Q: What triggers a flare for you?
Absolutely. Overdoing it is (in my unscientific assessment) the most frequent cause of flares. Have you heard of the Spoon Theory? It's a way of making energy real and tangible and can help you to work in such a way that you don't overdo it. Realizing where your limits are and working within them (most of the time) is the best way to keep flares at bay. It took me a long time to really incorporate this way of doing things into my life. I'd often feel as if I would have to do everything I possibly could when I was feeling good, because who knew how I would feel tomorrow. However, that always lead to overdoing things, which guaranteed that the next day (and several days after that) would be spent in a flare and recovering. I eventually realized that doing a little every day over time would get more done because I would be able to do something every day.
For instance, I use my dining room table as a horizontal filing area and once it had gotten seriously out of control.. I knew that cleaning the whole table in one go would put me out of commission for the rest of the week, so I decided to try working within my limits. I dealt with 4 items a day, absolutely no more. It took two weeks, but the table got done without me suffering for it. Making the rule of not dealing with more than 4 items a day worked really well. On bad days, I had enough energy to do the four items and then rest. On good days, I did four items and had energy to spare for other things.
Of course, every now and again overdoing it is inevitable and sometimes, the resulting flare is worth it. However, if you remember to work within your limits most days, your overall pain levels should go down.
Overdoing it makes me miserable, but I can't seem to figure out exactly when I'm there. I start out ok at the beginning of, let's say a trip to the grocery store. But by the time I've been through the produce section, I'm beggining to feel tired. By the time someone's unruly toddler has run into me with his mom's cart, I'm getting frazzled and struggle not to snap at him. By the time I pick up a bag of cat litter, I'm in serious trouble. Once it's all home, in the door, and put away, I feel like I'm not going to be able to do another thing until the next grocery trip, and yet there's always something else that has to be done. My husband wants the wife back who just cheerfully did everything without complaining and didn't need help with much of anything at all. She's not coming back.
I'm currently taking methotrexate and Humira - although my blood pressure is out of control, so the rheum is talking about changing the biologic again. I was previously on Enbrel.
I wish a cleaning lady were in our budget, but that's not going to happen. I have a son and daughter at home, three dogs, a husband, and a mother-in-law. Everyone just wants me to go back to being the former me. I do too! My husband appears to be getting more irritable with me daily, but my kids are great. My son is 16 and very helpful. His older sister (who just moved home with her dog) is 25 and is an amazing cook. Like my husband, I'm pretty irritated with myself. I'm gaining weight. I'm less active. My german shepherds are not thrilled (and yet are far more loving than hubby, currently!). My feet hurt constantly. The drugs don't feel like they're helping much, and I'm bordering on downright whiny as you can probably tell.
My rheumatologist wants me to bring them all into his office for a talk. I don't think it would be well received by my husband.
I think your rheumatologist is on the right track; you need support! With all of your family in the house, if everyone would just pitch in, the stress and burden on you should lessen but it doesn't sound like they really understand the disease, especially your husband. It can be frustrating and annoying when, as a care giver, you are called on to provide more and more support to someone who has always supported you. I know that my daughter, who doesn't live with me, gets irritated with me when I have to ask for help with things I once did by myself. These are things that I thought I wouldn't need assistance with until I was much, much older. Maybe talking to your rheumatologist as a family will help them to gain a better understanding of the disease and how you are doing with it and what they can do to help you maintain your health with a chronic illness.
It sure can, at least in my book! I hope yours settles down fast for you, Leslie. I have learned over the years to up some of my meds when I have a lot to do. PLEASE speak to your rheumy about adjusting any meds though, dont do it on your own. (We are not doctors, just fellow RA patients that are here to share our personal experiences with RA) Learning how much is too much is a hard thing to do. Sometimes it seems like a small amount is too much, sometimes it is not. Just another fun aspect of RA. Hope you feel better soon!
It certainly is hard! I'll feel really good and I look around and there's all this stuff that needs done because of course I haven't been doing it because I have been so tired so I jump right in and in no time flat I am exhausted and achey and oops something is swollen! And then I have triggered a flare! If I'm lucky it's two or three days, unlucky, a week and a week after to recover! Either there are some things I just can't do or this is not under control!
Diet and over doing some thing is a trigger. One thing is bad but two things is worse. over doing is a short time thing but diet goes on and on
Getting over-tired has triggered flares for me. Sometimes I have sleeping issues for several days at a time; probably caused from stress. Then I get a flare. Luckily these flares are very short usually (only 2-3 days).
Hi Leslie,
I'll just echo that YES overdoing it can cause my RA to flare. Not getting enough rest seems to make my symptoms worse when I've gotten really run down. Also, eating foods to which I'm personally sensitive can cause inflammation which shows up in my hands. My rheumatologist stresses that I need to keep her informed as to how my RA is doing, especially if something happens in between visits.
lisa
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Oh Buttercup! It sounds to me like a trip to the grocery without help might be over doing it! I'm in a place now where I have days and sometimes weeks where I feel really good and have limited pain with low level activity like grocery shopping and light house keeping and even a little gardening. Unfortunately, I can't seem to increase my activity level to where I can actually keep my house clean and since I live alone with a large fur beast I hired a cleaning lady. My fur beast isn't getting any exercise either. It's been so long since I've walked her that she requires more correction to stay where she belongs and my hands just won't put up with it and I tire so quickly! It sounds, though, as if you are not doing as well as I am. I am currently only taking methotrexate as a DMARD and talking with my Dr. about adding a biologic in hopes of improving things. Are you on a biologic?