Meghan Bea

I first discovered "The Minimalists," Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, through a friend. My friend was in the process of paring down his possessions as he packed to move...

Three years after I was diagnosed with lupus, I was scrolling through emails on my phone during my lunch break when a picture caught my eye. Beneath the logo of...

I stare up at the IV bag of clear liquid snaking into my arm: "1000mg methylprednisolone," the nurse at my rheumatologist explains. This is the last of 3 emergency infusions...

Before I was diagnosed with lupus, I was never a fan of exercise. In gym class in high school, I was usually the last one out of the locker room...

For many people living with lupus, fatigue is the most common symptom experienced. Whether it’s a persistent lack of energy, a sense of physical and mental lethargy, or all-over exhaustion...

I first asked my doctor to prescribe me a handicapped parking pass a little over 8 years ago. Perhaps “ask” is not the right word. My brain was inflamed at...

When I first became sick at 21 years old, I was an active person balancing a job and my first year of graduate school. I would often study until late...

For the most part, lupus is an invisible illness. Most people can’t see the aching joints and fatigue that we live with every day. Lupus can change our appearance over...

Losing my hair was one of the first symptoms I noticed when I began to get sick. When I brushed my hair, more strands than usual remained in the bristles...

Everyone knows the feeling of being sad, disappointed, or stressed. These feelings are normal, especially after a negative experience like a falling out with a family member or the loss...

As I maneuvered my car past the line of people trailing into the hospital, I felt a sense of deja vu. Same hospital. Same parking lot. Same signs directing patients...

Nearly every person with lupus experiences fatigue at some point during the course of their disease. Fatigue can feel like crushing exhaustion, low-level tiredness, or even being too wiped out...

Finding and holding down a job can be difficult when you’re living with a chronic illness like lupus. Even after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, it isn’t...

As a newly diagnosed lupus patient in my early 20s, I used to hide my prescription bottles because I was so embarrassed by clunky drugstore pillboxes. I already felt like...

At my very first support group meeting, I walked into the Italian restaurant with sweaty hands. Not even the aroma of garlic bread and marinara sauce could settle the nervousness...

The first time someone gave me a dirty look for using a handicapped pass happened in the grocery store parking lot. I was wearing a fluorescent coral dress and nude...

After quarantining for 9 months, I was excited when immunocompromised people were scheduled to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in my state. As a lupus patient on immunosuppressants, I would be...

As a sick person in a world built for the healthy and able-bodied, I’ve often struggled to keep up with my peers who do not live with lupus. Occasionally, though...