Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
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Presents patient experiences, news and discussion on rheumatology research. Information and encouragement supporting a rheumatology community since 2009.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
4y ago
Rheumatoid Arthritis Blog Birthday is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Birth of a rheumatoid arthritis blog
This month the RA Warrior website—and blog—began its 12th year. In 2008, I dreamed of building a rheumatoid arthritis blog and website to bring better answers to people with RA that I’d already begun to know and love—and many thousands I was yet to meet. On May 17, 2009, I sat on a lawn chair next to 4-year old Roo on his swing and just started the blog. There were months of notes and lists and research… but I just typed a short blog post from my heart about how it felt sitting ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
4y ago
Reducing Stress with Rheumatoid Arthritis is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Reducing stress with RA is important
Living with rheumatoid disease is tough. Almost always, it “progresses,” which means gets worse. Meanwhile it tends to make almost everything harder to do—even things we love to do! Like the old saying goes, it’s “not for the faint of heart.”
Warriors like us don’t just live with this disease—we fight it. This fighting to get as much out of life as possible and the symptoms of the disease itself make stress and rheumatoid arthritis a common need to address. Recently, Heal ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
4y ago
What RA Is Like Really is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Trying to describe what RA is like—really
Shock and awe—things I felt as I learned first hand what RA is really like. Fourteen years later, I’ve taken thousands of pictures and written over 1000 articles, but I still can’t easily show someone what RA is like. When RA or our medicines are in the news (some possibly treat the pandemic virus), it’s obvious people don’t know.
Recently, I worked with Healthgrades on a series of articles to help provide supportive information about rheumatoid disease. I was eager to explore the topi ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
4y ago
Tips for Parenting with RA is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Parenting with RA is something many people are spending more time on with the school closures from COVID-19. As a mom of five, I know how different things have been since my disease became full blown 14 years ago. If you’ve been reading RA Warrior the last 11 years (that’s right—it’s almost year 12!), you know I learned some of these things the hard way—but usually with a smile.
Parenting with a chronic disease like rheumatoid arthritis can be even more challenging. When simple tasks become more difficult, parents with RA ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
5y ago
#AloneTogether Hashtag is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Realizing everyone else is #AloneTogether too
My eyes filled with tears as I noticed the current hashtags on Instagram a couple weeks ago. Hashtags are the butt of many jokes, but we can’t deny they’re a shortcut to a longer story. After all, I did start the hashtag #rheum back in the hashtag heyday, in order to create a community on Twitter. Suddenly, the hundreds of people talking to me could all see one another.
That is the reason hashtags are still around today: CONNECTION. Click a hashtag and you’re instantly connected to ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
5y ago
Hydroxychloroquine Uses: 10 Facts is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
This is my second article addressing the current COVID-19 crisis. You’ll also want to read and share 10 Facts: Coronavirus & Autoimmune Disease. Today we explore the medication crisis being created by the epidemic. I have followed most of these facts as they unfolded in news reports and on Twitter, but I’ve tried to document the facts here with footnotes because there are many false reports related to COVID-19.
Usual hydroxychloroquine uses
According to Mayo Clinic, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is used in rheumatoid ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
5y ago
10 Facts: Coronavirus & Autoimmune Disease is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
What about coronavirus and autoimmune disease?
If you are actually sick with coronavirus and have an autoimmune disease, please call your doctor and follow her / his advice about whether to continue your usual medications and whether you need specific medical care. Part of the reason that there is no cure yet for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis / rheumatoid disease is that we are not all alike, so follow what your doctor advises for you. For the rest of us who are just trying to be well informed, let ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
5y ago
Sleep Problems in Rheumatoid Arthritis is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Taking on sleep problems in rheumatoid arthritis
I take pictures of posters at ACR meetings to help remember things I want to study more or write about for you! Two posters this past ACR were about sleep problems in rheumatoid arthritis. Sleep is one of those RA / RD topics people never stop asking me about.
In the past, I’ve written about strategies to take on sleep problems in rheumatoid arthritis / disease and overcome them as much as possible (some links below). But this time, we’re looking at the relations ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
5y ago
Newly Diagnosed RA and Afraid is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Letters from newly diagnosed RA patients
As newly diagnosed RA patients find my website and write me letters, two things happen: 1) My heart is heavy for another life affected by this horrible disease. And, 2) I gather more information to add to the tens of thousands of experiences already shared with me.
Of course letters from rheumatoid disease veterans are also invaluable to learning about disease patterns and responses to treatments. Look for more on those topics coming soon in coverage of the recent ACR meeting.
Be ..read more
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
5y ago
Ways to Strengthen Relationships with RA is a post from: Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Strategies to strengthen relationships with rheumatoid arthritis
Over the past decade, readers have commented and emailed me many times about their relationships with rheumatoid arthritis. Both relationships with significant others and with other family members, as well as friendships can be strained by the effects of RA. We’ve often talked about how others have trouble understanding the invisible symptoms of rheumatoid disease. The divorce rate is higher with RA and the disease can test other relationships a ..read more