The Best Thing You Can Say or Do When Someone’s in Pain
Living with chronic pain is incredibly difficult. It’s invisible, which means that in order to be understood, you have to tell people about it and that’s when you hit another barrier. How do you put into words something that is pure sensation and unlike anything the average person has experienced? But on the other side…
#TalkOverRA: Pro Tip to Help Your Rheumatologist Understand Your Pain
One of the defining characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is pain. It can run the gamut from mild or temporary to severe and chronic, caused by active inflammation or damage to the joints, exacerbated by overdoing it or not moving at all. Living with unpredictable pain is incredibly difficult — because (obviously) it’s deeply uncomfortable,…
COVID Diary: The Kindness of Strangers
We live in strange times in everyday life has become a difficult. COVID-19 has revealed the of the underbelly of a lot of things in our society, but the pandemic has also shown just how wonderful people can be. If you need a reminder of the good in the world, check out my new column…
How to Listen to Your Body When You’re Not on Speaking Terms
One of the hardest things about living with rheumatoid arthritis is listening to your body, yet it is an essential part of breaking the overdoing it-crashing-overdoing it cycle. I wrote about this in my new article for HealthCentral: “I live with an absolute jerk. She bosses me around, every day telling me what I can…
How I Deal With RA Brain Fog
Brain fog. It’s a common symptom for many who have chronic illness and chronic pain. But exactly what is it and how the heck do you deal with in mind that all of a sudden doesn’t function the way it used to? In my new column for HealthCentral, I share my own experience with brain fog…
My Body Can Beat Your Weather Radar
Photo credit: David Govoni Every single person I know who has chronic pain response whether. Get any of us together in a room and the conversation will inevitably turn to have the current weather is making us feel. Exactly how this is in which kind of weather makes it worse, can differ from person to…
When RA Hits Your Jaw: The Facts and Tips to Cope
Did you know that headaches, toothaches, and pain around the neck and shoulders could mean that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is affecting your jaw? For some of you reading this, this could be the first time you heard that RA can affect your jaw. Let’s cover that first — yes, it can, just like all the…
I Tried Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder
It arrived like clockwork the second week of February. I’ve had Seasonal Affective Disorder for as long as I can remember, as do several other people in my family. This year’s was a humdinger. I started isolating (remember this was before COVID-19), the world lost its colours, I got really sad, and writing became extremely…
I Tried CBD Oil for Chronic Illness and Pain. This is What Happened
As the war on opioids continues to restrict prescription pain medication, those of us who live with chronic pain are looking for alternatives that will help us to continue living our lives. CBD oil is one option. It has had a profound impact on the pain caused by my rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia and surprisingly,…
5 Meditation Tips for Beginners
Meditation is a great coping tool when you live with RA and other types of chronic illness, but how do you get into the habit? I tried meditating for 30 days and shared some tips in my latest articile for HealthCentral: “When you’re looking for ways to cope with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), sooner or later,…
The Healing Touch: How My Mother Took Away My Pain When Nothing Else Could
“That pain you had… For a mother to see a child with that kind of pain, is so terrible.” — My mom, Birthe Andersen I have had juvenile arthritis since I was four years old, which means this condition and I recently celebrated (?) 50 years together. For most of that time, there were no…
10 Things to Try if Wearing a Bra Hurts Because of Rheumatoid Arthritis
I’ve been known to say that RA affects all areas of your life and do I ever mean all areas. Even something as simple as your underwear. Bras can be especially challenging. If you think about it, putting on a bra involves skill of a contortionist and when you have a chronic illness that affects…