These are great tips, Lene! I think they are helpful for most types of chronic pain, not just RA. At least I know they help me when my fibromyalgia pain flares. So sorry to hear your pain has been worse, but appreciate you using that experience to help others in pain.
Wishing you pain-free days ahead! – Karen
When prescribed it to correctly, these medications only result in addiction in one quarter of one percent. Crazy low number, isn't it? And yet, all we hear is "addiction, addiction, addiction."
I may be dependent on these medications, both physically (but then antidepressants and beta blockers, etc. also cause physical dependence) and in the sense that I am dependent on them to be able to live my life. So, yes. I take the meds and I get on with things. And to those who get all concerned and talk to me about addiction, I tell them I'm addicted to living my life. 
Sorry. I got on a rant. Good for you for prioritizing your needs and doing what you have to.
Hi
Your five points are very effective. However for me most are inaccessible. I am a full time scientist heading a big research group. I usually get up with acute pain when I am in the middle of something big. Specially when I have to go out and perform the pain boogie hits me hard maybe due to the stress. I pop in a diclofenac that is my Big drug, and rush. For the 11 years with RA this is what I have been doing ignoring the pain and pushing and pushing and getting more and more tired.
This I feel has increased my tolerance limit. So that paracetamol and diclofenac are my only pain medication. Another thing that helps me is that I have done Reiki second degree course and practice regularly for that elusive peace of mind. It helps a lot. So meditation and mental focussing excercise of any form may be another way to divert or "fool" your mind from the pounding pain. We cannot wish away the inflammation but the pain yes.
Ratnapriya
thank you for sharing your experience. I think meditation can be a huge help in shifting perspective and getting rest, both and very effective for people who are working full-time. My mother has chronic pain, as well and has also taken some reiki courses and is told me about how incredibly helpful. They have been, both in dealing with the actual pain, as well improving her emotional coping style. If you weren't so busy, I'd ask if you'd be willing to write a post about it so our community members could learn more about this.
Thanks so much for your comment.
Hi,
I had taken the Reiki course second degree when I was not afflicted with RA. Reiki is basically touch healing. You can heal yourself and heal others. In second degree Reiki we are also taught how to heal others at a distance. You all will get lots of material on Reiki on the net so I will not repeat them. I will just narrate my experience. Unlike others, my RA started after taking a drug prescribed by a doctor here whose side effects proved highly toxic for me. It had started breaking down all my body muscles for which the medical community had no treatment. I was left with a lot of anti oxidants vitamins and minerals and advise to pray to God. I was completely paralysed for six months. Even in that stage I kept practising Reiki on my self. Very diffficult task to do when you are in so much pain. Slowly the vitamins etc started working almost miraculously and after nine months I could walk with a cratch. This was in 2001 I could join work end of that year. However, I was not happy with that much progress and contacted one of the leading hospitals in India. I was giving myself the healing Reiki all the time.
After going through innumerable tests, the doctors prescribed that the unknown autoimmune disease with which I was afflicted has settled down to pure RA and the muscle breakdown has been completely arrested. They were so happy that they could tell me that I will live almost my full life instead of another two years.
I stronly believe that it is the healing energy of Reiki that has done so many miracles in my life otherwise as a scientist I do not have any explaination for what had happened to me. The fact that I can work full time even though I have a lot of disabilities is partially with the mental strength that I get from doing Reiki. I personally feel that any form of meditation or exercise to tune your mind with your body will be very relaxing and give people with chronic disease a diffferent perspective to deal with their daily pain.
Ratnapriya
What an excellent article, Lene! Each of the steps you articulate are vital to living with the often unexpectedly intense pain that RA sometimes visits us with. How I wish I'd been able to communicate with others who have RA back when mine was so awful--it would have been so helpful to know that I wasn't alone. Still, even then, I slowly learned the lessons for coping with it that you've spelled out so well here.
Thank you for offering us these words of wisdom. I wonder if you know how much they help. 
Excellent post Lene. Great positive reminders of healthy ways to deal with the pain of RA or any other chronic pain. I am learning how to deal in a more healthy manner. In the past, I have delt in some unhealthy ways like eating. It was an unhealthy way t self medicate that made me feel worse mentally and physically since my go to foods were sugars. Work on breaking that 8 year old habit, every day.
I am now working on mindfulness and being gentle with myself. I rest more, meditate and do things that make me feel happy, creative and constructive. Hobbies that make us happy are a wonderful medication along with out RA and other meds.
Thanks for such a helpful post. :)
Pulverize the pain!
Rena
I'm glad you're finding better ways to deal with the pain - it can be a hard slog, though. Mindfulness has been very, very helpful for me, both in terms of dealing better with the pain and changing my perspective on life. It's an interesting way of living.
"Pulverize the pain"! Love it!!
How's the recovery going?
The recovery is gonng slow. I did go too my neuro-surgeon last week and saw my 12 week post-op MRI. My spinal cord at the location where the tumor was (C6, C7, T1), is a quarter the size it is suppost to be. It bothered me for several days, to see the MRI. My spinal cord looks so fragile in my neck. I tend to paint a pretty picture in my head of how fine and not a big deal everything is and this MRI was a reall sucker punch for me. My spinal cord looks so fragile. I was withing a few millimeters of having a completely severed spinal cord.
The neuro-surgeon also dropped the bomb on me that I would not be able to return to my previous position of employment. I have been working in this position for 25 years. Everyone around me says take the social security disability but I have been working a fulll time job since I was 15 years old. I did not plan on being handicapped/disabled with a spinal cord injury at age 46. I am still trying to wrap my brain around that.
How are you doing??? Hope all is well with you, my friend.
is your spinal cord likely to recover its former thickness now that the pressure is off?
going on disability is a difficult thing that can really mess with your concept of who you are. Remember, though, that who you are has nothing to do with whether you're working - who you are won't change. Check out V's excellent post on making the decision to stop working. Maybe it will help.
And here's the other thing… Just because you're on disability doesn't mean that you won't be useful anymore. It leaves you free to pursue other dreams, some of them on a voluntary basis, some maybe making a bit of money. Is there something you've always dreamt of doing? Do you want to get into advocacy for RA, breed potbellied pigs or become a painter? The sky's the limit. And when you're not working, you can use your time and energy to do things that you have put on a back burner for later.
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I pretty much do what you do, Lene. And I take some time to get myself spiritually grounded. For me, that means taking time out form all the "noise" of life and just being quiet. I think about my blessings..........my husband, my friends, my family, my faith. And, I pray for peace in my heart. I ususally find that peace by helping others. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
Love ya, Ms Lene!
V
I'd like to say that I focus on getting peace within, as well, but it takes a lot of practice. When the pain is really loud, it's hard to focus. I used to be better at it, which I guess is an indication that my pain is largely manageable now, so perhaps a good thing?
thanks for the reminder.