THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Evidence Edition You Slept 8 Hours. Why Are You Still Exhausted? If you’re sleeping and still exhausted, this is why. You go to bed on time. You get your 8 hours. Yet somehow, you wake up feeling worse. By mid-afternoon, you're not just tired. It's that heavy, bone-deep fatigue. Your eyes feel heavy, and your body is moving through molasses. You're counting down the hours until you can get back into bed. Except you can't. I know this one...
3 days ago • 3 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Movement Edition If Movement Feels Impossible, Read This No equipmentNo gymNo perfect day requiredAlmost no motivation needed Last week we talked about motivation, why it feels so hard with RA, and why waiting for it doesn’t work. This week is about what to do with that, without making things harder. If the word “exercise” makes you want to close this email, I get it. With RA, movement isn’t predictable. Some days your body cooperates. Other days...
11 days ago • 2 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Nutrition Edition So… What’s the Deal With Your Gut? If you’ve ever looked into gut health for RA, you’ve probably come away with more questions than answers. Some sources make it sound like the missing piece.Others say it doesn’t matter. So what’s true? Early in my diagnosis, I went all in on gut health.I read and tried anything that claimed to help rheumatoid arthritis. I was consistent. Measuring, tracking, waiting. Most of it did nothing.Other...
24 days ago • 4 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Research Edition What if your nervous system is driving your inflammation? Rheumatoid arthritis is usually framed as an immune system problem. But what if that’s only part of the story? Researchers are now taking a closer look at how the nervous system may influence inflammation. One treatment that has emerged is vagus nerve stimulation, or VNS. It sits within a growing field called bioelectronic medicine, which uses targeted nerve signals to...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Mindset Edition RA Can Cause an Identity Crisis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) doesn’t just change your body. It changes how you see yourself. For many people, that’s the hardest part. Before I was diagnosed, I had a clear sense of who I was.I knew what my body could do.I knew what my days looked like. Then the diagnosis came. Along with the pain came a different kind of question:Who am I going to be now? I remember feeling urgency, like I needed to do...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Movement Edition Strength Training & Rheumatoid Arthritis When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, the question wasn’t whether I should start exercising. It was whether I needed to stop lifting weights. I had been strength training for more than twenty years. The early months after diagnosis were uncomfortable. My hands and wrists hurt. Holding dumbbells was painful. Even simple movements like push-ups were difficult. But I kept training....
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Nutrition Edition Elimination Diets & Rheumatoid Arthritis: Worth It or Hype? If food could fix rheumatoid arthritis, we would all be symptom free by now. Instead, we are left sorting through bold promises and conflicting advice. When I was first diagnosed, I tried almost every diet that claimed to reduce inflammation. Not because I wanted to be extreme, but because I wanted relief. After combing through the research and years of personal...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness The Evidence Edition Are GLP-1s Anti-Inflammatory for Rheumatoid Arthritis? GLP-1 medications are everywhere right now. They’re praised for weight loss, studied for heart protection, used for diabetes, and increasingly discussed in autoimmune communities. But what do they actually mean for people living with rheumatoid arthritis? Are they anti-inflammatory? Do they improve RA symptoms? And should you consider one? Let’s walk through what the research...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
THE JOINT Your weekly dose of RA wellness Mindset Know someone with RA who could use a mental reset? Forward this issue to them before you forget. Staying Steady When RA Is Unpredictable One of the hardest parts of rheumatoid arthritis is not always the pain. It is the unpredictability. One day you feel capable, productive, and energized. The next, you wake up stiff, fatigued, or in the middle of a flare that completely changes your plans. Over time, this can quietly create frustration,...
2 months ago • 2 min read