Jennifer Hunter - Chronic Illness Advocate

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Jennifer Hunter - Chronic Illness Advocate

Powering through psoriatic arthritis, chronic migraine, thyroid disease, PCOS, hEDS, and MCAS Hope and community for chronic illness patients.

Powering through psoriatic arthritis, migraine, thyroid disease, PCOS, hEDS, and MCAS
📍AZ ☀️🌵

05/12/2026

It’s glp shot day, and I have mixed feelings. Hear me out:

I’ve been off and on the shot since summer of 2023. In the first 4 mos, I lost 40 pounds! Exciting! But the side effects: gastroparesis, ⬆️ migraines from low caloric intake, disrupted sleep, etc. I was going through the process of being diagnosed with hEDS and it was complicating things. So I quit.

I started again 6 mos later, hopeful I could manage symptoms better. The weight was piling back on, and my PsA kept me from moving. Things went well until the insomnia hit. It was crushing. I was waking at 3:45 every morning 😩 for months, and it was making my arthritis worse. I just couldn’t take it anymore.

This time around, my body’s adapted better. I’m still struggling with digestive symptoms, but no reflux and barfing. I’m sleeping. No migraines. But am I losing weight? NO. I AM NOT. This is the highest dose I’ve ever taken, I’m not eating anywhere near enough calories, and here I sit at 217 pounds eternally. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Is there even a point?

Some of you are taking glps in conjunction with PsA treatment. Are you taking one? How’s it going for you?

05/08/2026

It’s not as bad as it sounds, but yes I did. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Can you even…?

My prescription is for both pens every 8 weeks, but when I started having symptom creep before my next dose, we shifted to one pen every 4 weeks. This has kept me in remission for 18 mos.

Recently, I started feeling like I needed a top-up of the full double dose, so got doc permission to do that in March and then go back to every 4 weeks.
…and then forgot my April shot. 😩 We took a spontaneous trip to Antelope Canyon and I just totally spaced taking my meds. I didn’t realize I’d even forgotten until about 10 days ago, when I started having issues in my fingers and toes!

Tldr: I’m a space cadet, and I’ve been suffering the consequences this week. So today it’ll be both shots, then back to one every 4 weeks. Can’t wait to get back on-schedule!

05/01/2026

TIAS study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40614666/

04/27/2026

Life update!

It was a busy spring at our house. Our boys (23) were home for the semester, so we tried to squish as much into a few months as we could.

🌸 Visited Antelope Canyon, a site on Diné (Navajo) land with spectacular views. I’m still digging through the hundreds of photos on my camera. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

🌸 Took the boys to an MLB game—a big deal for kids who grew up in Idaho with no pro sports teams

🌸 Spent a weekend in San Diego, just me and J. So much walking, but worth it for all the museums, the beach, and some truly fabulous weather.

🌸 Took a day trip up to the mountains to Jerome, an old copper mining ghost town. Cool sights, fantastic pizza!

🌸 My tiny 4’x 4’ garden continues to go bananas, producing tomatoes and zucchini and herbs that have kept me happy all spring. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh basil! It’s been in the 70s this weekend—atypical, and probably the last of our beautiful temps for this year.

I continue to be so grateful for my current remission. My biologic has changed my life and let me get back to normal this last year, and I feel so lucky to be able to experience things like this with my kids and husband, all without pain.

04/20/2026

😉 Love Donald Sutherland.

03/31/2026

Did you know that scrapes and cuts can trigger an arthritis flare? 😟

I woke up this morning with painfully puffy hands and couldn’t figure out why…until I remembered I had a smal freak accident with the pool skimmer handle yesterday.

So far, it’s only my hands (and I think it’ll stay that way), but in the past when my arthritis wasn’t well controlled, a scratch from a thorn could kick off a weeks-long flare. Having to be extra careful about my proximity to small everyday skin traumas is one of the more obnoxious small irritations of this disease.

03/22/2026

For years, any time I’ve gone on vacation, I’ve taken prednisone with me. I’m willing to push through pain to be with family or see all the sights (not that I recommend that, btw), but since I developed psoriatic arthritis, I’ve paid a heavy price for high activity.

My feet may feel sore in a normal way after a day of sightseeing, but after a rest, they’re unbearably painful. It’s such a typical symptom of PsA. To fight it, I now start prednisone the minute my vacation shoes hit the pavement.

This week, I walked for miles and stood for hours in museums. When I got to the hotel the first afternoon, I decided (after a year of remission) it was time to test how my body handles high activity now. I took a big leap of faith and decided to brave ignoring the habits I built over 4 years of suffering and just…see how my body felt in the morning.

The next day, I got up and felt so perfectly normal that I forgot I was even considering prednisone. Then I went out and walked even farther that day. 😭💜

Being chronically ill—even just for a few years—teaches you hard lessons about slowing down. When PsA is raging, it seems like no matter how little you do or how good you feel while you’re doing it, you always end up paying for it later. No amount of ratcheting back activity is enough. I went from being highly active and physically fearless to being unable to trust my body.

I’m finding those lessons difficult to un-learn now that I’m doing well. Baby steps as I try to trust my body again…while knowing it could betray me without warning at any time. I try and celebrate the wins when I can.

03/19/2026

Running away to the beach for a few days while the husband is at a convention. He has to go to classes and I get to go play! 😄💜

It’s 105 F at home, so I’m thrilled to be enjoying the soft ocean air. Grateful I was able to take my shot Friday so I’m feeling up to being on my feet being touristy!

03/12/2026

Have you ever wondered whether, if you’d known the body you were going to get, you would have said, “Yep, OK, I’m in. I can do that!”

I had an experience recently that made me think I did. Sweet little blond Jennifer had no idea what was coming or how hard it would be. But that tiny girl also came with more determination than almost anyone she’s ever going to meet. She’s optimistic and brave, and she believes things can always get better.

In her hardest future days, those will be her most valuable qualities. I wish I could spare her the embarassment, worries, and pain that are coming, but since they’re coming, I’m so grateful for who she is.

I wish I could hug her and tell her it’s going to be hard, but it’s all going to be okay. 💕

03/11/2026

Two days ‘til my shot and I’m feeling it this time. I woke up Sat with a baker’s cyst, which freaks me out because I’ve never had pain in my knees, so whay the heck?

So I’ve been throwing down prednisone, but my body still wants to be puffy.

Some days I’m so aware that the remission I’ve been in is fragile and could change at any time. It’s frustrating being in a 48 year old body that wants so badly to be 88. 🫤

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Phoenix, AZ

Website

http://zebraunicornproject.wordpress.com/

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