What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

Healthy adults need 7-9 hours of sleep for healing and a healthy immune system. For us, it's even more important because our immune systems are asshats and we're always healing.

There are endless reasons that we don't sleep well; chronic pain, dxs like sleep apnea, and environmental factors all make it difficult to fall and/or stay asleep.

And, who's woken up exhausted after a full night's sleep?! Check out the link about the importance of restorative sleep.

Do you get enough sleep most nights?

Do you use a health tracker (Fitbit, Oura ring) or apps to help with sleep?

What do you do to get the best sleep you can?

School House Rock!

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

Whoever said "don't sweat the small stuff" didn't have RA. Symptoms get in the way of every activity from getting showered and dressed in the morning, child care, work, food prep, housekeeping, and having FUN.

Let's help each with the "small" stuff!

What are the "small" things that slow you down?

How do you cope with those challenges?

⏩ If you have items to recommend, please describe it and share where you found it (i.e. "I got a battery powered can opener called Kitchen Mama" true story!) Reddit has a [dot-com] filter that (randomly) grabs comments with links, even hours after you post.

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

Autoimmune conditions and the meds we take can cause dizziness (vertigo or Ménière's), mouth sores, headaches, migraines, TMJ/jaw pain, eye irritation, dry mouth (Sjogren's), and even cause our voice to change.

Do you have any of these symptoms?

How do you deal with them?

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

We've had a lot of rough posts lately; times are just tough. And I don't know about all y'all, but I could use some levity.

So let's have some fun!

"Does anyone else ...?" is a popular post style (and sub!) across Reddit. You complete the sentence, however and as many times as you want! Then look through others' "DAEs". They might make you feel more sane! 😂

A few days ago, inspired this "bit of fun" with a fantastic post. Several people commented that it was a great read, so I thought it would be fun for everyone to share a story if they wish!

It can be about absolutely anything, RA-adjacent or not. You can share a funny experience, or a difficult time. If you're new to the sub, tell us about you! You can write a sentence (not kidding! I used to have my students write one-sentence stories. It's not easy!), a paragraph, a page, or a poem.

I hope the artistically gifted among us post art on r/RA_Memes to enhance their stories

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

Grief isn't a choice; it's a physiological response to stress and pain. We are hard-wired to grieve for people and things we've lost. As difficult as it may be, we accept the loss and move forward.

Grief is more complicated when it's caused by chronic illness. To one degree or another, we lose who we are or hoped to be. And the losses just keep coming. There's no way to set it down and move forward. Instead, our grief walks with us. Sometimes it's silent. Then a med fails, you get another diagnosis, or a flare takes away the joy of a special event.

I always say that acceptance is a choice I make at least once every day. How have you dealt with grief? Has it changed over time?

⏩ At the bottom of the pinned comment, there are links to access mental health resources. I tried to cover everyone, but please tell me if I missed your country 💜

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

Medical gaslighting is defined as:

"[N]egative patient experiences of having clinical concerns inappropriately dismissed or invalidated by their attending physicians" (from The American Journal of Medicine, link in pinned comment).

However, gaslighting isn't limited to medical professionals; anyone can make us feel silly, unworthy, over dramatic, and small. Sometimes, we even gaslight ourselves.

Have you experienced gaslighting from medical professionals or others? How did you handle it?

What would you suggest others do to handle gaslighting?

I got thrown off by the holiday! Better late than never 😁

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

It's a holiday weekend in the US, and the sub is always quiet around this time of year. So let's just talk about whatever comes to mind. Suggestions:

Ask a question.

Read through others' comments and answer some questions.

Whatcha doin this summer/winter?

Since I'm melting even though the AC is on...how are you surviving this ridiculous heat?

Newbies, say "hello!"

Edit to add: Remember, you can share animal pics on r/RA_Memes! 🤩😍

In the past 2 weeks, several people have reported that they were DMed by people who claimed to have products that treat RA. A few are pushing supplements, but one has a program that "cures RA without toxins". (That's new).

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've been targeted by predators trying to convince us they have cured RA/put RA into remission. These accounts haven't even been active on the sub. They're just contacting members through DMs.

Make friends with whomever your heart desires, but please don't believe that anyone has anything resembling a cure for RA.

"Western medicine" does not cure RA.

"Holistic" medicine does not cure RA.

"Nutritional supplements" do not cure RA.

"Lifestyle changes" do not cure RA.

I'm sorry if you've been given false hope. I've said it before; I can't make the whole Internet safe, but I'll be damned if this sub will be used as a tool to exploit its members. Because of the seriousness of the situation, this will be the only pinned post for the week.

If you are contacted by ANYONE trying to take advantage of the information you've shared here, report and block them.

Thanks for reading. Be safe ❤️

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

If you don't want to share, try it on your own. I did this during a difficult time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy it

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can share any time, all week long.

Chronic intractable pain is defined as pain lasting for more than 3 months. It isn't "just" physically uncomfortable. It affects our behavior, memories, emotions, and even our personalities.

It's also impossible to remember pain. You can remember how you broke your arm, where you were, and how it impacted you mentally. You can't feel the pain itself. This makes it really difficult to explain your pain to others!

Then there's the stupid "1-10 pain scale". That doesn't work for people who never get to "0". My PM MD gave me copies of pain scales developed just for people with chronic pain. I'm happy to share on Memes if you're curious.

How much control do you have over your pain? Has that changed over time?

How do you communicate your pain to physicians? Family or friends?

What 3 good things happened to you last week? They can be anything at all!

⭐ If you are thinking "my week was terrible", then please give this a try. If you can only think of 1 or 2, that's excellent.

It's cool if you don't want to share, but I hope you'll try it on your own. I did this during stressful time in my life, and it was helpful to "make" myself think about good stuff. It's nice to do 3 good things every day. Reading other peoples' good things might make you smile, too! I thoroughly enjoy the warm fuzzies and smiles.

This post will be pinned to the top of the sub tomorrow, so you can do it whenever.