Stress and RA | Arthritis Information

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These past few weeks, I have felt like my old self again before the RA started 4 months ago! No stiffness when I wake up at all or during the day. I was so shocked the first few times it happened. I think it's the Medrol he started me on. I have to remind myself to take my medicine because of how good I feel.  I even can wear my old NORMAL shoes again!  I am to the point that I forget I have RA...

The kicker is that I have been so stressed out lately, pushing myself to get everything done like I used to do, staying up late till 11pm almost every night that now I'm comming back to reality that I am not healthy and do have RA! I cant stay up late like I used to do before RA and I cant over exert myself.  I'm realizing I do need to stick to my schedule and I do need to be in bed by 8 or 9 or I start to feel flu like symptoms and just not well.
 
Anyone else notice after being stressed out or their schedules are interupted and changed a bit that you start to feel worse? 
Stress and RA are a couple!  Stress can trigger a flare.  It's simple and I'm not sure of the scientific evidence to support the theory but in real life it happens.  Anyone on this forum can attest to the fact that stress compounds a flare.   An adequate amount of sleep, pacing yourself, and relieving as much stress from your life helps. 
 
I do the same thing when I'm feeling good.  I forget to pace myself and all of a sudden I'm down for the day.  For me it has more to do with fatigue than pain.  All of us do it, it's a normal response to feeling good.  It will take you awhile to learn to pace yourself but once you do you'll realize you can do just as much but it will take you a little longer.  Lindy 
Thanks LinB
Take careYou've got a lot of company here.  I also tend to overdo it when I'm feeling like my old self again.  You'd think I'd learn but it just feels so good to be back to normal that I can't help myself.  Then some of the symptoms come back.  The RD told me that even when the meds are successful, they (doctors) can't make things perfectly the same and that's why we start to fail when we overdo.  We're not really the same as we were, we're just in control of our symptoms.  But having those good days is so great, I can deal with not overdoing it, if I can just remember to take it easy.   And stress....well, that just makes everything worse, even more than overdoing it, IMO. 
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