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Rheumatoid arthritis medication get a bad rap. In this column for HealthCentral, I talk about how to handle the stigma of treating your RA with medicine in a culture obsessed with an “all-natural” approach to healing:

“EVERY DAY, I take medication for my rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including self-injection with a biologic drug I stash in the fridge, next to the milk and a jar of pickles. Combined with the number of meds I take to treat the side effects from my RA meds, it’s about 10 to 12 doses in a single day. Based on my completely unscientific social media research, this appears to be about midrange for the average person with RA. Moving from a life of health to one punctuated by piles of prescriptions can be a challenge for anyone with chronic illness, partly because it’s a lot to remember, but taking medication also comes with judgement and a sense of stigma from others and inside yourself. How do you find peace with the stigma and come to terms with taking all those pills you actually need very much? I have some pointers.

First, let’s talk about the herd of elephants barreling into the room whenever there’s talk of using drugs (legal kinds) on a regular basis. Taking medication gets a bad rap. It’s often seen as a characteristic of the frail and elderly and not even my 85-year-old mother will admit to being either. If you’re younger, there’s a sense of personal defeat when you fail to get better through the powers of wishful thinking. Somehow, you’re supposed to be magically and almost aggressively healthy, never submitting to illness. And yet, modern medicine, including many different treatments, is the reason we are healthier and live longer than ever before. It’s a bit of an oxymoron, but life is rarely logical.”

Read more about how I handle taking RA meds without resenting it on HealthCentral.