Feel Better by Helping Others

Arthritis pain and stiffness can take its toll on our bodies, but it can also take a toll on us emotionally.  So what do you do when you are feeling “down in the dumps”?

Sitting or laying around doing nothing does not really help.  It may even make you feel worse.  Instead, try doing something good for someone else.  We naturally feel good about ourselves when we are doing a good deed for someone other than ourselves.

Need some ideas on what you can do to help others?  Start with these:

1. Help a family member
2. Donate to a worthy cause
3. Promote a worthy cause
4. Volunteer your time to an organization
5. Make dinner for a friend who could use the help
6. Run errands for someone
7. Give your unwanted items to someone in need
8. Try to lift someone up that is feeling down
9. Help a neighbor
10. Give an unexpected, but needed gift to someone

Doing this seems crazy at first, but it does work.  When you give of yourself to someone else, it just makes you feel good.  It may not get rid of your arthritis pain, but it will help you to put your focus elsewhere.  You will eventually notice that you did not think about how bad you hurt (if only for a little while).  Maybe next time, it will last longer.

If you are thinking that you could not possibly be of any help to anyone, think again.  We all have talents to share and people that we can support, in one way or another, in times of crisis or need.  So just try it out and see how you feel.  You may even find that you want to make this a regular habit to help prevent that “down in the dumps” feeling.

Note:  If you suffer from depression, please seek medical assistance to obtain treatment.  These suggestions are not a treatment for depression.

You Don’t Look Sick: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness

I just finished reading the book, You Don’t Look Sick: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness by Joy H. Selak and Steven S. Overman, MD, MPH.

It is a true story about a woman, Joy, who goes through many experiences with her illness.  The experiences include becoming sick, searching for a correct diagnosis, realizing that her life is different now, learning to live with the illness and learning to live well.  Through the process, Joy learns how other people perceive individuals with invisible chronic illness and how to deal with it.  She also chronicles the difficulties encountered with medical and disability insurance companies and how she handled it.

It is difficult to live with an invisible chronic illness, not just for those that have it, but for those that are around the chronically ill as well.  There are many experiences in this book to identify with and learn from.  In addition, Joy’s doctor, Steven S. Overman, MD, MPH, provides his knowledge and perspective throughout the book which is helpful.

Having arthritis for many years now (since I was a child), I found that I could easily identify with Joy even though our situations were different.  I learned from some of Joy’s experiences and was reminded about some of life’s lessons as well.  I am very thankful I read this book.

This is a good book for those recently diagnosed with a chronic illness or for those who have been living with a chronic illness.  At about 145 pages, this book is a quick and easy read too.

This Arthritis Aquatics Class is More Than Just Exercise!

An arthritis aquatics class is great exercise for stiff and painful joints.  But if you happen to attend the class at Brook Park Recreation Center in Brook Park, Ohio, you most likely receive more than the benefit of exercise.  This group of students and their instructor have formed a bond has friends.  They meet three times a week for aquatics class and once a month for a luncheon.  Isn’t that great?

Most classes just meet for aquatics class.  The Brook Park Recreation Center class may have just stumbled onto something.  What would happen if all classes did this?  Just think…Would you be more likely to attend an arthritis aquatics class if you knew your fellow students and your instructor on a more personal level?  There would probably not be anymore excuses of “I hurt too much today to go to class” or “I don’t need to go to class today, I’ll just go to the next class.” 

Making this connection with other people that know what you are going through is a great incentive to get to class and is a great way to help cope with your arthritis by sharing your experiences with others.  We tend to feel better when we can talk to someone who understands what we are going through.  Becoming friends on top of that is a terrific bonus!

The Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation is so pleased with the class instructor, Shirley Klun, that they gave her an Outstanding Leadership Award.  Kudos to Klun for doing such a great job!

If this sounds like a good idea to you, try to implement it in your local area.  I bet other arthritics will be receptive to meeting periodically outside of class.  Good luck!

Image source: Sun News, Cleveland, Ohio

What Do You Do When You’re Diagnosed with Something New?

originally published 6/18/08

I was faced with this same situation last week.  What I thought was another rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flare was not.  The pain and stiffness in my hands has been increasingly getting worse, not to mention my hip bothering me like there is no tomorrow.  I have even resorted to keeping a cane in the car just in case I need it when I’m out and about. 

So when I went to the rheumatologist last week to determine if my RA medication needed to be changed, etc., I found out that the problem is not my RA at all.  “Really?  How could that be?  I’m in so much pain.”  Instead, I’m told that fibromyalgia is most likely the cause of the majority of my pain.  I was in shock.  To top it off, the pain in my hands is most likely from osteoarthritis.  Double whammy!

I have had RA since I was a child.  I have never questioned it.  I know how to deal with it.  It has been my life.  I guess I never thought I would get any other forms of rheumatism.  I don’t know why really.  I just never thought about it.

For the rest of the day, I could not function.  I was just in a daze really.  If you know me, that is shocking.  I’m always very busy throughout the day, but I just could not cope with one more thing that day.  It’s not like I was sitting around wondering “why me?”.  I just kept thinking that I not only have RA, I now have fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis to deal with.  How am I going to continue doing the things I want to do?  Will I need to scale back my daily duties?  Will I need to stop working soon?  Will I be able to keep up with my young daughter?  All of these things were just swirling around in my head.

So what do you do when you’re told something you did not expect?  Or when you’re diagnosed with something else on top of what you already have?

I don’t think there is one right answer for that.  I think you need to do whatever you feel comfortable with.  For me, it was taking one day of thinking how it would affect my life.  I put everything else on hold for that day and actually the next.  The second day was one of action.  I educated myself about the two diseases…well, actually one disease (osteoarthritis) and one syndrome (fibromyalgia)…but that is another post entirely.  I checked to see if there were any local education classes about fibromyalgia and checked into local arthritis water classes (aqua-aerobics).

So, in all, you just do whatever it is that gets you through it.  Ultimately, we need to accept it, understand it, and move on in a way that does not compromise our health.  I hope this helps you get through it too.