Meghan Bea

A question I often get asked as a lupus patient, along with "Why is your hair so messy?" and "How much coffee can one person drink?" is "How do you...

"A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.” – Pearl S. Buck Marriage isn't easy, as...

As a lupus patient, I often struggle with insomnia. I previously wrote an article on ways to manage it. Here are some more tricks I’ve learned to help me fall...

Black Friday. When we hear these words, most of us think of frenzied crowds charging through Walmart doors, exhausted sales associates and harangued store managers, and people filling their carts...

Twelve years ago, I sat in a rheumatologist's office for the first time. "You have lupus," she said. "I'm going to start you on a dose of Plaquenil or hydroxychloroquine."...

Lupus patients are often fatigued and need more rest than the general population – which is why it’s so frustrating that many people with lupus experience insomnia as a symptom...

During my second semester of grad school, I continued to search for a diagnosis. I was growing sicker and sicker. The brain fog intensified and the fatigue became unbearable. I...

When I first became sick with lupus, I was a twenty-year-old college student majoring in music performance. My life was filled with books and exams, orchestra rehearsals, and practicing the...

I was first diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease when I was 22. But like many people with invisible illnesses, it took a long time to finally figure out why...

It was 11 pm on a Friday night, and I was stalking the frozen food section of my local grocery store. Like King Arthur searching for the Holy Grail, I...

The year of the pandemic has brought us few experiences outside of our homes, but certainly many new words and phrases. "Zooming," "lockdown," and "work from home" have all become...

Aside from paying your monthly premium, health insurance is something you rarely think about when you’re healthy. But when you’re diagnosed with lupus, you will frequently need to call your...

Brain fog: It’s the bane of many people's existence. Also referred to as cognitive dysfunction, brain fog feels like having a head full of cotton through which your thoughts just...

Outside my window, an angry brown river raged down what was once a road. The flood stormed over the 3-foot-high concrete barrier separating the street from the sidewalk. Tree branches...

"Chronic illness will show you two things very clearly: the amazing compassion of some people you hardly know at all, and the disgusting selfishness of some people you thought you...

I’m 3 hours away from the end of my workday when I realized I’m in steroid withdrawal. Sweat beads on my forehead, even though I just turned up the AC...

With a lupus diagnosis comes life changes. Sometimes these changes come in the form of pills that we have to take for the rest of our lives. For others, a...

Between joint pain, fatigue, and sun sensitivity, it can be difficult for people living with lupus to find the right type of exercise for them. While some people with lupus...

Lupus might impact your skin, joints, or kidneys. But living with a long-term chronic illness forever impacts your mindset. In many ways, adjusting to life with lupus can feel like...

Four years after I was diagnosed with lupus, I stood up from my desk one afternoon and forgot how to walk. My feet and legs didn't hurt; they just remained...