The Pattern/Progress of Your Pain | Arthritis Information
I have a question for all of you: If you've been relatively pain free, even for a short while, but then flare, either because you forgot your meds, or you had to cut back on your dosage, is your pain level about the same as it was the last time you flared? Or is it worse? I'm not talking about when you overdo it, that would explain extra pain, but just from a change in your meds. I'm thinking that if the drugs are supposed to control the progression of the disease, even if we have a relapse of sorts, the pain, weakness, numbness, whatever our symptom is, should not get worse, but should be the same as it was the last time, at least in the short term. A continuation of a lowered or missed dose would explain the pain eventually getting worse.
If your pain, numbness, whatever, is worse, do you think that means your disease is in fact progressing and that you need to increase your meds? But if you were feeling OK until you missed or lowered the dose, then doesn't that mean that you were getting the right amount to control your disease?
In short, (too late for that you say?) how does your pain progress, or does it?
I don't think I've ever had a flare.
I have aches and stiffness that vary in degree-from day to day.
I have noticed once I tapered down to 12 mgs prednisone I haven't felt GREAT! like I used to.
Now I'm at 4 and I feel worse then I have. I couldn't even make my next drop last Monday because my body's just not ready. I still don't hurt enough or have any significant swelling for me to say I'm in a flare. But I would say my pain level is increasing with each drop in prednisone.
I don't know if I'm progressing. I have an RD appointment soon and I guess I'll find out. I had blood work done Friday. I sure hope he doesn't want me to go up on the prednisone...I want off.
I have flares without decreasing my prednisone. My flares have become pretty much increasingly worse each time. When I increase the prednisone to get things under control that works, but I find it is taking more pred to do it now. Also when I taper down, I feel like I am flaring again for a week or so, but then things improve. I just tapered back down to 7.5 abuout a week and a half ago, but the joint pain is building each day again. I don't knowif this is typical. My drs just keep saying I am on a "stable" dose of meds and my bloodwork is good, so they don't want to change anything. I was told I could try elavil, but after reading about it, I don't think I want to.
Not sure I answered the quesition!
My flares now aren't as bad as I've had in the past. When I flare now I'm not bedridden; I can walk; my elbows bend; and I don't have RA fog. I don't need to start Prednisone. Once I achieved clinical remission for RA I've had no flares but I did have flares prior to remission. LindySince starting enbrel 8 months ago, I haven't had any flares. I have aches and pains during stormy weather or high humidity but it's nothing like before the enbrel. When I over do it, I pay a good price cuz' I am hurting big time. I am still trying to figure out how/when I am over doing it before it's over done. LOL Did that make sense?Jesse....just reading about flares scares the heck out of me. I have not had one and sure hope that if I do it is not worse than the pain I had just before being D'xd with RA! That pain was 12/10 and Im no wuss but I couldnt even get to the bathroom because of the pain so went in the hallway.
Wanttobe....Im off to see my Rheumy on Friday so hopefully I can start to come off Pred too, but I have this THING that keeps prodding me and stabbing me with hot knives when I dont expect it....my lurker/gorilla. And he seems quite content to stay where he is. So Im not holding my breath about coming off Pred.
Cheers...Lyn
For me, pain is not an indicator of joint damage. I have noticed that I can be in a great deal of pain but have no swelling. Conversely, I can have significant swelling but no pain. The swelling is the problem as that is the inflammatory response of the disease.
Every fall I have a flare( for 11 years) usually in September. I then take some Predizone for a while to get back to feeling good.
But last year my Rd wanted me to try Humira instead of the Enbrel that I have been using for a few years. At that time I was hurting in every joint of my body. My Rd wanted me to stay on Humira for a few months to see if it will work for me, in December we switched back to Enbrel and it was not working as well as before but working better than Humira.
I just added acai into my diet and that seems to be helping with the pain and swelling.
There are times when I forget my morning meds and by the afternoon I have a small flare until I can take my early evening meds.
My pain from flares has always been excrutiating and never changes, but the number of involved joints increased each time I flared. I do get aches from time to time, but I never think of them as flares. When I had to stop the Enbrel and Methotrexate when I got sick in January, almost every joint was active. It was terrible.
LynnDee......... that sure sounded like a flare to me!!
I've not flared since last October *crossfingers* and hope it stays that way..
I have good days and bad days but no debilitatiing flare episodes..
post October was Rx'd w MTX and 6 months later.. enbrel
Well, it sounds like most of you are well under control, that is, either no flares or nothing siginificantly worse than your last one. That speaks well for the regimine you are on. That's encouraging, isn't it?
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