what triggers a flare-up?
Posted , 7 users are following.
Does anyone have any idea as to what triggers a flare-up? At the moment I am going through my worst flare-up ever since I was diagnosed in 1996. Dry throat, very sensitive teeth, not dry eyes as I had them plugged 4 years ago and no concentration. Before the flare-up which started slowly 7 weeks ago, I was at the gym every alternate day doing anaerobic exercises without any problems and then went to Greece for 5 weeks. Yes, I turned brown in the sun but I am in Greece every Summer and the sun this has never triggered a flare-up before.
Any ideas?
2 likes, 11 replies
mandy95 zeet
Posted
Regards,
Mandy
zeet mandy95
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For the first time in living memory I was bitten on a nightly basis by mozzies!
lily65668 mandy95
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That's useful to know!
mandy95 lily65668
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I take odourless garlic tablets one a day for the last 3 years and can now say I no longer get bitten x
lily65668 mandy95
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It's all a mystery to me, Mandy. Mosquitoes never showed the slightest interest in me. I lived right next to a canal between the ages of 8 and 20, and spent two years in the tropics as a young woman. Never had a problem.
I've lived in the same city for >40 years now. Until I moved house three years ago, I'd been living for almost 30 years in a green, leafy suburb - just the sort of place you'd expect to get bitten. Never even got nibbled, though I saw mozzies in my bedroom all the time.
Three years ago (at age 69) I moved just 5km/3mi to a brand-new (first occupancy) air-conditioned mini-penthouse in a rather grimy urban area overlooking railway lines. Rent trade-off - upmarket, low-maintenance flat in grotty area vs. run-down hovel in posh area! Hardly the kind of place you'd expect to get bitten. Both flats equidistant from the canal btw, but on opposite sides, and no additional source of stagnant water around here.
So... now I get eaten alive every spring and summer, for the first time in my life. One night my arm was so swollen and I had such a high fever, I started thinking about Lord Carnavon and the Mummy's curse! That night I actually called a friend and asked him to phone me if he hadn't heard from me by 8 the next morning. And I've never even seen one of the little beggars. Not once! No idea what's biting me but it's something in this apartment. Worse still, it seems to have sensitised me to mozzie bites in general. Every time I walk through a park now (anywhere in Europe) I end up with huge, itchy bites that quickly turn into blisters! And they are bites, btw, as I can see the single red dot in the middle when the blisters go down.
I too take odourless garlic pills - have done for about 30 years. Answers on a postcard please...
tracy79802 mandy95
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lily65668 zeet
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My SS goes in a series of flare-ups and remissions too. In my case, the principal triggers seem to be stress or any kind of sudden shock.
I had what was just about my worst-ever flare-up, which went on for most of last year, after a terrifying fall on a down escalator. I was scarcely hurt at all in the fall, which was more of a graceful subsidence due to a sudden dizzy spell. However, the terror of finding myself sitting helplessly at the foot of the escalator, being pushed onto those metal teeth, with at least 30 people coming down behind me and no one knowing how to stop the thing was clearly what triggered the flare-up that started two weeks later.
Various other life stresses have triggered flare-ups, but these are often harder to identify at the time. Sometimes it's only when looking back at a flare-up that I realise there was something going on in my life that was probably putting me under pressure.
I don't like spending too long in the sun as I have trouble controlling my body temperature, so I don't know whether sunbathing would affect me. However, I know too much sun can trigger flare-ups in all the connective-tissue autoimmune diseases, not just SLE. You say the sun has never affected you before, but I'm wondering whether this could be an age-related change. I know a lot of people become more sensitive to sunlight as they get older - especially women, for obvious hormonal reasons.
phyllis75890 zeet
Posted
One of the first things my doctor told me was to stay out of the sun, that it makes the fatigue much worse. I have an olive completion and the sun has never bothered me, but it sure does now. I think it's the heat, as when I get in a Jacouzzi my whole trunk gets red. It takes an hour or two for the redness to go away. So yes, I really think being exposed to the sun can cause big problems.
katalin59838 zeet
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tracy79802 zeet
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Hi Zeet - everyone is so different when it comes to Sjogrens flares. For me diet is a big factor (sugar and carbs) so I'm trying to eat protein and vegetables and stay away from the sugar and carbs. Another is stress, sun, and mosquito bites. I've also read that people w/a trauma background have a higher % of auto immune diseases.
Overall, getting proper rest, eating a healthy diet (there's an autoimmune diet book that's helpful), avoiding stress, sun and mosquitos is a good start. Sounds like a long list but helps to prevent Sjogren's symptoms.
I'm going to start keeping a journal to help to understand triggers. Hope this helps and good luck to you.
gonnabewell zeet
Posted