13 Things to Know for Rheumatoid Arthritis Newbies + Facebook Live


Getting a diagnosis of any type of chronic illness can throw you for loop. There is so much to know and you have so little energy. My new slideshow for HealthCentral collects 13 things you need to know as an RA newbie:

 "Receiving a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a moment of strange duality. On one hand, you may be relieved to finally have answers for the symptoms you’ve been experiencing. On the other, it can be incredibly overwhelming to find out you have a chronic illness. Wrapping your head around all the new factors RA brings into your life is a long-term process. Here are some of the things you need to know."

See the slideshow on HealthCentral. And in case you missed it, here is the Facebook Live I did yesterday talking about this topic: 



 

Comments

Rick Phillips said…
My diagnosis story was relatively straight forward and somewhat quick. When I hear of the issues raised by many related to diagnosed I cannot totally relate. All I can say is that something as nebulous as RA does require a specialist and sometimes the biggest issue is getting to the correct doctor.
9:38 PM
MikeOdd said…
May I ask if you have seen any of the (admittedly sparse) information about the effects of Aspartame (Nutrasweet) artificial sweetener that can be badly metabolized in humans (as lab rats have a different set of enzymes to be able deal with it) as it converts into methanol in the body? Methanol, definitely not good, a poison in fact (albeit in very small quantities), is then processed further into formaldehyde (also toxic) which funnily enough is used in experiments in lab animals to stimulate joints to immediate symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am afraid that this sort of information, a result of various scientists in the late 1970's was suppressed, but can still be found with a little work.
- B.
7:56 PM
Unknown said…
Bonjour, je tombe tout à fait par hasard sur votre page en cherchant des photos de k.d.lang. Je suis atteinte de PR depuis 40 ans. Les premières années ont été difficiles jusqu'aux différentes opérations obligatoires pour soulager la douleur : poignet, doigts, pieds et épaule et plus j'ai vieilli moins j'ai eu mal.
Le rhumatologue disait qu'en vieillissant la PR finirait par disparaître. Et je confirme, j'ai maintenant 70 ans et je ne souffre plus de cette maladie qui fait de gros dégâts car cortisone à haute dose. Je ne prend plus aucun médicament.
Si cela peu conforter votre maladie, j'en suis ravie. Pour des questions : melomely04@yahoo.fr je réside en France.
7:44 AM
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