Run down due to starting a new job a couple of months before, not eating properly due to stress/rushing about/not taking care of myself, and losing more sleep than ever – my body and immune system reacted once again to my lack of self-care. I felt miserable, and my ankle pain and swelling hit an ultimate high – then, on holiday with my friend I was in even more pain as I noticed my right elbow had swollen and I couldn’t extend it to the length of my left one. Terrified, upset, and feeling more alone and burdened with my arthritis than ever before – I wanted to take control, no, I needed to take control of my arthritis – someway, any way at all! So, when I returned from my holiday I ordered a load of books online, stuck my head into those, and buried my mind in online articles too. Then, September 2018, I decided to make a huge lifestyle choice and experiement with food, exercise, and natural remedies on a journey to one day be medication-free.

Since then, a lot has happened. For starters – there is all of YOU. Wow, I did not expect that when I opened the account @ArthritisFoodie it would grow the way that it has, and it has brought so many people together. Originally as a diary to document this journey living with arthritis and experimenting with natural remedies, it has now become a place of support, hope, and patient-to-patient education. A place where we can all talk openly about our arthritis and feel less alone.

With this new lifestyle, I have noticed these changes so far:

• Improved my immunity: every Winter I end up bed ridden with cold/flu/virus, and I would have at least 10 or more colds that would last for weeks, I have only had 2 since September, with minimal symptoms and recovering faster than ever before.
• Relieved symptoms in my right elbow: my elbow is now totally back to normal, and both arms stretch to the same length, and I don’t have any pain there either.
• Still in pain, but pain has decreased massively: I remember being in Nottingham May 2018 for the day and I love to shop (with my mum and sister), but I just couldn’t hack it and had to sit on a bench and wait for them.

I’m still on medication, and there is still a long way to go… But, I am really hopeful of what food, lifestyle, exercise and natural remedies can do.