Living with chronic illness like RA Archives | Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior

Reducing Stress with Rheumatoid Arthritis

May 22, 2020 Kelly O'Neill Make a Comment Comprehensive RA Care, Living with chronic illness like RA

Reducing stress with RA is important Living with rheumatoid disease is tough. Almost always, it “progresses,” which means gets worse. Meanwhile it tends to make almost everything harder to do—even things we love to do! Like the old saying goes, it’s “not for the faint of heart.” Warriors like us don’t just live with this disease—we fight...Continue reading Make a Comment » Read more

What RA Is Like Really

May 18, 2020 Kelly O'Neill Make a Comment Communicating about RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Trying to describe what RA is like—really Shock and awe—things I felt as I learned first hand what RA is really like. Fourteen years later, I've taken thousands of pictures and written over 1000 articles, but I still can't easily show someone what RA is like. When RA or our medicines are in the news (some...Continue reading Make a Comment » Read more

10 Facts: Coronavirus & Autoimmune Disease

March 21, 2020April 14, 2020 Kelly O'Neill 9 Comments Autoimmune diseases, Living with chronic illness like RA

What about coronavirus and autoimmune disease? If you are actually sick with coronavirus and have an autoimmune disease, please call your doctor and follow her / his advice about whether to continue your usual medications and whether you need specific medical care. Part of the reason that there is no cure yet for diseases like rheumatoid...Continue reading 9 Comments » Read more

Ways to Strengthen Relationships with RA

February 19, 2020February 17, 2020 Kelly O'Neill 3 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA, Tips for living with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Strategies to strengthen relationships with rheumatoid arthritis Over the past decade, readers have commented and emailed me many times about their relationships with rheumatoid arthritis. Both relationships with significant others and with other family members, as well as friendships can be strained by the effects of RA. We’ve often talked about how others have trouble understanding...Continue reading 3 Comments » Read more

No Pain, No Gain Meaning

May 11, 2019October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 25 Comments Inspiration for living with RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Happy Mother’s Day and a heart to heart on getting the most out of suffering. “No pain, no gain” has annoyed me for years. So, what does it have to do with Mother’s Day? I can’t wait to tell you. No pain, no gain lies and truth I guess my biggest objection to the saying no pain, no...Continue reading 25 Comments » Read more

10 Ways I Know RA Is Not Your Fault

November 19, 2017October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 15 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA, Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms

RA is not your fault If you can’t avoid RA, then RA is not your fault… Media articles about rheumatoid disease (RD) / rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often imply that there are things people can do to either avoid getting the disease or to lower disease activity. Most of them present helpful tips to alleviate RA. From hand...Continue reading 15 Comments » Read more

Opioids and Chronic Pain

May 30, 2017October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 28 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA, Rheumatoid arthritis pain

This is the second in a series on opioids & chronic pain. If you know someone with a painful chronic illness, please share this article. Opioids chronic pain debate: cause of epidemic or proper pain relief? In 2003, Nursing Times argued the evidence for treating “chronic non-malignant pain” with opioids (Chronic pain and opioids: dispelling myths and...Continue reading 28 Comments » Read more