Balancing Mental Health With AxSpA...Living with the chronic pain of AxSpA can make you exhausted, sometimes to the point of depression. It can even make you anxious when you aren’t able to complete tasks...Reactions0reactionsComments7 comments
How Writing It Down Has Kept Me Sane...I have always wanted to be a writer. Secretly. Secretly, because the world I grew up in didn’t have writers in it. Or writers didn’t come from, or inhabit, my...Reactions0reactionsComments4 comments
Five Things I Learned About Dietary Change for AS...Gluten-free, paleo, dairy-free, nightshade-free, starch-free, GAPS...if there’s a diet recommended for AS, I’ve probably tried it. Soon after diagnosis I set off down the dietary modification track in search of...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
AxSpa and Hysterectomy...When it comes to diseases that include a lot of inflammation, we often see a lot of co-existing illnesses. My struggles started at 18 when my menstrual cycle suddenly took over...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
Building a Care Team...Being chronically ill means that doctor’s appointments are routine and frequent. It also likely means you have several different types of doctors you see. Finding and building a care team...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
The All or Nothing Approach ...The all or nothing approach. This seems to be how I live my life. Even before I got sick. I seem to have always had an all or nothing approach...Reactions0reactionsComments1 comments
How a Proud Person Learned to Ask for Help...I’ve always tried to be someone you can count on when the chips are down. It brings me joy to offer help and support to others, whether it’s dropping off...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Resetting After a Bad Day...On days where the emotional baggage that comes with living with a chronic illness pours down on us, sometimes it feels like there is no getting out of it. That...Reactions0reactionsComments5 comments
Switching Doctors When You Want Better Care...I’d had the same family doctor for 12 years. She was great to me for a long time, but as I wrote about recently, she gaslit me about my fatigue...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
AS and Confidence...I have always thought I was a confident person. I have insecurities about certain things, as most people do, but I feel lucky to have always believed in my self-worth...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Tips on Surviving the Holidays...The holidays are just around the corner. I can just feel it. The Christmas music already playing on the radio and the beautiful decorated lights, around the neighborhood, are already...Reactions0reactionsComments13 comments
Were any symptoms on Axial Spondyloarthritis surprising? ...Did you experience any unexpected symptoms when you were diagnosed with AxSpa? Are you wondering if anyone else experienced these symptoms? Are you unsure if these symptoms are connected with...Reactions0reactionsComments10 repliesSymptoms
What can I do to relieve my back pain, driving is killing me....I have to drive to work every day, but I can't drive very long before my back hurts. Is there anything I can do to relieve it?...Reactions0reactionsComments36 repliesWork & EmploymentTips & AdviceTravel
Cultivating Self-Fulfillment in a Hyper-Productive World...One thing I’ve learned through coming out of remission and adopting other symptoms the last two years is this: people are obsessed with productivity. Many people hold such high standards...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Going Back to the Basics...I think this pandemic has been useful in terms of revising what works and doesn’t work for me in terms of managing AxSpa. Being at home a lot, sitting too...Reactions0reactionsComments7 comments
Uveitis and A Caring Husband...For the past 4 days, my eyes are back to ground zero. All because of 1 of the 4 meds I take for uveitis and was denied by my insurance...Reactions0reactionsComments6 comments
Seasonal Changes Spring Forward Fall Back...I love fall and it is actually one of my favorite seasons of the year.I have noticed in past seasons that my conditions tends to worsen around late October going...Reactions0reactionsComments1 comments
How My Music Helps Me Relax: 5 Songs...I’ve been thinking about some of the things I do to relax. Not just relaxing my bones or my body, but relaxing my mind – de-stressing my overactive brain. I...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
My AxSpA-To-Go Strategy...When I first started taking biologics, first Humira and now Amgevita, multiple people encouraged me by telling me that many people “get back to living a normal life.” It was...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Committing to a Team With an Unpredictable Illness...I’ve been figure skating for much longer than I’ve been chronically ill. To me, nothing is more freeing than gliding across the ice, carving grooves with my blades, and feeling...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments