As a newbie to MFP - I don't have significant results yet to base an answer on. I always included exercise in my daily routine. I stopped intially before my diagnosis when the pain made it unbearable to move for about 1 year, it took that long to get a definitive diagnosis. When I was diagnosed and it has been a good 4 years now, I sort of thought, I had better get moving before I seize up and can't move anymore. It just never dawned on me that gaining weight was hurting my range of motion. Out of the blue in November I just decided - enough, I was done, and I needed to get control over my life and my disease. I am hoping dropping weight is the magic bullet that takes me down the road to less medication. I am not sure just how much weight will make a difference but I am looking forward to finding out.

I've noticed ever since I stopped eating refined sugars, my R.A. symptoms decrease immensely. Anyone else experience this?

I've noticed a significant decrease in my paint/joint stiffness after I've been exercising. I began exercising regularly this past August, and slowly, but surely, it's amazing. My doctor has been trying to wean me off the prednisone, and usually in the past, before I started exericising, it was painful for me to drop down even a miligram, but since I've been working out, the miligram difference isn't affecting me as much as it used to. I'm totally surprised, I'm hoping that if I continue to work out regularly, that I can get off my meds altogether, because that would be so wonderful!

I've been jogging again since September, after a year and a half of inactivity due to lupus and RA. I too notice that I often feel stiffer if I don't exercise every day or every second day. Despite what common sense and every trainer I know told me, I feel more pain in my knees when I'm on the elliptical machine and the bike. I don't know why, but I rarely feel knee or ankle pain when I jog, but sometimes I get hip pain for awhile until I work it out. My wrists bother me the most and it gets worse when I lift weights too often. I use wrist guards while lifting and I do think it helps. Anyhow....tangent....I find that my painkiller usage varies and I haven't seen a consistent or significant decrease in my usage since starting to exercise regularly and according to my rheumatologist, I'll never get off of the anti-inflammatories.

What I think makes a huge difference is that exercise helps my mental and emotional stability and it definitely helps with stress. If any of you are considering starting an exercise plan, then this is the big pay off: stress reduction. I find that those days when my joints are stiff and hurting are easier to bear mentally now. I know that one day soon I'll have a good day (or several) and I get less depressed about having lupus/RA.