Through this blog, I hope to share a lot of the tools and tricks I have learned over the last decade of living with arthritis. Since it will take me a while to write down the tricks I have learned, I want to give a preview of the kinds of things I hope to cover in my blog. I also thought it would be good to start with my philosophy on living with arthritis. Although every trick in this blog may not work for you, I hope it gets your mind thinking and allows you to adapt to live a wonderful life regardless of whether your arthritis is in remissions or relatively uncontrolled (like mine has been so far).
My Philosophy on Arthritis
Everyone seems to have a different take on how to live with their arthritis. Some people really define themselves by their arthritis, they make friends who have similar conditions, and they let it dominate how they view themselves. I feel like this strategy didn’t work for me. In some ways, this works for people because it helps to redefine “normal” and makes them feel part of a group who is dealing with the same things. However, I felt like arthritis wasn’t who I was, it was something I lived with, and with this strategy, I lost too much of who I was and wanted to be.
I instead, tried to find a way to balance two important things: 1) living as normal a life as possible, and 2) always making good decisions when it comes to my arthritis. These two things don’t always seem like they go together (hence some of the future blog posts), but I have found a way to make it work. When I was 19, I focused mostly on living a normal life and ignored my arthritis: constantly pushing myself too far and ending up feeling even more abnormal as I tired in the middle of an activity with friends. Now I have learned to set boundaries, educate my friends enough (but not make it a big deal), and find a way to live a normal but modified life. I feel like getting to this point was where my anxiety and depression about arthritis really started to fade away. I am not saying there aren’t frustrating days, but overall, I am living the life I want to live.
My Philosophy on Treatment
Again, people feel very strongly about treatment. As an engineer by training, I believe in what medical science has to offer. I take biological medications and also medications to manage my symptoms that are left over. However, I also complement that with some supplements (like stress b and calcium), a healthy diet, and regular physical therapy. I also feel that ergonomics, braces, mouth guards, canes, icing, taping, and other tools help me to manage pain and symptoms. Although I think medical treatment has a lot to offer, my goal in this blog is to discuss managing the emotions that go with arthritis.
Future Blog Post Concepts
• Managing uncertainty with arthritis and the world (keeping it low stress)
• Not letting pain keep you from enjoying life and being productive
• Decision making – balancing what you want to do, with what you can do, with what will make you feel too different (if you have to stand out too much in a crowd to get what you need)
• Controlling what you can, since there are things you won’t be able to
• Asking for help – and being okay with giving up control over what happens
• Talking to friends/family/work about arthritis
• Staying connected to friends who don’t have arthritis
• Managing interactions with your partner about arthritis
• Tips for dealing with flares
• Finding hobbies you can enjoy (and ways to adapt the ones that are harder)
• Budgeting your energy (fighting fatigue)
• Feeling like you always have to follow the rules and ways to rebel (if you need it)
Legal Disclaimer about Advice (because I probably should have it)
I am not a licensed medical professional and nothing in this blog should be relied upon as medical advice. Consult a medical professional about treatment of your condition. If you are feeling depressed, do not rely on this blog in lieu of talking to a medical professional.
All blog posts are copyrighted by me. All rights are reserved. Do not duplicate without written approval.
