Flare up or not ?

Meli

Hi folks, I was diagnosed with RA in 2021. I was really frightened and wondered what the future held for me but thankfully got lots of support from the online community here at Versus Arthritis. My question is, how do you know if your having a flare up or if your medication is not as effective or if it's simply that you have been doing a bit too much? I was put on Hydroxychloraquine and it has definitely helped a lot. I have had no experience of any flare ups in that time (thankfully). Just recently though I have been dealing with a trigger thumb and two trigger little fingers, the thumb being the worst. If I'm honest with myself, I think that I have been doing a bit too much, we have allotments and my husband has recently had a back problem so I've been doing quite a lot. I've had a little bit of aching in my wrists also, nothing major though. I also have some osteoarthritis which I had before my rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed so am I having a flare up?, is my medication losing it's effectiveness?or have I been pushing it a little bit.? I've not heard anything from Rheumatology since 2022. Sorry I'm still quite a novice with this disease. Thank you for taking time to read this.

Baloo

@Meli I wish I knew what is a flare up, but in my opinion aching joints from over use is an inflammation which can be called a flare up, whereas a flare up in the immune system reacting to all the aches and pains, is like catching a cold and can really whack you out. A third type is unexplained tiredness, but nobody seems to know what to call it beyond fatigue or where it comes from.

Arciere

Ho @Meli

That’s a fascinating question.

For me, a flare up is both pain in usual areas AND terrible fatigue. The cause I can’t identify but your question is really thought provoking. As I have PsA I feel the pain intensely in my tendons which I think is Enthesitis? Annoyingly everything I read says a flare up of Enthesitis can be caused by the disease itself. The weather can certainly affect my pain level, as can temperature (I really feel the cold now), and I also think stress can too ( stress in the generalised view )

jamieA

Hi @Meli

I've often wondered the same thing. I suppose it's difficult for medics who probably haven't experienced inflammatory disease themselves to describe to patients when first diagnosed what a flare is going to be like. I've twice had consultations with my rheumatologist where during their examination they've suggested I was having a flare. I'd assumed that a flare would mean my joint pain would be at it's worst - not somewhere inbetween. I also assumed a flare would be reflected in my blood results but she said that wasn't always the case. She's given me steroid injections each time to try to knock things back into line and these have worked. She has said that in some cases the drugs do lose their efficacy over time with some patients.

Meli

Thank you very much for your comments x