Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Flare

Im just wondering what do all you mean by Im in flare....
is this when you are in pain every day but who isnt with AS?Or is this when you cant wove or have not so much mobility?

I will let others answer for themselves but for me a flare is when I am having inflammation, pain, slight fever, can't hardly move, or walk.

That is when I kick into high gear and take my strongest pain meds and prednisone and try to just stay in bed as much as I can.

If you are having a flare I am sorry and I hope you get to feeling better soon,

Lisa

Petra, to me being in flare means that there's been a longterm escalation in my pain levels, my energy goes down, my ability to move freely is impeded. If the flare goes on too long, I start losing weight, although I'm eating. Usually, one of my first signs of longterm is that I start falling asleep on the couch at 9pm, drag myself up to bed whenever I happen to wake up and then, after a total of 9 or 10 hours sleep, still feel groggy and foggy in the morning when I rise to go to work.

I really hope this isn't happening to you, but have a feeling it is. I'm so sorry to hear it.

Hugs,

when I say I'm flaring...I mean that I'm suddenly having a lot more pain, stiffness, weakness, and exhaustion. Normally, I'm fairly mobile and am able to carry out most of my duties at work, and can get thru the day ok but then all of a sudden I can almost feel it coming on...then I feel real bad. get real tired. Depressed. Cranky duldrums. feel sorry for myself...fall off the wagon, roll down the hill, into the cabbage patch where I wallow around for awhile in the fertilizer of life...then whern i finally get back on my feet, no one really wants to be my friend for ahwile. Don't know why, maybe it's because they had to carry my workload, or maybe it's because I smell like cabbage fertilizer... ok I'm just kidding but I DO feel like I fell off the wagon and rolled down the hill and then had to cxrawl back up necked with nothing except my fingernails! Sorry for the drama..I'm actually in a good mood today and am frolicking about in the field of self expression no, I haven't been diagnosed with manic depression...yet. but my mother is a social worker for county mental health. I'm sure she'll let me know if "anything" goes awry. sorry for all the extra self expression but it was kinda fun..my flares mean that i feel much worse than usual and my common methods of breaking out of the torture aren't working as well as usual. Amy

Hi Amy,

Everyone has described a flare quite thouroughly.

I just wanted to tell you that your self expression is wonderful! No need to apologize for being good at writing & being able to make someone smile at something that really isn't funny. The next time I'm laying in bed on the verge of tears from the pain I will think of you rolling into the cabbage patch & it will make me feel better.

Peace, Tam

What an awesome description of a flare!

My flare consists of telling my husband at least 900 million times a day, "I don't feel good, I feel like crap, my spine feels like its going to fall off, can you rub my spine? What's wrong with my ribs? Why does every single joint in my body feel like it's getting stabbed? Could I feel any cruddier? I just don't know how to make myself feel better. I love this low grade fever I've had for 3 weeks!" etc....I think you get the picture!

For me a flare is Murpheys law in action big time, the brain fog is so thick you could slice it, you just wish to crawl up into a ball and wish it would pass.
And I am generally yuk all over.
Phil

Petra,

when I am in a flare I have less mobililty. I begin to fall about and stairs become a health hazard.

There are other signs of the flare - very sore in the low back, sore ear, very sore around the head for I get head pain as distinct from headaches. It can include my feet giving me hell, plus I tend to swell up like a balloon. I tend to get very sleepy, desiring to go to bed at something like 7.30 at night, or in the daytime I start to fall asleep. If I am working I have to be careful that I am not caught falling asleep at my desk. It can also involve the nerve endings having a lot of fun as they jump up and down making my eyes and a number of other areas twitch. This twitching is visible to the naked eye when it is in motion. sometimes I have the low grade fever, and last year the fever preceded the flare. If I am not wanting to sleep at my desk on the offchance that I have work, then if I am home I tend to want to go to bed for a sleep in the middle of the day.

Sometimes the flare begins in the neck and I experience neck pain and head pain as well as a result of the flare.

At the present time I have been in a mild unrelenting flare since mid June. Sometimes I need to fall asleep in the middle of the day, but on the days I go to hydrotherapy I feel more energized.

Other symptoms of my flare are hurting eyes, plus dryness of my skin and a new outbreak of skin rash.

Whew, that almost covers it!!!!

MaggieinOz