Flaring?....When do you know?

[Prairie Gal]

Valene, the Plaquenil helped me produce more saliva after almost 5 months.   It's hard to say for sure, but I don't think it helped my eyes because they improved very slowly -- took 4 or 5 years.

I therefore think my eyes improved because of the supplements (Black Currant Seed Oil, etc.) I take.  If you check the eye drops section at a drugstore, you'll see a product called TheraTears Nutrition.  It's  high in Omega 3s, which are also found in fish like salmon and tuna, avocados, walnuts and flax seed meal.   I eat all of those.

Many people like the TheraTears Nutrition because it has what they need for their eyes in capsule form.  I also take 4g. of fish oil daily now, but didn't start it until this past spring.

Supplements take effect very slowly.  For example, my rheumy recommended I take several B vitamins this past May, one of which is Biotin.  I'd heard some years ago that Biotin helps your hair and nails.  Lo and behold, about 3 months after I started taking it I noticed how fast my nails were growing and how much stronger they are now.  I think it's from the Biotin, since I haven't done anything else that I can attribute it to.

Plaquenil helps ease some symptoms, but the main reason I take it besides that is because my rheumy said it helps slow the progression of this disease.  I'm all for that!  I hope you get some good results from it in another couple of months; some say they had to take it for 7-8 months before they had any noticeable improvement.  Others say they didn't think it was helping until they stopped taking it and then their symptoms got worse.  Some improvements happen so gradually that they're not easy to notice.  Anyway, I hope you do well on it.

[Carolina]

mmmmm

Flaring for me is related to two factors, usually.

1)  something physical, like a new node forming for my osteo arthritis, triggers a whole body melt down and I'm in terrible pain for several weeks.

2)  terrible stress just overwhelms my system.  I often am oblivious to this until it takes me down to the point where I'm just out of it completely.

The flare is total body pain, exhaustion to the point of napping during the day which I NEVER do.

Difficulty sleeping at night.

Depression and irritability. 

Difficulty walking.

no fun.

Elaine

[CAT1962]

Thanks, Everyone...
Elaine, I must be now then. I don't know. My body feels like I have been hit by a truck. My stress level is very high due to the holidays, finances, and my mom and one of my sisters not speaking. (I am a human screen door...) No one really cares how I feel. I'm a faker.  Maybe I should stick a copy of my blood work in their stockings.  I'm sorry to be such a  Debbie Downer.