Recently there seems to be more exposure and spotlight on Rheumatoid Arthritis Research.
1. In June of this year, more than 14,000 people from over 110 countries gathered in Madrid, Spain to attend the largest rheumatology event in Europe, the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR 2013).
2. New York Times featured a Three Part Q & A on Rheumatoid Arthritis
Both articles seem to highlight the importance of taking our medications and the effectiveness of biologics. Many RA patients also commented on Diet and Exercise as crucial steps to better health and maintaining the disease.
PTSD & Rheumatoid Arthritis
What I failed to see but am quite positive is that there is a positive correlation between PTSD and RA.
Here are a couple of studies I found online:
A) http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/72/5/481.short?rss=1
B) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.21778/abstract
My Own Journey - Healing Process
I visited my Rheumatologist today to review my blood work. He was happy to see that my Rheumatoid Factor has decreased from 400 to 30!!!
Currently I take my Enbrel on an as needed basis (1 - 2 / month), avoid foods that I'm apparently allergic too, but did not know (gluten, mushrooms, eggs), bikram yoga as my form of exercise and meditation. In addition, I've been through multiple counselling sessions to heal my traumatic memories using EMDR, CBT, and grounding exercises. - One of the keys to my healing I believe is calming my nerves literally, by practicing deep breathing, working through my triggers, and listening to my self better. An area that is not yet spoken of in these recent discussions. Perhaps its still an area the light needs to shine on for most.
