Dia duit agus fáilte – that’s Irish for hello and welcome. I write this blog about living & thriving with RA (rheumatoid arthritis) naturally because this is the info I needed when I was diagnosed with RA.
I am glad you decided to visit, though if you are here, chances are you are living with RA or another autoimmune disease and that sucks. Having a chronic illness changes your life and when you choose to treat rheumatoid arthritis or another autoimmune disease naturally, it requires time, effort and commitment to walk the path to the life you wish to create.
It takes doing something different, finding courage and strength within and fighting like hell, as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
Change can be simple but it’s rarely easy. But if remission is possible, then the effort is worth it.
One thing to remember – what works for my body may or may not work for your body; it can be a matter of trail and error. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking medication and supplementing with a natural approach to reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. We are all in this together and we need to support each other to feeling as healthy as possible, however we are able.
I am not a doctor and before you take any suggestions I offer, please talk with your health care provider. I research, read studies and dive deeply into a topic when I write these blog posts about living and thriving with RA but I make mistakes; please let me know if you find anything that needs to be updated.
On this blog you can also read about travel and our van life adventures. I share these stories to inspire you to follow your own dreams, to discover how you want to live your life with rheumatoid arthritis and because I love writing!
Why this RA blog?
I have tried to give the information I needed when I was first diagnosed – supportive, informative, encouraging and optimistic. It is a work in progress and I often add new articles to give you more ways to fight RA and live your dream life.
You will find plenty to support your holistic healing journey, including recipes, yoga practices, how-to articles, travel and inspiration.
Body
This is the category of posts that focuses on the physical aspects of health; how to live and thrive in a strong body that can manage pain and other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. In these posts you can learn how to improve diet, yoga, sleep and sex to reduce and heal your rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Click the paragraph title link above (Body) to get started.
Mind
One of the things many of us diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases often have to learn the hard way is how these diseases affect our mental and emotional wellbeing. It came as an unpleasant surprise to exist in a brain fog in the early days of symptoms and diagnosis. I am still working to keep my stress levels as low as possible as stress is the primary trigger for my RA.
In this post, you can read about how to address the mental and emotional struggles that come with RA and other autoimmune and chronic diseases.
Travel with chronic illness
I love and live to travel. Most of the items on my bucket list involve some sort of travel and adventure. And, I have always dreamed of being a travel photographer and writer. I decided to combine the primary focus of this blog – living and thriving with RA – and my love of travel to come up with suggestions and ideas that make travel possible, fun and hopefully as pain-free as possible. Stay tuned as I feverishly write new articles for you.
Van life
We knew we did not want to continue living on our farm in 2020 but weren’t quite sure what we did want. After lots of throwing ideas around, we decided to embark on an exciting van life adventure – living full time in an 84sqft Sprinter van. We lived almost 2 years in our van and loved almost every minute of it. Check out these posts for fun, inspiration and how-tos.
My story – the short version
In summer 2016, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and that diagnosis changed my life dramatically. The activities I enjoyed, hiking, yoga, cooking had become painful and my life started to close in on itself.
Jump to spring 2017 – the pain, fatigue and depression of RA were gone; I hiked 5-8 miles on Mt Rainier weekly, practiced yoga daily and was, once again, able to lift a heavy pan filled with delicious food. I truly feel like I am living and thriving with RA.
So what happened? I changed my life – diet and exercise, my daily habits, as well as my mindset. I changed everything and became an RA Warrior – someone who fights RA and reclaims her/his life in the process.
Check out the About page for more about me.
Learn more about autoimmune disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
