly be helpful when others understand and know more about the condition that is RA. So we asked our Facebook Community: What do...

Most of us with rheumatoid arthritis are faced with frequent conundrums when it comes to treating this disease. As RA is an autoimmune condition, rheumatologists often prescribe immunosuppressant drugs to...

There may be people that are motivational in our lives, as well as on a day to day basis. However, when dealing with RA-related challenges, the people who keep us...

Dealing with RA pain is a challenge and a feat that many of us have to contend with. Pain is a daily struggle and how we manage our pain can...

Those of us living with rheumatoid arthritis often feel older than our years. The creaky, stiff, and painful joints inflamed by this condition are more typically associated with elderly people...

Sometimes you read something and you just want to say, “Well, duh!” because you think it’s so completely obvious you wonder why it’s making headlines in the first place. The...

After the long, confusing process of applying for Social Security disability benefits, it is understandably very frustrating to receive a denial. While the Social Security Administration (SSA) has no official...