February 2 marks Rheumatoid Awareness Day. As you may know from previous posts - I suffer from Rheumatoid Disease (Arthritis). As an RA Patient Ambassador, I was asked to write a blog post about "What Would You Like People to Be Aware of #Rheum."
I'm writing this post while in the midst of a "Flare". So I'm thinking that it might be appropriate to let people know what that means. The answer though will vary from person to person affected by Rheumatoid Disease - so my answer may not be like anyone else's answer. That is because Rheumatoid Disease can affect each person differently. The graphic below gives a little information on what Rheumatoid Disease is.
Did you read bullet 3 in that graphic? That's me right now. My flare's always start with a fever. Usually a low grade fever. That's typically day #1.
Then I have joint pain. My joint pain is fairly localized to a few areas. Generally I always have some degree of pain, stiffness, and swelling in my shoulders and hips. During a flare, my knees, feet, hands, and ribs will ache - and not always all of then, and sometimes it might me something odd. In one quite aggressive flare my jaw was affected.
One type of joint pain I get frequently is referred to as Costochondritis. I find this one to be the most aggravating to me. It hurts to breathe deeply, hurts when you cough, hurts to move your torso, and worst of all - hurts to wear a bra. And it's not really socially acceptable to go running around without a bra on.
The fatigue is horrible during a flare. I'm the absolute worst about actually getting rest during a flare. I work full time and I'm one of those dedicated people that will work a full day every day no matter what. Thankfully, I am allowed to work from home when I need to during a flare or other medical reason. I did take off early one day to get rest and ended up taking a 4 hour nap!
I think the most important thing for people to know, is that Rheumatoid Disease is more than just joint pain and "arthritis". My eyes have been affected. My lungs have nodules from it. My liver has nodules and cysts from it. My kidneys have nodules and cysts from it. It's easy to see how joints are affected during a flare - they can be red and swollen or just tender. But, I can't see how a flare is affecting the organs inside my body.
Unfortunately, there's no way to know when a flare starts, how long it's going to last. For me they usually are a week or less, but I've had a few that were closer to 2 weeks.
I hope I've given you a little insight into what a flare is and that you know a little more about what Rheumatoid Disease is.
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