I am not someone who exaggerates. So I'll be straight with you.
Week 1: Morning stiffness was lighter. Too early to say anything. I didn't.
Week 2: I hadn't reached for ibuprofen once. Not because I was avoiding it. Because I didn't need it.
Week 4: I was walking my full morning route again. Not the shortened version I'd quietly accepted as my new normal.
Week 6: My doctor confirmed the gastritis had cleared. She asked if I was still taking NSAIDs.
I told her no. Told her what I'd switched to. She looked it up.
She said: "Good. Keep going."
My stomach doesn't burn when I eat anymore.
My joints aren't the daily crisis they were.
And the life I was terrified of losing — it doesn't feel like it's slipping away anymore.