Charlotte Barnett

My daughter is soon to be 6 years old and she is my only child. I still look at her in disbelief sometimes. I never in my wildest dreams believed...

In this modern world in which we live and have the constant daily pressures of life, it isn’t easy to avoid stress. Especially when you throw in the added struggles...

I have been going through a phase in my life lately where I’ve been reflecting back, and it really hit me just how much I’ve had to accept everything that...

I’ve always looked after my oral hygiene by brushing my teeth twice a day and practicing regular flossing. Up until recently, I’ve never had many issues - apart from a...

For months I've been struggling with the classic lupus flare symptoms, and I assumed that this was just a prolonged phase I was experiencing, although one issue that was new...

On my lupus journey, it took me a number of years before I received my official diagnosis. It was a very long road, with many twists and turns. When I...

Self-advocacy is something that has taken me a while to practice. When I first became sick with lupus symptoms I was feeling scared and lost, I didn’t know where to turn...

In the early days of having lupus, it was a constant struggle for me just to be heard. This included health professionals, my employer and even with friendships and relationships...

I recently noticed some changes on my right breast. Of course, as soon as I noticed this, my heart sank and my mind went into overdrive assuming the worst-case scenario...

Before I developed lupus, I used to love being in the sun and getting a tan. It does make me cringe when I look back and remember how I would...

For the past year, I seem to have been plagued by recurrent yeast infections. The main issue for me has been vaginal thrush, although, I have suffered with oral thrush...

As we age, it's obvious that our physical appearance changes–it’s part of life. However, I have noticed, particularly within the last 5 years, how my body has changed a lot...

I wanted to share my own personal experience of what tends to cause my lupus to flare up. This may be like what other lupus warriors can relate to or...

Since becoming unwell on my lupus journey, I have struggled with stress. It seems that my body can't seem to handle it, and my nervous system goes into overdrive. This...

I have noticed a pattern over the last several winters that I seem to pick up an onslaught of viruses. The exception for this was during the Covid-19 lockdown where...

In a previous article, I spoke about my personal experience of having a possible DVT (deep vein thrombosis). Still, I wanted to talk more in-depth about why lupus patients are...

I never realized just how important vitamin D is in our bodies until I experienced becoming extremely deficient. I had been feeling very unwell for a number of weeks but I...

Traveling overseas with lupus or any other chronic illness can be daunting. However, I believe we shouldn’t have to miss out on seeing our beautiful planet as long as we...

I wanted to write about an experience I had recently, which at the time was very frightening, and it made me think a lot about how delicate our health is when...

One of my main recurring symptoms of lupus is headaches. I seem to constantly go through phases where I get different types of them, but most days, I find that...