Preventing and Treating Sinus Infections When Taking Biologics
Biologics are notorious for increasing your risk of infections, especially those of the upper respiratory tract. In other words, sinus infections. Cue headaches, a feeling like your head is filled with cement, post-nasal drip, nausea, debilitating fatigue, thick brain fog, plus that awful smell that no one else can smell. There is nothing like it…
The Benefits of Writing with Chronic Illness
Writing helps me in it many different ways. When I’m writing regularly, my dreams are a little less weird. It also helps me organize my thoughts, work out how I feel about things when I’m confused, and it helps me cope with my chronic illnesses. And I’m not the only one — research shows that…
Homeless Judgement
“Do you have any change for the homeless?” He asked this over and over again, of almost everyone who passed. To a person, they kept walking, only a few acknowledging him, saying sorry, they didn’t have any change. So did I. And we were all lying. Sure, most of us pay for purchases, even small…
Thoughts from a Bonnie Raitt Concert
Bonnie Raitt and I were in the same room on Friday. Along with 3000 other people, but I wasn’t paying much attention to them. As she was singing, a variety of thoughts occurred to me. When live music is actually live I’m a sucker for singer-songwriters. People who have something to say and know music…
10 Characteristics of a Great Healthcare Team
There are a lot of medical professionals involved in treating a chronic illness then it’s important that they work as a team. But what does that look like? My new slideshow for HealthCentral shares 10 characteristics of a great healthcare team: ““Simple” is not a word usually associated with chronic illness, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…
Herbal Remedies for Rheumatoid Arthritis
There are a lot of claims going around about what herbal remedies can do for rheumatoid arthritis. In my new slideshow for HealthCentral, I looked into the facts and got some wisdom from my naturopath: “Before the advent of modern medicine, people used plant-based treatments to deal with illnesses. In fact, many medications are based…
It’s All in Your Head: Fighting for a Diagnosis
In the past month or so, two doctors have suggested that my extreme fatigue is due to depression and anxiety. And sure, I will accept that this may be part of the reason for Fatigue #1 (as I call it), which has dogged my days since the croup incident. But it doesn’t explain Fatigue #2…
