Supporting Baby Steps: Being Gentle with RA Newbies

My right hand no longer makes a fist. Despite physical therapy and regular use of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) medications for seven years now, my fingers lost full ability during my years without conventional treatment. Now that medications have controlled my RA, I’m often asked if I regret the two-year drug gap I took. My answer is always: “No!” It was a process I personally needed to go through before I could comfortably accept medications into my life.

Since medications have stabilized my RA, it is easy to want others to skip the difficult years and get right on a medication plan. In fact, a month or so ago, my brother sent me a message asking for my personal blog. His neighbor was newly diagnosed and plans to give holistic treatment a try. I was happy to share my story with natural medicine, but almost heard the words: “Please, get informed about medications also,” come out of my mouth.

I stopped before saying those words because I know that during a time in my RA history, they wouldn’t have benefitted me. For some of us, starting out strong with medications from the very beginning makes sense. Others need time to absorb all that is happening to their bodies and require a slower introduction to medications, and another group is not open to medications at all. They need to try a variety of non-conventional remedies.

So, how do we go about supporting newbies, especially when their path differs from our own? Go to HealthCentral and read this article.