Communicating about RA Archives | Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior

Rheumatoid Arthritis Blog Birthday

May 30, 2020 Kelly O'Neill 8 Comments Communicating about RA, Inspiration for living with RA

Birth of a rheumatoid arthritis blog This month the RA Warrior website—and blog—began its 12th year. In 2008, I dreamed of building a rheumatoid arthritis blog and website to bring better answers to people with RA that I’d already begun to know and love—and many thousands I was yet to meet. On May 17, 2009, I...Continue reading 8 Comments » Read more

What RA Is Like Really

May 18, 2020 Kelly O'Neill Make a Comment Communicating about RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Trying to describe what RA is like—really Shock and awe—things I felt as I learned first hand what RA is really like. Fourteen years later, I've taken thousands of pictures and written over 1000 articles, but I still can't easily show someone what RA is like. When RA or our medicines are in the news (some...Continue reading Make a Comment » Read more

Arthritis Prescreening Like Minority Report

February 28, 2017October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 12 Comments Communicating about RA, Preclinical RA, Research on Rheumatoid Arthritis

Arthritis prescreening is like Minority Report with Tom Cruise …Or is it? When I read Dr. Scott’s creative newspaper column, comparing rheumatoid arthritis prescreening to Minority Report, the sci-fi flick about punishing crimes before they happen, I didn’t know where to begin. I love movie analogies – there are a bunch of them on this blog. But Dr. Scott...Continue reading 12 Comments » Read more

5 RA Facts Everyone Needs to Know

January 23, 2017October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 18 Comments Communicating about RA, Physician-patient discordance / disagreement, Unrelenting RA - Persistent disease

Driven to uncover RA facts My search for facts about Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) led me to build this website. So many questions. So much misinformation, blame, and confusion out there. It all contributed to my passion for uncovering RA facts and making them clear. I didn’t feel ready when I started writing this blog in 2009. There...Continue reading 18 Comments » Read more

Remaining Pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis

October 12, 2016October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 11 Comments Communicating about RA, Research on Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis pain

Studying Remaining Pain In part one of this series on the role of pain in rheumatoid arthritis / disease, we learned that “Remaining pain” is a term for joint pain that patients experience despite treatment with DMARDs like methotrexate or Enbrel. Today we discuss a large study about Remaining Pain in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) / rheumatoid disease...Continue reading 11 Comments » Read more

Prednisone Dosage Case Study

February 25, 2016October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 39 Comments Communicating about RA, Prednisone and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Prednisone dosage varies Last time we discussed the varying positive and negative effects of prednisone, and some strategies for finding a workable dose. Prednisone dosage varies significantly, from 5mg to 60mg, even for similar conditions. One reason for that is the varying response in patients. Doses vary because effectiveness and side effects vary significantly. I know...Continue reading 39 Comments » Read more

After Fear and Failure, Freedom

December 2, 2015October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 7 Comments Communicating about RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Last month I wrote about a challenging personal situation, and I want to share an update with you, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. There has been another long court day and I’ve seen a lot of legal wrangling. My Uncle Sam posts updates on his GoFundMe page (for our legal...Continue reading 7 Comments » Read more