My name is McKell, I am 32 years old and was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis just 2.5 years ago. At the time, I was just 7 weeks post-partum. I had a sudden onset of severe and disabling joint pain and because I had never heard of RA, it felt as though I had suddenly sustained serious injuries or broken bones all through my body. I suffered through this for 2 weeks hoping it was some side effect of post-partum and that it would fade away. Unfortunately, the pain only became worse so I went to see my primary care doctor. I am very fortunate that he took my claims seriously and ordered the right lab work (autoimmune panel, inflammatory markers and my Rheumatoid factor). The results showed extremely high inflammatory markers and an RA factor of 147 (when it should be less than 14). He then told me he suspected I had RA and referred me to a Rheumatologist. I was fortunate to see a Rheumatologist just 2 weeks later where the diagnosis was confirmed. My world shattered as I learned more about what this could mean for my future. The grief was very isolating because the majority of people in my life didn’t understand the seriousness of what I was going through.

In my first few months of diagnosis I was started on 3 medications (a biologic, a DMARD and prednisone). Given that it can take several months for these medications to start working, I continued to experience daily high levels of disabling pain for several months. The pain was more than I could tolerate so I began looking at lifestyle medicine that could aid in my treatment. I began eating an anti-inflammatory diet and doing other alternative treatments (such as cryotherapy and infrared sauna), it was only after implementing these changes that I started to see my pain levels decrease. I was able to come off prednisone and stayed on the other two medications until sadly, my biologic gave me drug induced lupus. I then switched to more mild medications (sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine). These medications have worked well for me although I do give primary credit to my lifestyle changes for keeping me in good health.

My disease impacts every single day of my life. I live a very strict anti-inflammatory lifestyle which means I eat an anti-inflammatory diet, I prioritize getting 8 hours of sleep, I take supplements, exercise, and regularly do cryotherapy and infrared sauna. I do not take pain free movement for granted and am thankful every day when I can run and play with my daughter. I do live with constant concern that I will flare and be kept from doing things I love. Despite all my efforts to keep my inflammation low, there are days where the pain limits me but overall, my daily efforts to keep my inflammation low allow me to live a good and fulfilling life.

I would want researchers to know that we are thankful for their focus in developing safer and more precise treatments for inflammatory arthritis. I know I personally hope to see a future where medications carry less risk and/or we have to identify more personalized medicine that takes into account our unique bio-individuality and which medications would be most effective for us.