¶ Managing Stress With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Hi , my Spoonie Sisters . Welcome to another episode of my Spoonie Sisters with me , gracefully , Jen and Linnea . So we are here to provide you with support , information , inspiration for living your best life despite the challenges of chronic illness . How are you today , Linnea ?
You're good . I am a little slower than I have been , but that's okay .
I think we both are . Yeah , but I think that's why we like to chat so much . Yes , we pick each other up Absolutely Every chance we can . I always said every day , but no , every chance we can't .
Yes , yes , it's every chance .
So today we have a particularly important topic to discuss managing the stress that often accompanies a rheumatoid arthritis . So living with this autoimmune condition can be challenging . So you're late , yeah , Both physically and mentally , and we understand the importance of addressing the stress that comes with it .
So in today's episode we're going to share five valuable tips to help you better handle rheumatoid arthritis and stress . Oh we need that .
Yeah , I know .
All right . So let's dive into tip number one . It's educate yourself . So our first tip is to empower yourself through knowledge . Understanding your condition , the treatment options and what to expect can greatly reduce the stress that often comes with the unknown . So take one time , take one time .
Take the time to educate yourself about rheumatoid arthritis , what its symptoms are and the available treatments , which treatments are constantly changing , right , exactly . So you want to do this by being informed , so you'll feel more in control of your health journey . So do you feel like you've done this ? Have you educated yourself , linnea ?
Yes , when I was diagnosed there wasn't as much internet . There wasn't the social media , but magazines , books , anything I could get a hold of to try and understand what the doctor just told me was very beneficial to myself .
Yeah , absolutely , and I think for me in the beginning . I just Googled . Yeah , and we always call it Dr Google .
Yes , yeah .
But really that's what I felt like I had , and now I just feel I feel so much more empowered because we have so many more people that we know we can talk to and so many more resources . You know , like we have Stephanie , the rheumatoid arthritis coach . Exactly , yeah .
And it's more people getting out there .
Exactly , and so the more of that that we have in our community the better . But some people don't even know about these resources .
No .
And so it's so important that we get the information out there and let people know that these resources are available to them .
Yes , I absolutely agree , because there was a time there wasn't enough resources and there's people that don't know how to find it and I think they have , like social media , which is where we come in , because we can share those resources and they're going oh , I can find out more , you know .
So I think it's great that we personally share those types of things .
I think it's incredibly important . I could not agree with you more , and so I mentioned Stephanie , the rheumatoid arthritis coach . Do you have another one that you can think of ?
Like just a coach , not off the top of my hand .
You can just a person that you follow and look up to .
Well , besides you , I make account . I love her daily Daily doses . I was I had a brain fog there . What it was called . Her daily doses are so inform , so much information , but she does it in a way that you can understand it and you're going . You have .
I've had so many aha moments from her daily doses , Like , oh , that makes sense , Makes more sense now why XYZ is happening . So I would say she's one of my top ones that I watch .
I definitely agree with you and I will make sure I link both of them in this . Yes , do yeah , don't , let me forget . But so that's Stephanie , the rheumatoid arthritis coach , and Danny from Make it Count for Danny , and don't forget she's got those amazing daily dose of Danny . Oh , yes , check them out . All right .
So tip two would be to build a support system . Rheumatoid arthritis can be isolating and the emotional toll it can take can be very overwhelming . So that's why our second tip is to build a strong support system . Connect with friends and family who who are understanding and compassionate .
Consider joining online or in person support groups where you can share experiences and strategies for managing stress . You don't have to go through this journey alone . Okay , so how do you feel like you've done with tip number two building a support system ?
You know , at first I didn't have that .
I didn't realize how important it was until I got it Like , okay , having support of others that have the same disease and maybe our diseases are hitting us differently and hits different joints , but we understand the process , we're still going through the same thing , we're still fighting , and having that makes it so much easier for me to accept my diagnosis is
having that support system .
So have you been in any kind of support groups at all ?
You know , I was in one . It was an art , I can't even think of it now on Facebook page . I'm in one over there and it got very big and it started losing . You know . You know how it is , but I still look at their stuff , I still see , you know .
But that helped me understand my disease better and it also gave me people that I could vent to and say why is this happening . And they tell you you're okay , you're not alone , you're not doing this by yourself . And the Spoonie sisters on Instagram , my Spoonie sisters on the Instagram . I love that group .
And I think I'm in the same one on Facebook that you're in , and exactly when it starts to get into the thousands , it's very overwhelming , and so the ones that I have been in is I used to do one with . There's a podcast called my Immune System Hates Me . She no longer is taking new members . People . I can't even think of how I'm trying to word this .
She's not doing interviews anymore , but her podcast is still up there and so I do recommend people listen to it because it's really good . And I don't know are you on that podcast ? Did she interview you ?
I don't think so .
Okay , I know I did and a couple other people did , but- .
What was it again ? I'm gonna write that down .
My immune system hates me and that's with Chelsea out of me . I think I do have that one on my podcast , yeah , and it's great listen and there's all kinds of I mean it's all over the place for different kinds of topics and people that she interviewed .
It it's awesome , and I love hearing stories completely not related to my own , because it's fascinating to me . Yeah , and I don't mean that in a weird second twist , no , no , I don't think I'm gonna thrive on people's pain , but it makes me better understand them and I love that .
Yes , and I agree , the more we learn about the other diseases , we can sympathize a little , better we can understand . We can tell them we get it . We might not understand it all , but we understand , if that makes sense .
Exactly , and it was sad because she was retiring from the podcast , because she was getting into dancing again and going back to further her education . And she's also a she helps teach like kids in a kids program and I mean she just busy life . She has a big , a big , amazing life in New York City that I am so incredibly jealous of because that's amazing .
I didn't want it to end there and that's why I started the podcast was to keep it going and I'm so incredibly grateful to her and yeah , but we had a Thursday group that met and so when she was done with the podcast , she ended the support group too , and I'm in one with Cheryl Crow from RA Life Hacks .
I mean , I'm not a live on Hacks . Yeah , you know what I mean . She does RA Life Hacks .
She does , she does . But RA Life Hacks is a really separate person . But yeah , so Cheryl Crow , not the famous singer , but the famous one in RA .
She's famous in our world . I think , Like I think I would probably get very nervous if I were to run into her because my daughter met her . I know and I was a little jealous .
I was a lot jealous . And my very , very shy daughter ran up and gave her a hug and got a picture with her .
So okay , We'll have to live through your daughter .
Live by courtesy for her and then . So those are the two that I've done and I'm still in the one with Cheryl right now . But on top of that I think you've came to it before my friend Megan we do the mindset support group , yes , and it's really just kind of helping us get out of that negativity that we can get stuck in so easily . I gotta do it .
That's why we started it . Yeah , I got to get on there with you guys . I mean , this week I wasn't feeling good , but there's other weeks that I've wanted to , but my anxiety's gotten the best of me and it's easy to do .
It's easy to do and you're not alone . I want you to remember that , because I have severe anxiety and I don't think people realize that , and so when I'm interviewing new guests , oh my gosh , yeah , I have like sweating bullets .
I get nervous doing it when it's just us Like . I get a little anxious like that .
Well , we have a camera on and it makes it nervous , like if it was just . We just need to pretend a space time . Yeah , yes , okay , so we could easily stay on tip two forever ? I'm sure , yes , but support group .
they need that so .
Absolutely , If you're new into this world , find a support group and I'm going to tell you , I've talked to many people that have said they have tried multiple support groups because sometimes you find out one is way too big .
You've got to find the right one .
For anyone that wants to join our mindset support group . I mean , really , we at most have six people . It varies . Some people can't come every single month , so it just varies , which I don't mind . The fact that it's a small group , but at the same time I'm welcome to more people . I think it's good for you and I to get out of our anxiety pocket .
Yes , I'm trying . I'm trying .
We're at work in progress , yes , okay . So tip number three practice stress reduction techniques . So tip number three focuses on those practical ways to manage stress . Incorporate stress reduction techniques into your daily routine .
Techniques like deep breathing , meditation , yoga and mindfulness can help calm your mind and relax your body , so stress reduction can also have a positive impact on your physical symptoms , making it an essential part of managing rheumatoid arthritis . All right , do you feel like you're going to doing tip number three Sometimes Depends on the day , right ?
Yep , and you know what , though ? What's so bad about that is I know how much this stuff helps . Like I am very much , I do do the deep breathing a lot . My trainer , liz , taught me how , and sometimes I'll go back to those breathing videos she has sent me just to refresh and make sure I'm doing it . That is a huge help to me .
You know , I'm sure you've had the . You know , if you just do yoga , you'll help and you'll be feel better . You know We've all gotten that If you have RA or any autoimmune , people are going to tell you you need to do yoga .
But I will tell you yoga has been a very big stress reliever for myself and being in pain I haven't been able to do it as much , but that is truly relaxing for me , a relaxing exercise , but it gets my joints moving too .
Well and that's the thing that I think people need to understand is , first of all , be careful when you're giving people advice and don't say things like have you tried yoga ? Yes , or I had a friend tell me to juice with her .
I mean yeah , yeah . Drink apple cider vinegar . Take a scoop of that , or drink a shot of that every day . You're going to
¶ Prioritizing Self-Care for Chronic Illness
feel better .
And I think I know I think some of these things can kind of help some of the symptoms , but they are not a cure , and I think sometimes when people give this advice , they make it sound like that it's this all knowing cure and it's not . And so I love yoga also , but I can't always do it and it's definitely I see how I'm doing .
But lately I've noticed that if I do a little bit of yoga in the morning or the evening , it helps loosen me up after I've gotten up in the morning and it helps loosen me up again before I go , lay down Exactly . And it's also finding out how to adapt and change the movements and make them work for us , because you got to fine tune it .
Sometimes you don't want to , you don't want to hurt yourself and if , actually if anyone out there is hypermobile , you can easily hurt yourself if you're hypermobile and trying to do yoga .
My daughter is hypermobile , yeah , and , and so you know I took her to a yoga class with me once before she found out she was hypermobile and we couldn't figure out why she was hurting so bad . Well , duh .
Yeah , because of the positions you . I did hot yoga . I loved yoga , but it really there were some movements there that I paid for later . Yeah , but yeah , I it's . It's just so crazy how people forget that we have an autoimmune disease and that these things are not going to heal us .
No , they're not . They might help symptoms . Like I said , they might help symptoms depending on your whole background . I mean , we need to look at everyone as a whole , Just like we want a doctor to look at everyone as a whole .
Be careful when you're giving advice to people , because you're not a professional , you're not a doctor and also you might not know their entire story Exactly .
But I do think we need to get out there that you've got to prioritize self-care having a chronic illness , because it really does . Stress is a big trigger for a lot of us because that affects your whole body and by doing some of these things it will calm your disease down a little bit so you can actually live .
And as you get to know your body better , because , ironically , when you get diagnosed with something like this , you get to know your body better , and as you get to know it better , you get to know what triggers are .
So you might have a healthy diet , but maybe there's a particular food that you eat that causes you to get more inflamed , or maybe you're allergic to it or whatever it is , and so you've got to be careful about that . Or maybe you're hypermobile , so you can't do yoga and you've got to find something else .
Or you're hypermobile and you still want to do yoga , but maybe you're doing it a little more gently and not stretching as far , or you completely do not do some movements Is the Serendipity app .
don't they have some modification of exercises on there ?
I thought there was some city .
So for people that can't like stand a lot , I feel like there's some sitting exercises in there for people , so I just want to put that out there . The Serendipity app is amazing and worth it , and that is one thing I found on there is their exercises really help .
Yes , and since you mentioned them , I will say this is not an ad .
We are not forcing you to say that , no , no , no , no , I'm just love this app , but we both love it when you open it up .
What I love about it is you can have your daily affirmation and it even pops up with a notification on my phone for my daily affirmation . What I personally love to do is all week long . I will leave that notification so I have my affirmation stacking up . Oh , what a good idea .
Yeah , and so then when you open the app , you go into it and you see the affirmation again . You see , I keep wanting to call it menu recipes , recipes , a whole section for recipes .
They have a section for like a community chat type of thing where you can bring up topics and questions that you want to ask people or you can jump on with what other people have said . They have some mindfulness stuff . My financial leak she's amazing . I love listening to her .
Yes , I love it . I feel like the app goes along with this tip Like really well .
Yes 100% and it's , I think , for me . Personally , I find it super helpful and affordable . It's not overly pricey . Exactly , I do have a coupon code that they gave to us . It is , I'm pretty sure it's Spoonie Sister or Spoonie Sister One it depends on . So there's two ways of signing up .
You can sign up for a monthly or a yearly , and so one code works for monthly , one code works for yearly I think it's Spoonie Sister for monthly and Spoonie Sister One for yearly , and so I think it's like $7.99 a month if you do the monthly with the discount , or maybe no , maybe that's before the discount , I don't know .
But it's worth it , like it's one of those apps that I think it's great to have and it goes perfect with our tips .
Yeah , it's got videos for working out and flare friendly . That's what I love about it . One of our friends , live , move to live . She does flare friendly exercises , which are amazing .
That might be the ones I was thinking of .
Probably . And then Megan does all the flare friendly too . I know there's people that do like exercises from a seated position too . Yes , I mean there's , oh my gosh . Yeah , I can go on .
There's time for everybody .
Yeah , so I mean , you guys get it by now . We love our serendipity , yeah .
But it's the self care . Or the stress release Like it's got a lot of . It really goes along with the tips , the last two tips we've talked about .
It is and the woman that created it . She is amazing . She is also a fellow Spoonie Sister and that's why she created it , so I think that's amazing . Yes , let's see . Was that already tip four ? Wow .
Did we kind of just go into tip four ? I think we Maybe not , oh , maybe not . You know what we did . I kind of brought it up for the stress reduction and it kind of is goes along with our next tip .
Yes , they definitely do go well together . Okay , so here we are . Tip four we already kind of talked about it , but that's okay . Tip four is prior Blah , blah , blah . Oh really , that's the tip . Yeah , it's blah , blah , blah . Prioritize self care . So self care is not a luxury , it is a necessity .
Say that again with me Self care is a necessity , people especially when living with a chronic illness like rheumatoid arthritis or any other chronic illness . So tip four is all about prioritizing your self care . Make sure to get enough rest , maintain a healthy diet and engage in activities that bring you joy .
By taking care of your physical and emotional wellbeing , you'll be better equipped to handle the challenges that come your way , and I could not agree with that anymore .
I'm right there with you Like it's so important and I know there are people because I know I've been there where you're going that is so selfish of me to take that time Like I should be doing X , y , z for somebody you know .
But you have to learn that it's okay to give yourself that self-care and make it a necessity in your life because it truly is a benefit to you and your disease .
¶ The Importance of Self-Care and Communication
When you do those self-care Soak in your feet and epsom salt , having your daughter do your nails . You know , go for a walk in nature , just do something to take care of you in self-care and then- .
Absolutely , absolutely . And I love the fact that you're sharing examples , because I think everyone needs to remember that self-care isn't important , but we always do look at it like a luxury .
But there's so many options of self-care that are just taking care of yourself and , at the end of the day , even if you're like say , you're a mom , okay , yes , you've got a crazy busy life , maybe you even work full-time too crazy busy life , but you have to take care of yourself . So that might mean an extra five minutes in the shower .
That might mean an evening bath soak . My sister-in-law I think it's amazing she takes a bath every single night once their son goes down to bed , and I think that's a wonderful way I'm so glad she does that .
It's a great way to pamper yourself .
Yes , I think sometimes she even takes champagne in there . I mean , she knows how to do it , well , go for it . Girl Handles the whole shebang chocolate , oh , okay .
I want that spa . I want to go to that spa .
It's just a regular bathtub but I know but- . You might as well go bigger , go home . Yeah , I love it , but it could be anything it could be yeah , okay , it's simple . Here's my example , today I had a lot going on today . I was interviewed for another podcast today of a fellow friend meeting with you computer work , all the things .
But I finally looked at the clock at one point and I was like , wow , have I even walked around at all today ? I've been sitting at my computer most of the day . This is not good , too good , I did eat . I did eat .
I finally was like you know what , I'm going to pause when I'm doing and I'm going to get up and I'm going to go for a walk around the block . And then I got out there and I'm like , no , I don't do more than a block , I need more than that .
So I walked down , partly down towards the other side of my neighborhood and walked past the park and around , and then back down on the road behind my house and did a loop . So I walked for 15 minutes and I think I needed that .
I needed to get up and stretch because I was starting to get stiff and sore , and so prioritizing yourself can look like anything you just need to figure out what you need and figure out how to incorporate it into your schedule .
Yeah , exactly , you can have as little as five minutes . Yeah , I wanted it on . I wanted it on the action .
Yeah .
But even just as little as five minutes a day , just to take a deep breath and just center yourself , because you can't run on fumes .
Exactly Five minutes to refill your pill case and take your ads and maybe have some avocado toast and some tea , whatever it is you need and whatever fancies you . Yes , exactly , exactly . All right , let's move on to tip number five Communicate with your health care team . Whoo that was a biggie ? Yes , it is so .
Tip number five emphasizes the importance to open up , of open sorry , of open and honest communication with your health care team . Your medical professionals are there to support you , so don't hesitate to discuss your stress and your concerns with them .
They can help adjust your treatment plan or recommend additional resources to better manage your rheumatoid arthritis and stress . So I don't know about you , but tip number five is pretty big , yeah , and here's the thing .
Yeah .
With tip number five .
¶ Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis and Medication Tips
Most of us now , I think , have online charts available to us by now . Yes , yes , and I think that is extremely important and so it's worth utilizing . If , for some reason , maybe , you were put on a biologic last month and they said , ok , let me know how you're feeling like , if you're getting any improvement .
I mean , typically some of these might not show improvement for three months or so , but maybe they did ask , or maybe it has already been three months , and so if , for some reason , you're feeling like it's not working , or maybe you're just having a new pain I don't know whatever it is but you can get in your chart and message them .
It's super important because , yes , I agree and it's super important to be comfortable with your health care providers . You need to be able to be open and honest with them .
You can't have a doctor that you don't feel like you can really tell them everything , because I've had doctors like that where and also maybe it's sometimes I just felt like I was complaining too much . But you have to be honest . Every symptom , every pain , every ache . You have to share that because that gives them the information to help you .
And you have to find doctors that you trust . That's a big thing .
It is a big thing . And here's the thing If you have a good doctor , they truly want to know this information because they're trying to find the right treatment plan for you .
If you don't share everything , they can't find it there are going to be a lot of misses .
No , a few episodes back . I don't know if you caught this one , but there's a fellow Spudy sister that she not only has her metoarthritis but she is actually a you know , I think , if I remember correctly , I think she might have mentioned that she was kind of in in like a delusional moment , that something was even wrong with her .
Yep .
And what I think is is a good thing is that she finally went to someone in her practice and said , okay , something's off , yeah , and and so I , you know , I asked her some important questions and I said , okay , how do people know when the medicine is not working and when to move on to the next one ?
And so if you guys didn't hear that episode , I definitely encourage you to hear it , yeah .
I guess I've missed that one .
I will definitely have to go listen it's some really helpful information and I and it's not just for women to arthritis people , it's for anybody on their medications , you know their goal is to get you in medical remission to find the right combination for you and they have a way of going through these different medications to get you there , you know .
And then you have a time limit that they have and if , if they're seeing like 5% improvement , that's not good enough . They want better .
They want yeah , and they'll increase you to see if it will improve .
And honestly talking to her made everything from my last 10 years make more sense Because my rheumatologist when she added biologics for me she started me on a Rensia and I mean there was a little bit of improvement .
But not a lot .
And , and so after I don't know four or six months or so , she was like you know . I think we can do better and I didn't . I never asked questions before . I asked all the questions now , but before I was just like okay , that's what you want me on ?
Okay , okay , and that's what I always did , and so it was nice to hear , like , what they usually and typically look for and want .
I , yeah , I actually I , looking back , I think I was in medical remission for a little bit , but then the medicine stopped working , which happens , oh gosh . But , fine , good doctors . You have to have good doctors , Absolutely Well , and you think that needs to be a topic all by itself and definitely .
Definitely , and if any of you are familiar with this app and they're also on Instagram I don't know about Facebook or anything , but I know they're on Instagram . They pronounce it help , but it's spelled like it's H-E-A-L-P , and you can actually go in there to to chat with people and get to know people that have similar struggles as you do health wise .
But there's also a section in there where you can recommend good doctors , which is amazing . Yes , and so the whole point of that is to help people not go through some of the junk that some people have gone through , and to help you find somebody that is actually going to be a great doctor and really listen to you and take you seriously . It's so important .
So one thing I was going to bring up is I was in medical remission as well . Yeah , but now I understand better why I was taken off of it . Yes , because at the time I was like whatever my white blood count , I guess , kept dropping and she was heavily concerned . Well , I kept getting sick constantly .
It was like if someone was to breathe next to me somehow . I caught an illness .
Yup , I was like that Mine . I had a . I was starting to get my body was like rejecting it , like allergic , like I had severe blood pressure issues with it , and it made me mad because I was finally feeling good .
That's scary , it'd go every day . But I still have hope that you know that you're going to find that and get there .
We'll get there .
So there you have it Five tips to help you handle rheumatoid arthritis and stress . Remember you are not alone in this journey and there are resources and support available to you . We hope that these tips will make a positive difference in your life , and I will hopefully remember to add every single one of these things that we talked about to the show notes .
Thank you for tuning in to my Spoony Sisters . If you found this episode helpful , please consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from the information . Stay strong , stay resilient , fighting against your challenges , and until next time , don't forget your spin .