RA AND THE FAMILY FIT

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a walk down a long road with so many twist and turns so we never know from day to day where we will end up or how we will feel on that road.  This is why I ask the question “What Is Having Rheumatoid Arthritis Costing You”.

This question can be answered in 2 ways.

1. On a personal level where there is the physical pain, the loss of family and friends, the loss of support and understanding from those around you, the loss of your ability to perform in the ways that you’re use to, your physical appearance, your emotional self and this is just to name a few things for us personally. Continue reading “RA – What Is Having Rheumatoid Arthritis Costing You” →

For all of us with rheumatoid arthritis, we have to deal with the ongoing battle of flares.  These can range from mild to severe and can cause us to have to take steroids for relief, put us in the bed for days or something as serious as a trip to the emergency room. Continue reading “RA – How Does Your Flare Start” →

I still see so many people with RA saying that either their love ones, friends or others around them just don’t understand this disease.  They are still getting those looks, complaints or in some cases words that are so discouraging. So we ask ourselves how do we make them understand.  What do we have to do to make this journey easier for us all.

It’s really sad when those of us with rheumatoid arthritis have to deal with our disease and then have to defend ourselves for having it.  It’s not fair to us and it can be additional stress which can cause us both physical and mental pain.  Why do we have to be a position where we are finding ourselves explaining what we are going through.  Explaining what we are feeling is real and are not some made up symptoms.  Because we may not have physical signs does not mean we aren’t sick any less.  You see a lot of us don’t have the physical deformities but so much of the time we are in pain and because of this we feel we are being judged and are forced to defend ourselves. Continue reading “RA – Fighting The Battle For True Understanding of Rheumatoid Arthritis” →

I’ve said that blogging is therapeutic for me so I guess I need a little therapy (lol). I’ve been blogging a lot.

If I had a choice, would I have RA.  Of course the answer would be no.  But I do have it.  If I had a choice,  could I make people understand what RA is really all about;  If I had a choice would it hurt a little less;  If I had a choice would my meds not make me sick;  If had a choice would the first medicine I get be the last medicine I get;v If I had a choice would the first rheumatologist I get be the only one I get;  If I had a choice would I stay in remission for a life time;  If I had a choice would everyone in my family understand what I’m going through;  If I had a choice would it be therapeutic for me to blog about something other than RA. Get my point. Getting RA is not a choice.

In life I guess you can say we are given some choices, whether to do good or bad or take this job or that job or which house or car to buy.  But with illnesses we aren’t given a choice (for the most part).  So what do we do.  You buckle up, get yourself together and take that ride through the life that’s ahead of you. It maybe tough and we may not think we can make it but with prayer and hope we can do it. So really we do have a choice, to Trust God and depend on Him for guidance for all that we have to go through and know that he will pave our way through this journey that I call The Rheumatoid Arthritis Highway. So here’s to wishing you a pain-free and safe travel down your RA Highway.

Be Blessed

Having rheumatoid arthritis is stressful in itself but through our day-to-day lives we deal with so many things that cause us additional stress.  Things that occur on your job, simple things that my happen in a store, driving in traffic and the things we have to do once we’re home from a long day at work.  Either way, we have stressful things going on in our lives.

Finally, we start to feel that familiar pain that we know so well.  As hard as we try not to stress, it’s almost an impossible task. We know that it is not good for us so we do try to keep it at bay but it tends to sneak up on us anyway.  At some point we then find ourselves getting more stressed because we have contributed to the flare by stressing so here we have it; something like a revolving door, the stress-the pain-the pain-the stress.  Then we settle down for what we know is the only thing that will probably help us with the flare, prednisone.  Boy do we hate taking that but it’s what works for most of us. Continue reading “RA – Does Stress Bring On Your Flares – How Can We Handle It” →

I’ve read a lot of comments where so many with RA have mentioned they are unhappy and depressed about their situation whether it is regarding the effects that the pain has on them, or their ability to do things in their day-to-day lives, or the lack of understanding from others and the lack of support from those close to them.  It can also be a factor in just having the disease itself.

I’m sure dealing with unhappiness can add to our ability to maintain some normalcy in our daily lives.  It leaves us striving to move through our day with the added task of taking meds, possibly going to therapy and doctor’s appointments.  For some the unhappiness/depression is a once in a while thing, for some it’s a monthly thing and for some it’s an everyday thing.    Continue reading “Rheumatiod Arthritis – Unhappiness With Your Disease – Does Depression Slip In On You” →

As stated in my previous blogs, with RA we suffer from fatigue, some with depression and a host of other things along with our disease.  It is in these circumstances that we find ourselves struggling to do the many things we have to in a days work.

While doing the many things in our daily lives, we are faced with the daunting task of fighting through some of our biggest challenges.  Take a moment, think about it, which is your biggest challenge. 1. pain,  2. fatigue,  3. depression,  4. additional illnesses,  5. loneliness,  6. forgetfulness,  7. sadness,  or 8. all of the above and then some.  We do face many challenges, some we can fight through quickly, some that takes a little bit longer and some that takes quite a while but we face those challenges the best we can.  This is what makes us warriors and makes us strong. Continue reading “RA – I Can’t Give You 100% Will You Settle For What I Have” →