Living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) means navigating a complex relationship with pain. The good news? You have more power over this relationship than you might think. As someone who has walked this path, I've discovered that managing RA pain requires becoming the boss of your own body—embracing what I call a "Wyld" approach that challenges conventional thinking and reclaims your agency in the healing process.

Pain: What Does the Body Think? 
When we experience pain, it's never just about the affected joint. Pain triggers a whole-body response—physical, emotional, and mental. But here's the crucial insight many miss: YOUR THOUGHTS MATTER. How you think about your pain directly impacts how your body processes and responds to it.

Pain isn't just a physical sensation transmitted through nerves. It's an experience shaped by our beliefs, expectations, and past trauma. Your nervous system adapts to this experience, becoming more sensitive over time if you remain trapped in negative thought patterns about your pain.

Beliefs:
I never saw my dad stop because of pain. If he hit his knee or fell off the roof, he just got back up and continued. He iced later. He had 3 jobs most of my young life. I rarely saw him take medication. When I got hurt, I heard, "you're alright". My parents never needed surgery or were sick very long. There were very few excuses to miss school or work. With friends, you never let anyone down, be fiercely loyal. Give of yourself first, never owe anybody for anything, even a favor. WHOA! That kind of baggage can make you super independent, never ask for help and never care for yourself and stressed. (hmm is that why my RA got so bad??)

So, Who Lied to You?
One of the most powerful questions on my journey was: "Who 'lied' to me about my pain, and why am I continuing to believe it?" In other words, ask yourself 'where did I get my beliefs' and consider restructuring them so that your new beliefs serve you and the life you want. Otherwise, they are limiting you, aka "limiting beliefs".

Take a moment to consider how you processed the experiences below:
*Seeing a family member or friend with a chronic disease or pain
*Witnessing how a friend or family member handled an injury
*Your parents' views on "doing too much", quitting, rest, pain, work,
  helping others or taking care of yourself?

Now ask yourself:
- When do I first remember being in severe pain? How was it handled?
- Who told you pain/RA can only get worse? A doctor, family, you?
- Did your experiences make you think this was true?

I encourage you to write down the beliefs you hold about your pain and your disease. Be aware that a belief may be limiting for pain but beneficial for another aspect of your life so don't hold on to a belief if it doesn't help you take action to resolve pain. Just bringing these beliefs into the light can begin to dissolve their power over you.
Remember: open minds change outcomes.

Hopefully, you will start to see it is your thoughts that created a belief. Spend some time working to get out of that pain maze, a winding road of misdirection with tons of walls/blockages. You may want to come back to it a few times to revamp.

These aren't just philosophical questions—they're practical. Our beliefs about pain become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you believe your condition will only deteriorate, your brain prepares for that reality, amplifying pain signals and triggering stress responses that make inflammation worse. But it doesn't stop there, your whole body prepares and keeps on preparing, daily, subconsciously. And that is when you start getting weight around the tummy, migraines or plaque in the arteries.

Your thoughts create a belief system that becomes part of your decision making. You make daily decisions with and take daily actions from the foundation of this system. Here is a simple example: You are walking in a city when you see a guy in dirty, worn clothes sitting in a corner of a closed shop. You think, yikes that guy is homeless. In a split second, your brain remembers seeing movies and tv about crazy homeless people that are druggies. (You may not even consciously know you thought that.) Fear comes over you and your body responds to a thought: 'I don't want to be attacked or hurt'. Subconsciously, your heartrate starts to increase, your eyes focus, hair stands up on your neck, cortisol starts to rev up and your breathing changes. Consciously, you take action by walking faster, gripping your bag and crossing the street. You feel safer and maybe start to calm which will take the body at least another 20 minutes to stabilize. You took an action based on your belief system. A system with lots of 'proof' that constantly updates, looking for more proof to keep that same belief. If you didn't have the belief he/she was dangerous in some way (or you didn't want to feel guilty not giving them money-also 'dangerous' to your ego), you would have stayed on the same side of the road, maybe even said hi.

How do I know? Your brain loves to be efficient. That is why it is challenging to learn new things. It has to create a new neural pathway (a new road) and that takes energy and valuable resources. It is better to just analyze life with proof that an instilled belief is still true. You may not even realize you are doing it until you realize what belief you are holding onto.

**The real battle isn't just against inflammation—it's against the beliefs that keep you from being Wyld.**

The mental aspect of pain management might be the most underutilized resource in conventional treatment. Your mind can be your greatest ally in managing pain when you learn to work with it effectively.

ANDREA, MY PAIN IS REAL! YOU'RE TRYING TO TELL ME IT'S IN MY HEAD!

My answer is Yes and No. No, I don't think you are faking it or are some mental case, hypochondriac. But Yes too! The brain manages signals of information. Many signals of information get processed as a greater value. The brain is sending increased pain signals that you -consciously and subconsciously- programed it to send!

BUT... you can reprogram it!!!

Start by assessing your belief system. Then check out my blog on alternative pain relief options.