You body's going through what? How to deal with flares? 7pieces of advice to survive it.

It’s been a week, my allergies, my fibromyalgia, and migraines all decided to flare all at the same time. Leaving me feeling tired, sniffly, and sore. It usually happens during the change of weather and around the time of the womanly visitor. If you’re new to chronic pain and hidden illness world half of what I just said seems like medical jargon (the talking about flairs and stuff), but the other half makes tons of sense.

What is a flare-up?

A flare is a lot like the left dial, in the red, and turned up

Chronic pain and hidden illnesses never really go away. They’re always going to be there causing pain, and taking over your world. But there are times when your illness gets triggered by something, lack of sleep, stress, hormones and whatever it may be. Then your body goes into overdrive. Everything gets turned up couple notches. Take a car radio or a TV, volume for an example, you can have your sound on the lowest level, but something comes by and bumps into your knob or your button and turns everything higher than it should go. Flares are something like that.

What you can do to get to feeling better after a flair.

None of the tips below are actual medical advice and should not be taken as such

1. Rest if you can. I know we all have busy lives, but if you can rest, it gives your body time to recuperate from whatever knocked into your chronic pain button. Even a little bit goes a long way.
2. Learn your triggers. We can’t run away from our triggers, but we can find out what triggers our illness. The best way to find out what may be the trigger is to keep a daily diary about what you ate, how you felt, important facts about your health and what you did that day. Hopefully, you’ll find out what triggers your illness and if you can avoid it.
3. Take you medications as stated by your doctor. If you have medicines to take only during the time of flair or medication to reduce flairs. Take them as directed. If they aren’t helping as they should be brought up with your doctor.
4. Have a support team. Sometimes the best support teams are the ones on Facebook and online that have people who are going through the same kind of ailment you are. Your family and friends as long as they can be positive helpful and supportive are of great help.
5. Find out what helps you find relief. When it comes to my migraines, my go-to relief is Maxalt, Ragalin, and Ibuprofen as far as medicine goes. But what really helps is an ice pack. Some people swear by magnesium oil, others like essential oils to feel better. Whatever works for you, works for you.

   

   My Icey mask

6. Remind yourself that the flare will be over. We won’t know when they’re over. But keeping positive that the flares are temporary and you will get better.
7. When all else fails to call your doctor. Call the doctor who diagnosed you with the illness, and sees if they can offer advice. If they can’t offer you advice maybe they can evaluate you and figure out the next step to feeling better.

These tips are tips that I use whenever I go through a nasty flare-up. I hope they’ll help anyone else who’s had flares or is new to what flares are. We with chronic pain, chronic illnesses, and invisible pain don’t have to be alone there’s power in numbers.