Thursday, March 3, 2016

Flare, Flare Go Away; don't come back any day!

5 Ways to douse the flames on your 

furious freakin fickle flares!




I'm not a doctor, and I don't play a doctor on television or any other device. But what I can do is read, everything... voraciously.  I'm about 10 years into a chronic life. And for 10 years I have seen dozens of doctors that still can't pinpoint the "auto immune" disorder from which I suffer. 


Sure, they did find my CPPD, a type of inflammatory arthritis, only when my knee swelled and was drained. 



I have had a nasty flare in my wrists and hips now going on 5 weeks. I have been getting to the gym but I am exhausted. Coming home I have to nap and hardly can stay up past 10pm. That is a wonderful side effect of working out, you get a better quality of sleep. Albeit, if you are like me, you feel as if you did not "recover" from the previous day. Such is the chronic life.



My battle armament, is my mind and my body can't stop moving. If you are like me, looking for answers to your chronic illness, educating yourself about the disease is one of your best defenses. 

I follow news of interest through "feedly", but there are many other news feeds you can use. Type in what you want to get articles on, and bam, you've got a couple a hundred everyday. Of course they don't all apply, but they can help.

How can it help?

On a recent trip to my Rheumy, we talked medication. Side effects. I knew the percentages and make choices. But you know what we don't talk about? What really can help. There are lot's of things that you can do to reduce and prevent flares.

Things you can do in your everyday life.

1. Sleep: Sleep is increasingly becoming important in staying healthy in older age. They believe that poor sleep can have all sorts of negative effects, including inflammation and dementia. I try to get 7-8 hours a night.

2. Diet: A diet high in fats, prepared foods and sugar is a recipe for a flare. To prevent flares, maintain a good weight, eat healthy with lots of green vegetables, fruits, and fish.

3. Exercise: Get yourself all the latest gadgets to track your steps, weight, diet and heart rates. The only way to keep from staying stiff is to not move. However, moving can be tough during flares. But you can't, mustn't stop moving.  My Samsung Gear2 watch buzzes me if I have been sitting to long. And when you keep up activity it gives you encouragement. During exercise, it tracks your heart rate, and give details such as distance, time and calories burned.

4. Green tea: I was always a coffee man. Black, no sugar. So green tea always tasted like well, grass.
I got over it. I look forward to my cleansing green tea in the afternoon. Before bed I brew a cup of decaf green tea. Latest studies said that it can reduce flares in RA patients.

5. Reduce Stress: Yea, right. Easier said than done. Especially when your chronic disorder can change plans, especially fun things. Try to eliminate stress through step 3, and mindfulness. A good therapist can help too.

Keep up the good fight!

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