It's Official - It's a Flare

I mentioned my symptoms to a friend with RA at knitting Tuesday and she said I was a having a flare. I know what that means, but I wasn't sure what to do.

I decided to call the Dr. and move my appointment. They got me in today. The Dr. confirmed it's a flare. At first she was saying, "it's the weather." Then she told me it's a flare. Come to find out the weather can cause a flare.

I'm a bit hesitant to self medicate because I'm just not sure what I'm doing, but the doctor encouraged me to manage this myself. She gave me a steroid shot to jump start the process and said if the pain doesn't go away in a couple of days to take 20mg of P two mornings in a row. She also suggested this for the future. Anytime I feel a flare coming on.

She took blood and I'm scheduled to go back in 3 months.

I hope this stops the pain because pain = joint degeneration and I don't want that.

My Knuckles Are Getting Worse

My knuckles are getting worse. They were so "hot" this weekend, I actually got some ice water and soaked my hands. Interesting thing, my hands cooled off, but my knuckles continued to burn.

I also noticed psoriasis on my elbow. And I have wart type things on my fingers. They aren't your typical "I kissed frog" warts, but sometime back that's what the dr. told me they were. They look more like blisters or the start of a callous. They eventually crack, peel and go away - after some pain and discomfort.

I have an appointment with the dr. late July, I may see if I can move it up.

I did knit a lot of lace this weekend. I guess that could be a contributing factor.

Could it be the A/C?

I woke up last night and rolled out of bed. I had to stand for a second and let the pain (3) in my ankles and feet subside. It took longer than normal, but not as long as so many people deal with.

I'm still baffled as to why this has come back up. Well, I have a theory. What if it's the A/C? I thought warm weather would help the pain, but it's not warm in my house because the A/C is on...hmm.

One detail contradicts and that is that I got out of a warm, almost hot bed.

Wait, that makes think. What if it's the heat. With the weather, it's been a bit warmer in the bed. I don't like to sleep uncovered so even though I'm hot, I still like to cover up. Maybe it's because I'm too hot.

Temperature changes are about the only thing I can think of that have changed in the last two weeks.

It might rain today and that doesn't seem to be affecting how I feel.

What's Up With My Knees

Ok, today I can "feel" my knees. They haven't bothered me in a while. I did come up the stairs this morning. Maybe that irritated them. I took two Advil. Hopefully that will help.

I've increased my water intake, back to the normal level. The past couple of weeks it's been down. I guess I've been too busy to refill my cup so I go without. I'm hoping this will help with the joint pain.

No News is Good News

So that must mean bad news if I'm writing.

Not so much bad, but something to note so I'll remember when I go to visit the Dr. My hands have been achy in the mornings. Almost like I'm sleeping with my fists clenched all night. I'm not even sure achy is the right word. It's just they are more noticably there.

It's hard to explain. You know you have feet, you know they are there, but when you are laying in bed, you don't "feel" them. Unless, of course, something is hurting them. But I know my hands are there because I can "feel" something going on with them. It's my knuckles really. On a scale of 1 to 10 it's a 2, more of an annoyance then pain, but it concerns me.

There's a burning feeling, sometimes it's an icy burn, but it is not strong.

The thing that's throwing me this time is I haven't really been working with my hands. When I pull weeds or garden or knit for long periods of time, I'm expect this feeling. But I noticed this Saturday morning and nothing had happened the prior week that would cause me to feel this.

I noticed at the end of last week I was tired. Tired blood tired. Similar to when I first started my PA journey. The medicine has made me feel pretty normal. I started thinking OK, what's changed.

1. It's gotten hot. I figured heat would be better than cold, but maybe not.
2. I've not been as faithful about taking my vitamins. The lack of B and iron could increase the fatigue, but would that make my joints hurt.
3. I was STRESSED for the two to three weeks prior and last week was not stressful. Maybe the let down of a non-stressful week let the "bad" creep in.
4. We've also not had a restful weekend for about 6 weeks. There's always something going on. Fortunately I've felt like going and doing. I would not have felt like that a year ago. But maybe I'm wearing myself out.

I guess I need to be a better blogger and see what I can track.

I went to bed at 8pm last night so I feel pretty good today.

What happened this weekend. JJ's graduation party Friday night, all morning lawn mowing Sat. Pedro and Margret's babyshower 5pm-9pm, Crystal and Ricky 9pm to 1:30am, Breanna Sunday, at the hospital to see Marshall's Dad, then grocery shopping and home to unpack it while Marshall took Daniel home. No wonder we went to be at 8pm. Not a minute to rest.

I'm hoping for a more relaxing weekend next weekend.