A common side effect of corticosteroids like prednisone is increased risk of infections. This is particularly important to understand right now in light of the current COVID-19 crisis.
By CreakyStaff
Here’s what 350+ high-risk patients are thinking, feeling, and doing to manage their health during this unprecedented COVID-19 health crisis.
Members of the Global Healthy Living Foundation and CreakyJoints patient communities have a lot on their mind right now, including many life-or-death fears over their COVID-19 risk and overall health.
Writing can help us admit to our feelings, accept our fear, manage our anxiety, and move through serious trauma.
Can’t work because you are sick with COVID-19 or don’t want to work because you are a high-risk patient and worried about your coronavirus exposure? This information is critical to know.
By Susan Jara
Telehealth visits for routine care can help keep patients safe, make them feel connected to their doctor, and quell fears during the coronavirus pandemic.
This advice from Laurie Ferguson, PhD, clinical psychologist and Director of Education Development at the Global Healthy Living Foundation, can help you cope with the lack of control you may feel over your environment and health right now.
By Dibs Baer
I lived in New York City during and after the September 11 attacks. This reminded me of the feelings of dread and despair I had back then.
This advice from Laurie Ferguson, PhD, clinical psychologist and Director of Education Development at the Global Healthy Living Foundation, can help reduce anxiety and stress.
'I am taking some of the most extreme precautions I have ever taken in my life. Self-isolation, no play dates for my son, no non-essential outside trips, no dating. Did I mention how lonely all of this is?'
Having psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic may also be problematic because your skin is much more apt to become irritated from all the frequent hand washing and sanitizing.
By CreakyStaff
The Global Healthy Living Foundation has compiled important state-by-state information on COVID-19 as well as trusted resources for national and international coronavirus updates.
By CreakyStaff
‘Hydroxychloroquine is a safe, effective, and inexpensive therapy for conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis. If there is a shortage, it will exacerbate health disparities. People who need an effective and affordable drug won’t be able to get it.’
Our non-profit organization is urging U.S. senators to vote on this critical Medicare change. Here’s what you need to know.
By CreakyStaff
These comments can be insensitive or downright thoughtless, so think twice before you make them.
By CreakyStaff
If you’re taking a blood thinner medication, it’s because you have an underlying health issue that makes you high risk for coronavirus complications.
By CreakyStaff
Patients on immunosuppressing biologic infusions have concerns over whether to keep upcoming appointments. Here’s what you need to know.
Despite some uncertainty, many clinicians are now saying that acetaminophen is the safest choice if you develop a fever and COVID-19 symptoms at this time.
By CreakyStaff
Jessica Schantz has ankylosing spondylitis and asthma and has had two bouts of pneumonia in the last six months. Now she has a new battle to fight: COVID-19.
It is possible to eat nutritious, anti-inflammatory meals on a limited amount of pantry food and a limited budget. Here’s how.
By Dibs Baer
‘All of a sudden, it dawned on all of us that our lives as we knew it were over, indefinitely, and we snapped. Everything we used to do was out the window.’
By Charis Hill
This can help people whose health is threatened by the nation’s panic buying.
We’ve all seen photos of lines winding around stores, empty shelves, and panic buying. It’s a scary time — particularly for those on the front lines like my son, who is a supermarket cashier. For teen workers with underlying health issues, it’s even more complicated.
Please. Think of me. Think of my son.
By CreakyStaff
Diane Smith has psoriatic arthritis and her symptoms have her doctor convinced that she likely has COVID-19. But unless her condition worsens, she’ll never know for sure.
By CreakyStaff
‘My art is my meditation at this point. It helps me calm down and focus better. It helps to keep my anxiety from spinning out of control and taking over every aspect of my life.’
By Ned Sheppa
Being a boyfriend to someone with multiple chronic health conditions has opened my eyes to concerns — possibly life-threatening concerns — that I wasn’t ready for with COVID-19.
By CreakyStaff
‘I am immunocomromised and my life counts. #HighRiskCovid19.’
By CreakyStaff
CreakyJoints and Global Healthy Living Foundation members, who have chronic illnesses that make them at high risk for coronavirus complications, share how they’re getting through long days at home.
If you feel like your concerns as a chronic illness patient are not being heard, share this.
Are you nervous? I'm nervous, but we know what to do. Here's how to do your part.
By Charis Hill
Not all heroes wear capes. Many merely wash their hands and respect social distancing.
By CreakyStaff
COVID-19 continues to raise many questions for everyone, but especially those with chronic illness, underlying health issues, and suppressed immune systems. Here, medical experts address common concerns as the pandemic evolves.
By CreakyStaff
People who are immunocompromised are not humming ‘Happy Birthday’ and feeling happy-go-lucky as they wash their hands.
I’m not writing this to cause mass hysteria or scare anyone, but rather to educate them about the risks that many people like me are facing right now.
We read tweets like, 'Stop worrying, we’re probably all young and healthy here,' with a long sigh.
By Susan Jara
Stay up to date on the latest thinking on how to manage medications for inflammatory conditions that affect the immune system during the coronavirus pandemic.
As immunocompromised and high-risk patients are being advised to stay home as much as possible, here is advice from therapists on how to navigate feelings of isolation and distress that may arise from extended time at home.
You may have a house full of ‘assistive devices’ that you never considered for your arthritis pain and stiffness.
By CreakyStaff
A friendly reminder, especially for loved ones of those with underlying health issues and chronic illness.
By CreakyStaff
Here’s more on what these recommendations mean for people with chronic illness and weakened immune systems.
By Charis Hill
We disabled activists know no one is going to include us equitably in messaging about this latest public health threat. We have no historical evidence of inclusion, so why should we expect it to start now?
By CreakyStaff
Making sure those around you practice good hygiene can help you stay healthy and reduce coronavirus-related anxiety and fear.
By CreakyStaff
Those with underlying health conditions are having a different reaction to the outbreak — have you taken the time to listen to it?
‘This casual way of speaking about our fellow human beings lacks compassion or a real sense of what it means to encounter serious illness and death.’
By Dibs Baer
Several studies also show that depression and chronic illness feed off each other in the worst ways.
By Susan Jara
‘Remind yourself: I’ve been practicing this. This is already how I live so I don’t have to be more frightened.’
It’s not something people are always eager to talk acknowledge, but it’s important for those living with arthritis and chronic pain to know that many out there are struggling with issues related to using the bathroom.
By Dibs Baer
‘It’s not the first time my RA got in the way of a good time and it wouldn’t be the last.’
Ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis can present very differently in some patients and very similarly in others.
By CreakyStaff
Here’s what our members are thinking and doing to stay calm and cautious.
By Jae Walker
‘No one is talking about how the health of the weakest of us affects the health of us all.’
Some studies have suggested that more patients would benefit from starting with a combination of methotrexate and a TNF inhibitor from the time of an RA diagnosis, but new research is casting doubt on that idea.
Some 90 percent of patients with systemic sclerosis have gastrointestinal symptoms, and the esophagus is predominantly affected.
By Susan Jara
People with chronic illness that can affect the immune system, such as many forms of inflammatory arthritis, continue to be worried about the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what infectious disease experts and rheumatologists want you to know.
Initially used to treat seizures, anticonvulsant medications have become more widely used to treat certain types of chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia.
Systemic scleroderma causes all-over inflammation and thickening and tightening of connective tissue, which can have a serious impact on the kidneys.
By Tina Donvito
Although there isn’t a lot of scientific research on this oft-overlooked symptom, here’s what experts — and many patients — had to say.
This advice from mental health experts and fellow patients could help prevent a bad day from become a bad week, month, or worse.
Pain, locking, grinding, limping, trouble walking up stairs, or being unable to stand or sit for long periods are all common symptoms of arthritis hip pain.
The disease-modifying drug could help improve the effectiveness of biologic medications in axSpA.
Although available treatment options have improved and expanded over the years, it's also become more common for RA patients to have comorbid conditions that can affect well-being.
Geography, sex, and sexual orientation seemed to affect mental health too.
While lupus and myositis may have some symptoms in common, they are ultimately distinct conditions with very different causes and treatments.
Having a primary care doctor in addition to a rheumatology made cholesterol screening among RA patients more likely.
According to a study of insurance claims data, about 20 percent of anti-TNF drug prescriptions filled were for brand-name infliximab (Remicade) while less than 1 percent were for an infliximab biosimilar.
RA patients were apt to receive a biologic drug sooner if they lived in an urban area closer to a prescriber.
The last five years were packed with so many events and obstacles that changed me — physically and emotionally — that I feel like I have gone through a rapid aging process.
There’s life before an arthritis diagnosis and life after. Here are some things you can expect.
Younger people are more likely than older adults to lack a primary care provider.
By CreakyStaff
Only about one-third of RA patients in high disease activity were offered a treatment change at their rheumatologist visit, according to a recent study in the ArthritisPower research registry.
By Tina Donvito
Find out if you should give a TENS device a try to relieve your pain.
By Jae Walker
‘For me, showering has always been a gauge for my disease activity. The more inflammation coursing through my body, the more difficult showers are and the longer it takes me to get ready in the morning.’
Learn more about patients, including black and Hispanics, older adults, and men, who are not adequately represented in rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials.
In looking specifically at cancer survivors with an autoimmune condition, those on anti-TNF drugs were not more likely to experience a cancer recurrence or develop a new type of cancer.
In our ‘Ask a Pharmacist’ column in collaboration with Walgreens and AllianceRx Walgreens Prime, we get the facts on how to prepare for traveling with multiple or complex medications for chronic illness, including biologics.
'I often wonder if I don't have much else to talk about other than my illness. What do I offer in a friendship?'
This may have a dramatic impact on arthritis risk.
A flaking scalp and skin are some of the most frustrating symptoms of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Here’s how to stop shedding.
These are tools you and your doctor use to assess how well your RA is being controlled.
Until 2019, the U.S. Virgin Islands had no full-time rheumatologist.
While the standard vaccine certainly offers protection, a new study suggests that RA patients may want to ask their providers about the high-dose version.
If opening jars is painful, difficult, or sometimes impossible, this advice from hand strength and dexterity experts will be a big help.
‘Even my regular doctors don’t remember my history off the top of their heads. It’s up to me to be constantly vigilant.’
Many aspects of the DAS28 increase with age, and patients and doctors need to be aware of this.
Not being able to sleep well at night because of nocturnal back pain can turn your whole life upside down. This advice can help you start sleeping soundly again.
Research has shown people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to develop a thyroid condition, such as hypothyroidism.
People with arthritis often notice a connection between humidity or temperature and joint pain symptoms. Here’s what you need to know.
Non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis doesn’t necessarily progress into ankylosing spondylitis.
'I know my body will need rest after the holiday marathon. So why should I stress over making New Year’s resolutions I know I will end up breaking or struggle to even begin?'
Almost half of doctors surveyed said that patient-reported symptoms were crucial in guiding treatment decisions.
If you dread this weekly errand, this advice can help.
Learn what to expect and how to prepare from the doctors who perform this operation every day and the patients who have been through knee surgery successfully.
Feeling queasy is a common side effect of many different arthritis drugs. Here’s how to handle this medication side effect.
Chronic illness, unfortunately, comes with its fair share of chronic opinions.
Being able to drive a car is really important for many people. Here’s what to do when arthritis starts to take a toll on your driving.
By Jae Walker
‘It soon became pretty clear that if I did not start listening to my sick body now, I would pay dearly for it later.’
By Dibs Baer
When rheumatoid arthritis started to cramp my Christmas season, I learned that it’s all about the pivot and perception.
Dealing with dry eyes from Sjögren’s syndrome or other conditions related to your arthritis? Here’s how to feel better.
Widespread inflammation could may be the connecting factor between depression and autoimmune conditions such as RA.
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