RA flare from hell

So I know that trauma to your system can trigger an RA Flare.  A friend of mine recently had a total knee replacement and several weeks later had a painful episode of gout.  I read about that on line and told him that it was due to his surgery – it triggered the gout.

Not sure why it took me so long to look inward and recognize that the trauma of surgery was causing my flare.  I kept thinking I would be better tomorrow.  I did stop the RA meds for almost a month and have been back on them for 2 weeks, but the pain and inflammation seems to get worse every day.  Yesterday afternoon and evening I cried more than I want to admit I did.  I couldn’t get comfortable.  Sleep?  Barely a wink.  My restless legs were all over the place in bed last night.

This morning I cried again and could see how swollen the non surgical knee was.  I thought about my friend with the gout.  I thought about last summer when I was changing biologics, and took a couple prednisone tapers which honestly helped.  I’d been taking 2.5 mg of prednisone per day which is obviously not enough to beat the rheumatoid back.  My brain was thinking I should call my rheumatologist, but I don’t want to whine.  Besides, he’s going to suggest a prednisone taper.  So as much as I hated doing it, I took another dose to bring today’s daily total to 10mg.

It’s been about 3 hours and I definitely feel better already.  I have more mobility in the knee and much less pain.  Most likely I won’t sleep much again last night, but it’s a trade off I’m willing to try.  Besides, we turn the clock ahead tonite, so there’s one less hour to toss and turn.

 

 

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Snow Day

Traditionally the first weekend after New Years has always been my favorite weekend to ski.  The hard core regulars are there but the casual skiers are home.  It’s not so crowded, and always an enjoyable weekend to ski.

Alas, this year that’s not to be as I wait for my surgery on a total knee replacement.  But there’s a silver lining to my cloud.  It’s a snowday and I am happier than anything to be snowbound with Mr. Phat with our brand new kitchen a little post holiday organizing and football later this afternoon.  We made breakfast together and the whole house smelled wonderful.  Later we will roast a chicken with some vegetables for dinner.  Yum.  What more could a gal want on a snowy Saturday?  Oh right, a nice cozy great room with a roaring wood stove. Life is truly good my friends, no matter what the circumstances are.  My silver lining is being in my comfy home surrounding by warmth, good smells, the man I love and our dog.

My other silver lining this week?  My eating.  This is a diet blog, right?  I did a lot of reading last week about food and the immune system.  My immune system has definitely been out of whack since summer.  Changing RA meds hasn’t helped my immune system.  Being sick and stopping my RA meds intermittently most likely has contributed to this yoyo effect.

So this week I eliminated all the inflammatory foods from my diet – dairy, grains, sugar, alcohol and legumes.  The latter is no biggie as Legumes aren’t my favorite food.  I also fasted during the day on Tuesday and Wednesday and had coffee, tea, water and bouillon during the day and salad or eggs with protein for dinner those nights.

I have already been able to cut my prednisone does in half and my goal is to be off of it shortly.  At some point in the near future for several weeks prior to my February 15 surgery date I’m going to need to be off all RA meds.  I’d like to have the inflammation as minimal as possible prior to that date.  I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, if you’re in a snow zone, relax and enjoy.