Arthritis Wisdom

Inspired tips and information elevating autoimmune living

RA

Being the Caregiver With RA

Being the caregiver and having RA requires special considerations

Being the caregiver and also having RA requires special considerations.

Being the caregiver with RA is a loaded statement.  It is challenging, emotional, and beautiful all at the same time.

My mother turned 87 years old last week.  I made the trip back to South Dakota to help her celebrate along with my siblings and their families.  I knew she had slowed down and was mourning the loss of her dear friend.  The friend she had “done life” with.  Baseball games and out-of-town tournaments, graduations, weddings, births of grandchildren, estate sales, gardening and the loss of their husbands.  And there was a lot in between that spanned over 50 years.  When I arrived at my mother’s house, I wasn’t expecting her loss of appetite and her weakness.  I could tell immediately life had changed.  I knew this was a pivotal moment.

I haven’t slept well since.  My brothers and I are looking at the reality she can no longer live independently without help.  We are meeting with professionals tomorrow to asses her needs and how best to meet them.  It is a stressful time to say the least.

Because I have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I have done my best to take care of my body during this critical time.  My FRESH acronym has been very helpful.  I’m eating healthy foods, the rest and relaxation have been challenging to achieve, I’ve made my pilates session, sleep has been another challenge, and I’ve purposed to stay hydrated.  I’m doing the best I can.  And I’m utilizing the FRESH acronym for mom, as well.  I’m focused on her nutrition, emotional needs, getting her moving, restful sleep and keeping her hydrated.  The FRESH lifestyle has become my default mode.

Being the caregiver with RA requires special considerations.  It is a necessity to be serious about self-care.  I can’t afford an arthritic flare and am pacing myself to try to avoid one.

In addition to FRESH living, I am thinking about the privilege it is to care for my mother.  She took care of me for many years, now it is my turn to care for her.  I am counting my blessings for my siblings, my husband, and the time I have to travel for this meeting tomorrow.  One step at a time.  I remind myself to focus on the next step only, because I get overwhelmed when I think beyond that.

Life continues on even though I have RA.  But the fact I have RA requires the special considerations of adhering to my FRESH lifestyle, remembering what a privilege it is to care for my mother, and counting my blessings.

I would truly appreciate any tips you may have on the subject of being a caregiver with RA.

XXOO Cathy

Photo by Jake Thacker at Unsplash

3 Ways Your Brain Can Help Your RA

Using Brain to help RA

Using the brain to help manage RA.  Fun Fact:  The average adult brain is the size of a medium cauliflower

While attending a pharmacy conference last week, I thought of how using the brain can help manage my rheumatoid arthritis (RA).  Although the subject of the conference was neurology, not RA, my mind eventually wandered over to the place of applying what I could to my personal health experience, living with RA.

That meant applying what I learned to better care for my rheumatoid arthritis.  As neurotransmitter levels and mood were being discussed, I related this information to the relationship between RA, mood, and disease management.  This made me to think of how I use my brain to plan make decisions concerning my autoimmune lifestyle.

There are 3 ways using your brain can help manage rheumatoid arthritis.  Like I’ve said before, living well with RA is a process, not instant pudding.    Here are the 3 ways:

  1. Get to know your body.  In particular, think about and be aware of how your body feels, how your joints feel and what is going on around you.  Start “listening” to your body.  Being cognizant of what you are doing, eating, behavior habits, mood, stress levels, sleep patterns, activities and how these things may be affecting your joints and other RA symptoms, such as fatigue.  This takes time and a self-awareness.  It is a process.  As an example, I discovered some cause and effects with my RA symptoms after I started paying attention to what my body was telling me.  I discovered stress, even positive-happy-type stress worsens my joint pain.  I learned when I eat green, leafy salads I feel better and think better.  If I get 8 hours of sleep, I have less joint issues.  If I walk daily and have a 50 minute pilates session weekly, I feel better.  This is an ongoing practice I will continue to do all my life.  I’m currently “testing” eliminating gluten from my diet because I’m suspecting a gluten intolerance.  Continuous assessment of how my joints feel and my fatigue level are a way of life now.
  2. Information, not inflammation.  Learn all you can about the disease and every aspect of living with it.  Get to know all about your medications and your medication options.  Your pharmacist can help you by giving you medication information literature.  Know side effects, potential drug interactions and particulars about the drugs you are on.  Keep your eyes open for articles in the health section of your newspaper, go to the library and read publications such as Arthritis Today, read Arthritis Wisdom,  and news releases concerning anything RA from major medical and research centers.  Use the information to fine tune how you live your day-to-day life to help your body fight the autoimmune disease. Personally, I’m focusing on anti-inflammatory eating and monitoring my schedule to allow for plenty of rest.
  3. Take a mental rest.  Speaking of rest, mental rest is so important and healthy.  I routinely meditate and read for enjoyment.  The mental rest affects my joints in a positive way.  I have found stress reduction so helpful managing my RA.  When I feel my joints getting sore, I think about what I may be stressing over, then take time to allow my body to relax.  That is when I meditate or read something uplifting to my mental and emotional being.  Assess if you are overcommitting and need to slow down and lighten your load, then do so.  Purpose to take a mental rests as you schedule your days.

Using the brain by getting to know your body, gathering information about all things RA and allowing for mental rest to help manage your rheumatoid arthritis will be a lifelong endeavor.  There is new information coming out constantly.  Be picky about your sources.  Stick with the reputable ones.  Major medical and research centers and the Arthritis Foundation are a great start.

By listening to your body, educating yourself about the disease and lifestyle choices and being willing to make tough choices ,like giving up a satisfying job,  in addition to medications have allowed me a good quality of life lately.  Feeling good is a powerful motivator and using my brain to learn all that I can to help my body fight the RA is so worth the effort.  And that is using Arthritis Wisdom!

How have you used your brain to help manage your RA?  We would love to hear!

XXOO Cathy

 

RA Sojourner

Like a trip I take somewhere, I mentally frame my RA as temporary, a sojourn.  It is a mind game.

I refer to myself as a RA Sojourner.  I recently realized this.  Let me explain.

Merriam-Webster defines sojourn as a temporary stay.

I was thinking about planning future events including a family reunion, projects at home, and trips to visit relatives I haven’t seen in a long time.  After considering commitments already made, I concluded my plans will take several years to come to fruition.  It was at that point I realized my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was absolutely a factor in my plans, but I also realized I don’t necessarily think my RA will be a defining  factor forever.  I will admit having a chronic disease and managing the disease requires me to use some mind games, but I truly have hope researchers will figure out even better ways to treat the disease and perhaps stop it at it’s origin.  And I’m not talking about false hope.

Not long ago I attended a Wilderness Medicine lecture.  The researcher was giving instructions on treating shark attacks and other marine emergencies when she mentioned they were studying potentially new analgesics and anti-inflammatory agents found on coral slime.  I had never heard of coral slime before, but it struck me that there is research happening on many fronts.

What is being discovered about the gut microbiome gives me hope for future RA therapies.  Research has established that the gut microbiome greatly influences the immune system.  In an interview with Rheumatology Advisor, Veena Taneja, PhD, associate professor of immunology in the Department of Immunology and Rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota discussed the latest insights about the association between the gut microbiome and RA.  Studies have shown RA is associated with a low-diversity microbial profile and one study found an abundance of the microbe Prevotella copri in untreated RA patients.  I am encouraged that very bright minds are investigating the relationship between the gut microbiome, the immune system and RA.

A study out of Yale University published in Science has discovered that a bacterium called Enterococcus gallinarium could migrate from the gut to other parts of the body causing an autoimmune disease.  Could an antibiotic or vaccine potentially be used as a treatment for the autoimmune disease, in this case autoimmune liver disease and systemic lupus?  Reading about these findings give me hope for better treatments in the future.

So that is a broad brush look at why I refer to myself as a RA Sojourner.  I am mindful of my disease and work very hard to mitigate the effects on my day-to-day life, but I realized I naturally operate with hope for better, more exacting treatment in the future.  I even have wondered if we will see a cure for RA in my lifetime.

Within the first few years of my practicing pharmacy,  methotrexate came on the scene.  I remember thinking that we finally have something that modifies the disease.  About a decade or so later came the monoclonal antibodies and other biologics changing the treatment options for the good.  Now, the research includes looking to understand the connection between the gut microbiome and RA.  That gives me hope that my time managing RA is more temporary, a sojourn.

I invite you to sojourn with me.  I would love to hear your comments!

And that I say is Arthritis Wisdom!

Take care.  XXOO Cathy