Stories

Few people understand what it's like for someone with RA and fibromyalgia to go through security at the airport a day after having the pneumonia 13 vaccine. I wasn't able...

Hi, I'm a 63 year old mum of 5 and grandma of 7, from the UK. I was diagnosed with sero-negative RA in 1987, when I was 36. My youngest...

Being diagnosed over 20 yrs. ago-I remember friends suggesting a variety of "cures" ( they were well meaning) but it wasn't until a friend brought me to the local indoor...

When I was first diagnosed with RA and put on methotrexate I was suffering in pain until we got the right combination of medicines going. I remember getting a manicure...

I’m grateful that my illness is treatable with medication. And that for those with RA, there is hope to live a long life. I recently met a seventeen-year-old girl who...

Here in the northeast we really treasure our summers because they come and go far too quickly. And this past winter was an especially long and difficult one so that...

I should know better by now. I wear sneakers or comfortable shoes daily, but of course I had to push the envelope for my cousin’s wedding. Bloated, uncomfortable and angry...

Being a newcomer to rheumatologic illness does not mean I am inexperienced. In my professional life, I am a primary care physician, board-certified in internal medicine, and working on becoming...

This time of year brings with it a sense of renewal thanks to the budding landscape that I see each day. I truly feel a sense of starting fresh in...

My journey with RA started about 25 yrs ago. I had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple years before, so at first I just thought it was getting worse. Not...

Decisions, decisions.... It seems when you live with a chronic disease like RA you are continually faced with making decisions...like it or not. I am not just talking about the...

I'm 62 and had Rheumatoid (hereditary) since 26. Nothing has seemed to stop it. All the DMARDS etc. some nearly killing me or leaving me susceptible to infections. Getting pneumonia/colds/flu...

The scene – I wake up and before I have time to open my eyes I feel an incredible burning, sharp piercing pain in my shoulder. I lift my head...

So how does this famous phrase tie into RA? Well, this post is all about patience and the need for anyone with a chronic disease to possess this trait if...

I was diagnosed with JIA when I was 6 years old. My RA started in my pinky finger and my family and I started calling it “Blubber” because it was...

I was diagnosed in 2005. I am now 62 struggling with this affliction. In 2011, I was hit by an F250 pick up truck while walking across the street. That...

I've been a nurse for 16 years & even though I was only diagnosed with RA 2yrs ago. I suffer from OA & have RSDS in my entire Lower Right...

I have come to realize that those of us with RA have many of the characteristics of the chameleon. Like the chameleon, we often "blend in" with our surroundings, making...

The last day of my job of nearly 25 years. For what seemed like forever, I had fought through pain and multiple surgeries always feeling proud of having made it...

I was diagnosed when I was three years old. I don't remember much, just that I had to be carried up and down the stairs in a laundry basket and...