The Girl With Arthritis

While brushing my hair this morning, I discovered a single gray hair. This is delightful, especially since I'm still in my early twenties. I'm prone to growing a white strand of hair during particularly stressful periods, and I believe this was the third one I found this week. To say it's been a stressful few months would be an understatement. Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

     A month ago, I remember putting my hand over my heart; I could feel it racing, pounding, and skipping beats. It was worn and tired, and so was I. The weeks leading up to that moment were brutal. For six weeks, I was lucky to get four hours of sleep most nights, and all my waking hours were spent stressed and working intensely for finals. Most days, I didn’t really talk to anyone and I skipped meals to accommodate more working hours. Ultimately, I was running myself into the ground. And I didn’t care.      But then came that moment, when I realized my heart was struggling from the stress. A long night in the emergency room made me stop working for the first time since March, and forced me to be still and reflect on my actions. I stared at the monitor that showed a heart that was trying so hard to slow down, and I thought about how cruel I’ve been to it.      It’s been an extremely hard year. I would love to sugar coat that statem...

Over tired. Over stressed. Over busy. Is it being young that keeps us over everything, or is it simply life with a chronic illness? I have yet to know the answer. It seems that whenever the world gets busy, all symptoms increase. And when there's one thing going on, there's a hundred things going on. And when there's a hundred things going on, you have no time to rest. It's a vicious cycle. Sometimes I have to tell myself over and over again that I am not lazy because I want to lie down and go on Facebook when I get a free moment. The rest is so necessary to a person with a chronic illness, and it's not just a half hour you need. It can take a few hours to get the rest necessary. Don't feel guilt for the need to rest during the day: You are very strong and deserve it. You deserve to be able to take care of yourself the best way you know how to. That means relaxing when you need it. When things get busy, it's even more important to get this rest. Put yourse...

Stress is a huge part of what makes autoimmune diseases flare. I love how everytime I read something on controlling autoimmune arthritis, it tends to say something along the lines of 'learn to control stress.' I feel as if that should be more of an instruction for bosses, teachers, and anyone else who seems to cause more stress in our lives. It might be up to us how we deal with it, but I can only do so much. We always say our health should come before anything else, and though it should, it won't always. At least for me. Maybe I'm burning myself out, but I've been pushing past a lot of pain and fatigue to get work and projects done. I'm a young person: I'm working to pursue my dreams. Maybe it's my age, but achieving dreams triumphs a lot right now. My rooms a mess, my Enbrel is off schedule by a day (not a big deal: I don't let that become a problem), I'm tired beyond belief and sore. Right now, so much is taking my priority. It will for a fe...

I have been worrying too often. I've been breathing too little. I've been slacking too often. I've been painting too little. I've been thinking too much. I've been relaxing too little. I've been tensing too often. I've been stretching too little. I've been forgetting to eat too often. I've been eating too little. I've been sleeping too often. I've been well rested too little. I've been drinking my calories too often. I've drank water too little. I've been too busy too often. I've smelt the roses too little. I've been daydreaming too often. I've written too little. I've been ready to be healthy for so long. I've got little time to waste. Dear Elizabeth,   Take your own advice for once, you hypocrite. Take care of yourself. Your body needs it. I need it.   -Arthur

When I was younger, I had dental braces. And I was adorable. Little Brace-Face Elizabeth, walking around smiling with a mouth full of metal. I used to get pink and purple bands on them. It was precious. Well, except when they were tightened and I was in a lot of pain. That wasn't really fun for anyone. Anyway, I got them taken off quite a number of years ago and I now have straight teeth. Now that I have the perfect teeth, can I please have a perfect jaw? Preferably a less painful jaw. Lately, I've been under a terrible about of stress and that results in clenching my jaw. Clenching my teeth makes my jaw extremely painful. So I've had to be creative in finding ways to relieve this pain, and I would like to pass this knowledge onto you. If you have jaw pain, or even just clench your teeth a lot from stress, you might find these tips helpful. 1. Drink something cold. No, the cold won't numb the pain. However you have to open your mouth to drink, and it will help put l...

It is glaringly obvious I have not been writing regularly. Lately there is a day or two between posts. Honestly, I did this at first because I began to worry posts everyday are annoying. Now, it's because I haven't much time to write. And I am sorry for that. Believe me when I say I very much enjoy writing and it hurts to be away so much (even more than Arthur). I'm not going to sit here and write excuses for you. That's rather boring. But I am going to be very busy for about two or three more weeks. Please excuse me in advance if I don't get to write much or if my posts don't appear like my normal ones. It's an extremely stressful time right now, but fortunately it will get better. It just takes time. Hopefully Arthur will cooperate to help. So I leave you here for right now. This isn't an excuse post for me to forget you for two weeks. It's an apology post in advance for having too little time and too much stress. Please bare with me: I'm t...

It's been said that the best medicine is laughter. And I agree, however I would like to change that statement a bit. "The best medicine is laughter... and art!" Maybe I'm biased because I'm the artistic type, but I one hundred per cent believe art is one of the best medicines. I think people can find a lot of benefit in art, for a variety of different reasons and a variety of ways. Making art, looking at art, listening to music, making music and all sorts of art forms can really help people feel better. And so, this is my list of reasons why art is one of the best medicines: 1. It Relaxes . Many people find it easier to wind down and relax whilst drawing, painting, listening to music, looking at books of paintings or photography or doing craft projects of some kind. When your mind is at peace, it can help your body be at peace as well. 2. It's a Form of Expression . The great thing about art is that there are no wrongs. If you're able to, using art ...

Arthur's personal list of the things he hates. This tends to double for Elizabeth, who has to put up with    Arthur when he's upset. 1. The cold. Whenever it's cold, Arthur refuses to move. Which means stiffness and pain for Elizabeth. 2. High heeled shoes. Maybe they're okay for some people, but Arthur does not enjoy nice shoes. Instead, he makes Elizabeth miserable until they're off. 3. Driving. Arthur prefers to be a passenger, otherwise he becomes very painful. 4. Running. Arthur hates the impact, Elizabeth hates that her limp is a million times worse when she runs. 5. Long days. Even if there is relaxation time, Arthur can't handle long days well and he becomes very painful. But he's going to have to learn to deal with it: Elizabeth's a very busy person. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He hates lots of things and tries to keep Elizabeth from a lot of things. But she doesn't let him: the only thing that hold...

Avoiding your problems doesn't fix them, and hiding from them doesn't make them go away. I know, when there is just too much stress it's very tempting to just stay home and sleep in. And when there's a conflict at work, avoiding it completely seems to be the  best fix. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. Like our fears and emotions, we have to face our problems, and even fix them if possible. Even if we're tired, stressed and just feeling broken: We can't let our problems dominate our lives and how we run them. I cannot ignore Arthur. I cannot hide from Arthur. I cannot run from Arthur. Arthritis is demanding! I've had to face him day after day! He's a part of me, and even if I tried to ignore him, it would only make him worse! He's already a pain in the joint as it is, I don't need to encourage him. If I didn't care for him, I'd most likely be in the worse flair of my life and I'd probably begin having a lot of trouble gettti...

Christmas is nearly here! Usually it's a very stressful time. This year I planned ahead of what needs to be done. Granted, I've been pacing myself pretty well and keeping Arthur at peace with Enbrel, but it's none the less still very stressful. It's not so much the holiday stress getting to me, it's more of stress at school. I know teachers have to do their job and all, but the mountains of homework aren't exactly making this an enjoyable time. Luckily I'm about done with school so I can focus on being happy with my family and friends soon. Some of my friends and I are actually having a Christmas party in the coming days and I'm very excited for that. But of course I've been facing a bit of physical stress. I still have to swim a few days in school and on top of the classes before and after, my body has taken quite a toll. The other day after swimming about seven laps, I thought I was okay. My heart rate is still quite high and I've been nervous...