Ive been in pain for the past couple of days...;( how do I know if im having a flare up or just aches and pains?
this is a great question and i have wondered about it myself. I have not really had a non flare day since I first started getting sick. Instead I have little flare and big flare days. Little flare can be managed with a little rest and big flare gets more dramatic and can often end in a dreaded trip to er.
Maybe flare is something we have to gauge for ourselves once we get used to how much pain is acceptable (and so a little flare can still be an "I'm good!" day. and big flare can mean
I am cancelling all unnecessary Activity and staying in bed with my o2 and a pain pill . I am curious what other people will say....Good Post! Good question!
For me, if I'm not feeling well, I rest. I take some OTC pain meds and try not to push myself (which is hard for me cause I love to be productive). If after a week or so I don't feel better, then I check in with my doctor. The important thing is REST. We live in a society where we're expected to do stuff 24/7, but that's just not realistic for a person with a chronic illness. So I give you permission to REST. :-)
Be well
I agree with Janice and Worshipgirl, if I rest and I feel better after a day or two of down time then it is a little flare but if I rest and it continues on for more then a week then I know that it is a big flare. I also get warning signs with my big flares usually it is a sore throat to start with. So take time to rest and just take care of you.
I take it you are talking about lupus flare not fibro flare. When i only had lupus my joints that had RA in them would hurt about every day because you walk every day and they were mainly in my feet and legs. When i went into full flare i get very sick like extremely bad flu including vomiting with diarrhea. I always tend to run low grade fevers but it shoots up as well. I cannot get out of bed with out extreme exhaustion. Yes i can have rashes or may not that usually depended if i had been in sun recently stupidly like in mid day sun, or worse times from 10am-2pm. rashes burn and hurt but have strong cort creme that helps.
I may get kidney infection as well and so as soon as i think i can make it to waiting room i go. But there is no way how i feel that i can sit in waiting room in full flare. i either pass out or vomit and scare all other patients so my doctors do not try and make me go in...i call them if i need anything.
Now with fibro, ever day i hurt all over literally all over. it hurts to have people touch me most of the time. So if I flare there is no way i am moving yet i have to keep moving because it hurts too much to stay in one position.
So i am constantly changing positions...so i have futon in my family room where tv is so i can open in and move in different positions on it which helps...or i take very long baths which seem to help...but those i normally only will take for bad fibro flare which is just i hurt bad all over..hurts to move, walk , shoulders , neck hurts. When my joints are swelling in my feet and up legs..than i cannot take hot as i like baths because it aggravates the RA.
the two diseases are very different how they hurt and affect me. With the lupus, i would get really bad sick for few hours of vomiting etc... eventually my body gave out completely and fall asleep. Now with fibro....i cannot fall asleep like i use to because it hurts so bad i must change positions. So i do not last time i slept more than 3 hours in a row.
i would say this, sure things just slowly got worse ...i most likely had sle starting for sure about 15 maybe earlier because i would get more sick than my sisters but compared to my brother i was extremely healthy. So over years i think it just has increased...I have other diseases as well plus aging you get sore, stiff joint so how much is aging and how much is diseases increasing.
I know if i do rest....as everyone else says....i say better except for fibro pain and RA pain. You would think that if i did not walk they would not hurt as bad but really some days with out walk they hurt much worse than if i had walked.
Also before with flares..it was matter of resting staying in bed or on sofa for like 3/4 days now it is getting to be weeks even months before i feel better.
One point i would like to make...if ever you feel sick and you think this is something more...something is not right go straight to your doctor....have him do urine and blood test at least ....i had fever of 103 which did alarm my doc but not to much but he did blood test. I was septic. This has happen more than one or two times so really trust your gut feelings.
apologize right here if parts do not make that great of sense extremely tired...cannot sleep...full moons justs seem to keep all women in my mom's side of family up...my husband has same issue i know many but makes one tired.
Man i tried to erase my experiences of what flares are like for me that i wrote few minutes...i was deleting it and went all blue than purple and guess it got sent by accident. I apologize for that.
PLEASE DO NOT READ ....just read this one...that is much simpler and state more what you really asked for.
I Do not want you measuring yourself to me....you must take care of yourself in your own best way.
Doctors clearly do not fully understand this disease so much is really left up to us to use our heads and common sense. If you feel too tired, rest and if just that works for you that is wonderful.
It would be same way if i asked the how people where diagnosed with lupus...bet again there will all kinds of ways!
So yes generally we might help but just trust your gut and do what is right for you. Really you hold the key to healing yourself...no one else does.
So listen to this paragraph and do not even bother reading long boring one!!! just take good care of yourself.
love lg