Happy Birthday to me... a reflection on being 37 years o l d ....

So this year, turning 37 has become just a reminder that I am feeling O L D. I mean my neck is so stiff and sore. My hands are so slow working some days, and other times they just don't plain work right. It hurts to walk for too long because my ankles and feet become so sore, that taking another step just doesn't seem worth the pain. At night it's hard to sleep because my hips hurt so badly that no matter how I lay, I am not comfortable.

Should a 37 year old woman be feeling this way? I don't think so.

So I continue on my quest to change that. I'm determined, though tired thinking about it so much. Currently I am putting several plans into action, I will share more on each of the things I'm doing in the coming weeks.

That's all for today. Enjoy your day. Enjoy your family. Savor the good things in your life. Stay positive that you can change the negative.

Advice for myself but happy to share with you all too!

Sarah

Chiropractic Care & Exercise for RA

I have found a lot of information out there about Chiropractic care and Rheumatoid Arthritis. As usual you will find some swear by it's help, others say it's no help. *shrug* I suppose it's best to say "your mileage may vary". I however and hopeful that this more natural approach to tackling my disease will work. I am already frustrated by the Dr. mentality of "throw some pills at it and see if it helps". I would much rather focus on range of motion, moderate exercise and nutritional changes & supplements.

What am I hoping regular chiropractic care will bring me? My goals are -
Improve my range of motion of my joints.
Have more flexibility & stamina to exercise without pain.
Greatly improve my muscle tone and my strength.

I am exploring nutritional supplements and diet changes as well.

At this point I have absolutely no exercise program. I am just too sore and in pain from everyday household activities to even consider extra exercise. But, I realize this is super important to get myself out of this flare. I'm already finding that "resting" my joints that hurt does not help, they just feel stiff and sore. No improvement comes from simply trying to not use them. Instead, I am finding that using them the best I can is helping keep them limber. For example, one might think knitting is a really bad idea for someone with pain & stiffness in their hands. I am finding the opposite. Short intervals of knitting (an hour or two max) seems to help me feel like my hands are less stiff. I experience no extra pain when I spend a short amount of time knitting.
The same I am finding true for sewing. The biggest complaints I have for pain related to sewing is the neck pain i have from the focused attention it requires. The ergonomics of my sewing area need to be addressed to help with the stiffness & pain i have in my back, shoulders and neck. It's for sure a work in progress.

My chiropractor is working hard with me on getting those shoulders & neck loosened up. I am even considering a special medical device to help my cervical spine, but more about that later.

For now I encourage you to do your own research. Find what's going to work for you. I will share more along the way.

Happy Sunday! Sarah

Fiskers Easy Action Scissors (my own review)

**This post is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Fiskers, or JoAnn Fabric, they did not provide a product to review, nor ask for my opinion.**

I purchased these scissors at my local JoAnn Fabrics store when they were on sale recently.
Easy Action Scissors

The description of the product from the Fiskers website is -

Winner of the Arthritis Foundation® Ease-of-Use Commendation, our Easy Action™ Scissors are the perfect choice for people with arthritis or limited hand strength. A spring-action design opens the blades after each cut, greatly reducing the effort needed for this basic motion. High-grade, stainless-steel blades feature a specially ground edge for maximum sharpness, tested to cut all the way to the tip — essential for anyone who cuts fabric. An ergonomically sculpted handle with Softgrip® provides excellent cutting control and comfort, and a bent handle design keeps materials flat for precise cuts every time. Features Ideal for cutting a wide variety of materials including denim, leather and multiple layers of fabric Awarded the Arthritis Foundation® Ease-of-Use Commendation for a design that is easy-to-use for people with arthritis or limited hand strength Spring-action design gently opens blades after each cut to reduce hand strain Blades ground to a razor edge cut through heavy material with less effort Hardened, stainless-steel blades provide lasting durability Ergonomic handle is sculpted to fit your hand, maximizing cutting control and sensitivity Softgrip® handle adds comfort Bent handle design keeps material flat for mistake-free cutting Length: approximately 10" Lifetime warranty

I have been having increased difficulty with gripping objects, even to the point of dropping my coffee cup the other morning because I simply lost my grip. Some door knobs are proving to be extremely difficult too. And because I have a large costume order coming up in the month of February, I needed to find a way to do a large amount of cutting while limiting the pain.

Right away I was impressed with the soft grip of the handles. It was a bit of a learning curve for me to get used to the spring action of the blades. I think with a little more practice i will be able to do the majority of my cutting out of patterns with these blades.

The other thing i was very impressed with is how incredibly sharp and precise the blades are. I think when it comes to cutting heavier fabrics like denim and canvas I will really see a big improvement over traditional scissors.

One of the first problems i encountered with the onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis was cutting with scissors & using a can opener. The electric opener my husband bought me for Christmas solved that problem and I'm very hopeful that these scissors will to some degree solve the cutting with scissors trouble.

Please leave me comments with products you've found to help your limitations due to RA.

Sarah

Sewing Saturdays & Sundays ...

An ideal weekend? Is there such a thing, I don't know. But for me I know that any day is a good day for sewing. I hope to devote my weekend blog posts to sewing ideas, inspirations, and just sharing in general things I love to do.

Right now I am working on refining my sewing skills & techniques. I'm a great sewer but like every other profession or hobby, there is always room for improvement.

This weekend I am devoting some time to taking an online course about techniques. This class is offered by Craftsy. Craftsy is an online store that offers video tutorials on hundreds of different crafting related topics from sewing to knitting, photography to painting, even cake decorating.

What's so great about this you might say? Well you can take each portion of your class on your time, anytime. Up in the middle of the night with insomnia, great go watch a 20 minute segment of your class. It fits into any schedule.
Take a look at what they have to offer. They are offering some awesome sales this weekend 1/18 & 1/19.

CRAFTSY FLASH SALE WEEKEND

Treatment Topic Thursday ...

Thursdays I will devote to talking about treatments, both conventional and unconventional. I will try to go in detail of each topic and hopefully you will find the information helpful. If there is a topic you would like me to research and post about I'd be happy to try to do that, just message me.

Today's topic is Plaquenil (Hydroxychloroquine). This is the first try drug for RA according to my doctor. They start here because it is the least likely of the RA treatment drugs to cause side effects. The interesting thing about this medication is that it's actual original use was as an anti-malarial drug.

It's used to treat the inflammation of both RA and Lupus.

Possible side effects -

abdominal cramps, diarrhea, heart problems, reduced appetite, headache, nausea & vomiting, altered eye pigmentation, acne, anemia, bleaching of hair, blisters in mouth and eyes, blood disorders, convulsions, significant vision difficulties, diminished reflexes, emotional changes, excessive coloring of the skin, hearing loss, hives, itching, liver problems or failure, loss of hair, muscle paralysis, weakness or atrophy, nightmares, psoriasis, reading difficulties, tinnitus, skin inflammation and scaling, skin rash, vertigo and weight loss

That huge list of side effects doesn't exactly seem "mild" to me. I have been on this drug now since my diagnosis in October. I have noticed no improvement in my symptoms as of yet though I was told improvement should be noticed in 6-8 weeks. My dose was increased in November after being on it for 6 full weeks. Still, no improvement has been seen. At my recent appointment i discussed with the doctor that I am seeing no improvement with all the drugs they have me on, including this one. In fact, I am feeling worse. She added another drug to my "cocktail" and wants to see if this one will help the others also work better. So, when i go back in February we will consider which drugs are or aren't helping and again adjust.

For me this is the frustrating part of being at the beginning of this process. A large list of medications to take daily, side effects you aren't sure are coming with this drug or that drug. And continued pain to the point you don't think ANY of it is helping.

Trying to stay positive is definitely an UPHILL battle for me right now. I pray daily for answers, for pain relief and for strength to do the things I have to do. This little saying was posted on Facebook the other day, it accurately describes how i feel many days lately.

Fiskers spring action scissors ...

So I contacted a few companies that make cutting implements to inquire about products that might help me as I deal with the hand pain associated with this lovely disease.
The Fisker's Company replied that they do have a line of "spring action" scissors that are for people with hand problems. So this week I saw in the JoAnn ad that they have them on sale. So, I'm hoping to get a pair and try them out. Super reasonable price
Check them out here. Does anyone have sewing tools they have found work well for days when you need to sew but your hands are hurting? Would love to hear about them.





This post is in no way endorsed by The Fiskers company or by JoAnn fabric. Neither company has contacted me to review or endorse this item. I am just doing my own market research.

Alternative Treatments ..

Of course as with any other disease there is all kinds of information out there about alternative therapies that can help. I have yet to try anything but traditional medication therapies since I am still so new in this process. But, like any other modern woman, I'm always looking through websites, articles in magazines and books, that discuss treatments both traditional and non-traditional.
This particular article i found on Health.com talks about 10 alternative therapies. While most were standard things I'd heard before, exercise, physical therapy, etc. This talks about using a very common, readily available nutritional supplement.
FISH OIL

Fish oil can ease pain and inflammation in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Fish-oil capsules may, in fact, be as effective for relieving pain and inflammation as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like ibuprofen and naproxen), according to Dr. Kolasinski. RA patients in the studies that found fish oil helpful took high doses, typically 4 grams a day or four standard fish-oil capsules. Most people consuming fish oil for overall health take one or two capsules daily. But there's no strong evidence that other dietary supplements or herbs, such as glucosamine or evening primrose oil, have any benefit in RA patients. “The herbals are really not where it’s at,” Dr. Kolasinski says. Also, be sure to tell your physician and pharmacist about any nonprescription remedies you use.

The original article is found here -
Health.com
Is there anyone that has any input on this from personal experience? Would love to hear about it, leave me a comment or message me.
Off to continue the organizing for the room moves ;-)
Happy Hump Day! Sarah

My challenge for the next few weeks ...

I have housed my sewing studio at my mother's home, 10 miles away for the last 4 ish years. It has worked well for me to have a dedicated area to sew, but it's also had drawbacks. With a 2 year old, 7 years, one year old basset hounds, a husband and house to take care of, really finding enough time to get there and get enough done is hard. So, we are finally cleaning out the large bedroom we've used for a storage area since we moved into this house about 11 years ago. That room will be for our 2 girls and their multitude of toys. Then their current room will become my new sewing space. It's a 9'x13' room with some wall storage. I will move most all of my storage shelves and my desk as well as ALL of my supplies. It will be a challenge just to get the rooms all moved and then to get my sewing space arranged. Phew.... well since I am sharing with you all my life adjusting to RA, this is part of it too. So here are my before pictures.
*WARNING graphic messy bedrooms, storage areas & sewing disaster areas to follow*
Here is my current sewing area at my mom's -

And here is our large storage "room" that will become the girls new bedroom -

And finally, this will be my new sewing studio -

Now to get at it....