I have RA too..I'm 39 and it certainly is a blow to find out you have a life long disease and not know where it's headed. I'm on enbrel and sulfasalazine and it's pretty well controlled but I have pain and stiffness off and on mostly in my hands which doesn't affect my ability to sew or quilt i did give up knitting though.I'm lucky. I'm a military musician so my hands are important. One thing I do that is not quilted related that helps is that I wear bike gloves to protect my hands when I drive or lift things. It really helps keep them from hurting. I think rest is the thing that helps me the most...getting enough sleep makes my symptoms better. I guess my advice is to wear gloves when quilting, take rest breaks and avoid hand work or do it for short periods of time. I bought a cutting system to avoid some rotary cutting...that will help. I just take breaks. Also the more exercise I get the better my body feels. I don't really have answers either...still finding my way through it all. Best wishes to all you have this or the similar autoimmune diseases.
Last edited by Xtgirl; 11-08-2011 at 07:05 PM.