Tag: rheumatoid arthritis
Monday, February 15th, 2010
I haven’t done a great many posts on tips lately. Mostly it is because I am doing all I can to get through each day. I don’t have a lot of energy and what I do have is shared with my family. I turned a corner the other day and I wanted to share what happened.
My knees have been causing me so much pain lately that a restful night’s sleep has evaded me. If I don’t move in bed I start to cramp up and if I try to move I am in a lot of pain. So needless to say every 30 minutes to an hour I am awake.
I was lying in bed the other day and I was contemplating my current situation. I was going over in my head what was going on in my life. I considered the amount of stress I have been under and how I have tried to deal with it. I was also evaluating my diet and trying to figure out what might be causing the increased inflammation and pain and what I was going to do about it. There are so many variables that can effect how I feel it’s hard to pinpoint which part of my life and routine is causing all this pain. I needed to figure out if anything I was doing was having any impact at all. While I was lying there pondering all these factors all I could think of was the only time I am not in pain is when I am still.
I was irritated that in being still the world was going on without me. All I could think was I can’t live like that either, spending the entire day not moving to avoid pain is not really a solution to my problem. Then it hit me, maybe I was looking at this all wrong. Maybe the universe was trying to tell me that I needed to be still.
I sat with that thought for a while. Maybe I needed to stop fighting the stillness and just for a while embrace it.
So I did.
I welcomed the stillness in my body and my mind. I stopped fighting and was simply still.
I don’t know that if in that moment of acceptance my body and mind connected, but I do know that when I woke the next morning I had slept the entire night without waking from pain. Since then I have been experiencing significantly less pain and inflammation. I am not pain free nor am I inflammation free but in the days since I feel like I am at a manageable level.
Before this realization I was really afraid that I was either going to have to go back on medication to control the pain and inflammation or I was going to have to live with things the way they were. I wasn’t really sure that I would be able to do that. All that pain, takes it’s toll on my spirit. All that pain takes it’s toll on my family.
I had gotten away from meditation for a while. Life had gotten busy. Priorities changed.
I won’t let that happen again. I need to take the extra time for the stillness. In embracing the stillness, my body has thanked me.
Tags: arthritis, body, diet, inflammation, Meditation, mind, mind-body, pain, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, stillness
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Good News!, Health/Fitness, Lesson Learned | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Lately I have been one day up, one day down. One day I am experiencing very little stiffness and pain and the next day I am feeling dreadful.
I have been taking a close look at my diet and how it is effecting how I feel. I know that there are certain foods that without a doubt have a direct relationship to the amount of inflammation that I am experiencing. Within an hour or so of eating chocolate I start to swell. The same holds true for dairy products. Sugar seems to be an issue for me as well. I don’t know if I need to avoid all sugar altogether or if there is a certain threshold that once I go over that level there is a problem. I don’t know if it is just refined sugar or if natural sugars will give me the same trouble. I know that things that have a high sugar content cause me trouble. The good news is that since I have stopped taking the methotrexate, it is easier for me to tell which foods are causing the inflammation. It was as if the medication was masking the effects that food had on my inflammation. It has been a game of hit or miss on what my body will tolerate and what it won’t. I imagine that this will take some time to find every food that is causing me trouble.
It is hard to plan my life right now because I really don’t know from day to day how I am going to feel. I am keeping a food journal and each day I write down everything that goes into my body and how I am feeling physically. It is helping to make it easier to pinpoint what food is effecting me so that I can avoid it in the future. I have done a lot of reading on the subject and I am very hopeful that once I get a handle on the foods that trigger inflammation for me I will be able to manage the disease much better.
Tags: arthritis, chocolate, dairy, diet, disease, Food, food journal, inflammation, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, sugar
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Diet/Nutrition, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Wellness | 12 Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
The past 6 months have been somewhat like a bad dream. I never could never have imagined being sick for this long with so many different ailments. I can’t help but wonder if all the years on methotrexate had such an effect on my immune system that everything kind of shut down for a while. With all this down time I have had the opportunity to learn somethings about myself. I thought I would share some of what all this sickness has taught me.
- Trust your instincts. When two of my doctors had conflicting opinions on whether or not I had a second or continuing Lyme infection I should have trusted my instincts. I could have saved myself valuable time and pain and not have subjected myself to way too many diagnostic tests had I just trusted my gut. I know my body better than anyone else and I knew that I still had Lyme Disease. I shouldn’t have allowed my rheumatologist to talk me into more tests to prove that her opinion was right when I knew deep down inside all I really needed was another treatment of antibiotics. When I finally got the antibiotics was when the symptoms went away and I started to feel better. Lesson learned. Again. I hope this time it sticks.
- Lyme Disease is something to take very seriously. I have had Lyme Disease in the past. I thought that I knew and understood what this disease could do. I could not have been more wrong. I have never in my entire life felt more physically ill than I did with Lyme Disease. I can’t say whether or not the Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) had an effect on the severity of the Lyme Disease but I know that the treatments for the RA had an effect on how well my body was able to handle Lyme Disease.
- I need to nourish my body and my soul. I have always been the one who puts everyone’s needs before mine. It wasn’t a conscience decision, but none the less other things took priority in my life. Now every day I am slowing down and taking time to do things that nourish my soul. Things that bring me joy nourish my self. I find that I have more patience and energy for other things after making my self a priority. Before I put anything into my body I am asking myself will it nourish me or fill me. They are two very different ideas. I have tried to eat responsibly in the past, but I haven’t always looked at what I am putting into my body as nourishment as opposed to something that will fill me up.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Being an independent person and a bit of a control freak I frequently would rather do something myself than ask for help. Part of me just didn’t want RA to get the best of me. I felt like it was a bit of a battle of wills. I wasn’t going to let RA take over my life completely, I could do most things myself and I hated to ask anyone for help. Being as sick as I have been, I have had no choice but to ask for help. There were days when getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was an ordeal. An extremely painful ordeal. It was simply impossible not to ask for help with some of the most basic of needs. I discovered that the world did not end and it was okay if things were not done “my way”.
- A clean is nice but really not all that important. I used to care very much about how clean my house was. I felt that how my house looked was a reflection on me and how I cared for my family. I know that sounds a little nutty but that is how I felt. I really felt like I could not physically do a great many things anymore but I could take care of my family and a clean house was part of that. Of course now looking back I can see how crazy that whole idea sounds. My house currently is picked up. No one is going to trip over anything in my house, but it is a far cry from clean and I really don’t care. I could spend the next few hours cleaning, or I could spend the next few hours playing with Kevin or reading a good book. Now I choose something that will fill me up instead of depleting my resources.
- Connecting with other people that know and understand what it’s like to have RA is important. Knowing that I am not alone in the day to day challenges that this disease brings has helped me in so many ways. There is comfort in knowing that there are people out there that completely understand what I am going through. I am very grateful to all the new friends that I have found here and for their kindness and support.
Tags: ailments, antibiotics, arthritis, body, diagnostic test, disease, infection, lyme, lyme disease, methotrexate, nourish, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatologist, sick, soul
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Spirit, Wellness | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
As the end of this year approaches I can’t help but look back and reflect on all that has happened. I have experienced some highs and quite a few health related lows this year. I would much rather focus on the good things that 2009 brought.
This was the year that LivingRheum.com was born in earnest.
LivingRheum.com has enriched my life in ways that I never could have expected. I am still in awe that anyone found my blog to read it in the first place. The fact that so many people have come here and read my words and shared their experiences has been such a blessing. I am so grateful to have met so many amazing people.
Just knowing that there are so many good people in this world who completely understand how it really feels to have rheumatoid arthritis and the challenges that I face with this disease, has made me feel so less alone in this challenging journey. I hope that in some way I have been able to give back all that I have gained.
I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy new year filled with much happiness and mobility. I am looking forward to what the new year will bring. I plan to use my energy to focus on the joy. I find the more I focus on the joy, the less I focus on the joints.
Tags: 2010, arthritis, blessing, disease, Happy New Year, health, joints, LivingRheum.com, mobility, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, Wellness
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Good News!, News, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Spirit, Wellness | 4 Comments »
Monday, December 28th, 2009
As of December 18, 2009 all lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets 100 count bottles with the red EZ Open Cap have been recalled. This recall has been expanded from an earlier recall of 5 lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets in November, 2009. The caplets were recalled after consumer complaints that there was an unusual moldy, musty or mildew-like odor that was associated with nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea. As a precautionary measure, all lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets 100 with the red EZ OpenCap have been recalled.
Per the press release from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and McNeil Consumer Healthcare:
The recall is being expanded, as a precaution, to include all TYLENOL® Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles with the distinctive red EZ-OPEN CAP.
The uncharacteristic smell is caused by the presence of trace amounts of a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole. The source of 2,4,6-tribromoanisole is believed to be the breakdown of a chemical used to treat wooden pallets that transport and store packaging materials.The health effects of this compound have not been well studied, and to date all of the observed events reported to McNeil were temporary and non-serious. Consumers who purchased TYLENOL® Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles with the distinctive red EZ-OPEN CAP from the lots included in this recall should stop using the product and contact McNeil for instructions on a refund or replacement. For these instructions or information regarding how to return or dispose of the product, consumers should call 1-888-222-6036 1-888-222-6036 1-888-222-6036 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and Saturday-Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time) or log on to the internet at www.tylenol.com. Consumers who have medical concerns or questions should contact their healthcare provider. Any adverse reactions may also be reported to the FDA’s MedWatch Program by fax at 1-800-FDA-0178, by mail at MedWatch, FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787, or on the MedWatch website at www.fda.gov/medwatch.
For a complete list of all lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets 100 recalled click HERE
Tags: 100, Administration, arthritis, caplet, drug, FDA, Food, Food and Drug Administration, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, pain, RA, recall, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, tylenol, tylenol.com
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Diet/Nutrition, News, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Wellness | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
One of the greatest ideas for someone with rheumatoid arthritis is Cyber Monday. Retailers across the globe are discounting merchandise and many are offering free shipping on Cyber – Monday.
For me, when my RA is flaring or even when it isn’t there are some things that can be just too much for my body to tolerate and shopping is one of those things. While I really enjoy shopping, the Holiday shopping can be overwhelming for me and just too much for my body to handle. This year and for the past few years Cyber Monday has been a life saver. I just simply point and click and purchase my gifts and they are delivered to my doorstep.
I do try to shop from online retailers that I trust and have used before. Most of my shopping is done at stores that either offer free return shipping if there is an issue with the product. Or I will use a merchant that will take the product back at a brick and mortar store nearby without hassle. I don’t mind that if it is only an occasional thing. I have been fortunate that I have not had any problems with any of the purchases I have made in the past.
Cyber Monday has made the holidays a more enjoyable time for me because I do not have the worry of over doing it and ending up out of commission for days. And I don’t have to worry about planning out a shopping strategy to spread the shopping out over several trips to insure that I don’t over stress my joints.
For me easing the stress of shopping has made the holidays a more enjoyable time.
Happy shopping.
Tags: arthritis, Cyber Monday, free shipping, Holiday, Monday, online, over doing, RA, retailer, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, stress
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Spirit | 3 Comments »
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
The past several years I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner. I really enjoy spending time with those I love most and taking some time to reflect on what I am most grateful. This year I will again host our Thanksgiving dinner and what I have learned over the past few years and through a fair amount of trial and error is that planning is key to a successful day.
Planning is important for anyone hosting Thanksgiving dinner, but when you have rheumatoid arthritis you really need to plan well in advance. If you don’t allow enough time to get things like cleaning and shopping you run the risk of overdoing it and ending up out of commission for the big day. I try to start preparing 2 weeks ahead.
During the first week of preparation I try to make sure that all the dishes, glassware and silverware are all clean and polished. I also iron the table linen and work on a centerpiece for the table. Some of the housecleaning that can be done during the first week of preparation include cleaning out any cobwebs and washing windows. I plan the menu and start grocery shopping. I try to split the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving between 2 weeks so that I am not overwhelmed on either week and it also spreads out the cost over two weeks. If something is forgotten in week one, there is always week two to pick it up. I put the leaf into the dining table during this week as well. If you have a separate dining room I would recommend setting the table for Thanksgiving during this week. We use our dining room daily so that isn’t an option for us so I have to wait until the night before to set the table.
The weekend before Thanksgiving I get my husband and kids together and everyone gets assigned cleaning tasks. This includes cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming and dusting and polishing the furniture. Because everyone gets a chore I am not overwhelmed and the tasks get done fairly quickly. I know that this sounds a little early to clean but I leave the day before to do the touch up cleaning. A quick dusting and a once over with the vacuum the night before is all we will need.
When it comes to the cooking, I used to cook everything and our guests just showed up and enjoyed the meal and our company. After overdoing it the first Thanksgiving after my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, I have changed the way dinner is done. Since RA, I have asked that our guests prepare one of their favorite side dishes and dessert. Everyone has happily brought their special recipes and it leaves me with less work to do. Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving I do any baking that is my responsibility. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I do any prep work for the next day such as cutting celery and onions for the stuffing and peeling in cutting the squash. I just keep the prepared items in zip tight bags and it makes the few things I have left to do on Thanksgiving go a lot faster.
On Thanksgiving morning I prepare the stuffing and stuff the turkey before putting it in the oven. There have been years that I was completely unable to lift the turkey in and out of the oven. I found that using my wrist guards helped support my wrists while lifting the turkey. There was one year that even with the wrist guards on I could not trust the strength in my hands to get the turkey in the oven. That year I had to ask for help, there was no other option. The only vegetable that I don’t prepare ahead of time is the potatoes. So all I have to do Thanksgiving is the turkey and peel and cut up the potatoes for mashing. If my hands are bothering me I am not shy about asking for some help from my family. The rest of the meal has been prepped so all I need to do is put it on the stove or pop it into the oven.
The first few years after my rheumatoid arthritis, when I tried to prepare for Thanksgiving in just the days before or even the week of, I found that I was too sore and tired to enjoy the day. In giving myself an extra week to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner I am not feeling stressed which will make my RA worse and I haven’t overdone it which will make my RA worse and I can concentrate on my family and friends and showing my gratitude for them.
I hope that everyone celebrating Thanksgiving has a wonderful day with their friends and family!
Tags: arthritis, cooking, dinner, prepare, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, Thanksgiving, turkey
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Good News!, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Spirit | 10 Comments »
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