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What Helps Betsy, 58, With Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Editor's Note

Any medical information included is based on a personal experience. For questions or concerns regarding health, please consult a doctor or medical professional.

With our ongoing “What Helps Me” series, The Mighty is leaning into what sets us apart from other health sites: We aim to provide real health advice from real people who live it.

In this spirit, we asked our community for the best insights and tips they’ve developed for managing their conditions. As always, they responded with their unique health stories and we are happy to pass along their well-tested resources to you.

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Today, we meet Mighty member Betsy. She is 58 years old and lives with rheumatoid arthritis.

A woman with brown eyes and curly hair wearing a tie-dye shirt looks seriously at the camera.

Betsy, what helps you?

THE MIGHTY: What helps you most when your condition affects your physical health?

BETSY: Heat, whether from taking a hot shower, using the heating pad, or soaking in the Caribbean waters.

What helps you most when your condition affects your mental health?

Sitting on the beach and listening to the water helps me.

How do you cope when your normal self-care isn’t working?

Meditation or prayer, and if that doesn’t work, I can dive into cleaning my house. I pay for it afterwards, but it clears my head.

Thank you to Betsy for her contributions to our community. Did you find this helpful? Add your gratitude in the comments.

If you want to tell us what helps you, you can complete our survey here.

Originally published: June 24, 2022
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