Flare up

[Tashy]

flare up

:depressed:
I've been having a flare up this weekend. No clue why. I've been taking my meds and watching what I eat. I've had major pain. This is annoying to me. I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I haven't even had the energy to clean my house and it's a mess. I have an appointment tomorrow. Will see what the Doc says. This is the worst I've felt in a long time. The more I take the Pentasa the worse I feel.

 

[jed]

hopefully its a just a small flare for you!

you havent jinxed yourself by telling someone you've been really well have you

 

[Jeff D.]

I hope you start feeling better soon. Best of luck

 

[Kev]

Yeah, Tashy... really sucks when these things hit without any explanation or clue as to what triggered them... Like, I can recall searching frantically thru my diary for some 'key'... some 'trigger'... SOMETHING, ANYTHING.. cause I felt that once I found it, all I had to do was stop doing whatever it was, eating, drinking, etc, etc., and the flare would stop. It rarely worked out that way. I did stumble upon some trigger foods, and I discovered lactose in stuff that I'd never imagined it would be in... but a lot of times I can up totally empty (No, I am not making a joke here... we all know that no matter how many times we 'go', we never seem to empty). anyway, got to the point where I realized that at times I would flare, and there'd be no apparent or discernable cause/effect, and I came to accept that. Never got to like it, but accepting it stopped me from stressing over what it was I did to myself to cause these flares. Sometimes shit just happens. That is both the truth AND a lame joke. Hope yours passes soon

 

[coachvee]

:depressed:
I've been having a flare up this weekend. No clue why. I've been taking my meds and watching what I eat. I've had major pain. This is annoying to me. I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I haven't even had the energy to clean my house and it's a mess. I have an appointment tomorrow. Will see what the Doc says. This is the worst I've felt in a long time. The more I take the Pentasa the worse I feel.

I know exactly what you mean. My nurse always insists "well, the Pentasa can't be making it worse - but it probably just isn't enough to treat you..." but it's rubbish - I always feel worse on Pentasa - I had about 4 months last year where I didn't take it at all and felt great!

I know what you mean with the housework too. NOrmally I'm quite fastidious with housework but if i'm going through a flare it lapses badly. This compounds things too, because the main reason I do a lot of housework is because I find it depressing when things get messy ><

I am going through a flare as well, been the past week, since the bank holiday, have been off work all that time too. It's extremely frustrating knowing that work is piling up. My boss is very reassuring about it all but I'm not easy on myself about it

THankfully they managed to get me a clinic appt on Thurs.

Kev it's heartening to hear you have come to the same conclusion I have. I've tried keeping a food diary and it doesn't give any apparent pattern, nor is there any apparent pattern to when I get flares. It feels like a cop-out to say "well, it just flares up when it flares up..."
Despite how understanding my work colleagues are, they LIKE to hear that you can work at something and make it better - simple answer is, I can't! All I can do is take off the days I feel really bad to rest, and do what I can to mitigate the symptoms the other days... >.<

Good luck with your appt tomorrow tho - hope they can do something for you.

 

[Kev]

Well, just so no one mis-understands my point. I think keeping a diary is essential in fighting this, tracking everything. It taught me my triggers, it showed me that I had a problem with lactose... it showed me that certain green veggies, no matter how mushy I cook them, really bother me... like, I can't for the life of me explain to myself; let alone anyone else... why I can eat a cooked red pepper, and feel OK; but if it's a green one, my heartburn N gas go thru the roof (well, actually it floats around the house for quite a while first), or why I can eat mushy cooked yellow string beans, but green beans are a big no no. I also track my symptoms... record them.. and a funny thing happens to me.. maybe other folks too. Sometimes, like the way I 'think' I feel just doesn't match the symptoms. Like, sometimes my mental state has me thinking I'm way worse than if I just look at my 'recorded' symptoms; or vice versa. Like, I'll be feeling (or at least 'thinking') I'm better than my symptoms indicate, which is a smart time to take it easier than I otherwise would. Not sure if I'm explaining that adequately. Anyway, an unbiased look at the record of my symptoms is a better way for me to judge how I'm doing; and a better record for my doctors.

 

[Guts Ache]

I'm finding that Pentasa really helps me. I stopped taking it for a month and felt rotten.

 

[pennywanna]

Hey Tashy, I can empathize with you because I too have flares for no reason. I do avoid most dairy, I use Rice milk, and I know yuck, but I am not giving up my oatmeal and other cereals, or my coffee. I was on Pentasa for a long time and it was hard to say if it wasnt working because I was on other meds as well. I have been on Cipro and Flagyl for as long as I remember. It depends on what you are eating, and sometimes I find no matter what you eat, it is so confusing.

Are you having any stress, besides worrying about your housework?? Dont, I was a fanatic about my house, since I stopped worrying so much about it, my flares were way down. If people come to your house when it is messy (murphy's law, it always happens when it is messy) and if the people dont understand, you need to get different friends, people who care about you, dont care either.

Anyone on Cholestyramine??

Penny