Great! Am I having a flare?

[Geri]

Oh brother....sorry you guys. I just wrote this whole long post about my heart (thanks for responding), and I don't know if this is related but...

I had been having headaches daily for several weeks (usually this happens w/changes in weather). Well, since there is no NSAID I can take (causes severe edema--on top of edema I already have), I have resorted to a little Ibuprofen. That always worked for me. But since I may have Lupus I've tried not to take it.

Well, yesterday I woke up feeling "down" and unable to get motivated. Today I feel that heavy fatigue I had in March-April after being in Florida at Christmas time. (And I just said yesterday that I was hopeful that the exhaustion I had back then was not Lupus, but just a bad virus that wouldn't go away.) But today I just can't move. It's back. But not the joint pain yet.

Is this the start of a flare? I don't know if Ibuprofen is the culprit or not, and I haven't been outside at all. I have my new found SVT (supraventricular tachycardia). I'm going in for an ablation (fix the electrical system in my heart--was this brought on by Lupus?) Geeze. I'm getting to be a mess. Just when I thought it was all getting better. (I have an appt. next wk. w/rheumatologist, but they will try to squeeze me in Thurs. if poss.) Any thoughts? Thanks!

I appreciate your feedback!
:flowers: Geri

[Paul (WI)]

Hi Geri! :wave:
Fatigue is a fairly common symptom with Lupus, but if this is something really out of the ordinary, it would be a good idea to insist that you need to get in to see the Rheumy on Thursday. Meanwhile, just take it easy. I know how hard it is to listen to our bodies, but I think this may be one of those times!!!!!!!!! :(

[gladm]

Hi Geri...........It sounds as though you are in a flare.
:wacko:
Hopefully you can get in to see your rheumy soon. Take care. love gladm. :wave:

[RosemaryP]

Yep it sure sounds like a flare to me and others. Good luck, you may not get severe pain this time, but we all can relate to the fatigue.

[Geri]

Oh man! Well, I appreciate your feedback. So, what do they do for a flare? This is new to me. He may add this to the puzzle and make a diagnosis (I hope!). But then is that when they prescribe Plaquenil or whatever? Gosh...as much as I don't want meds, I've got to stop this before it gets worse.

Oh well. I just hope this passes soon. But many of you have suffered so much more. Thanks for the support! I'm glad I can come in here and get your responses. I wish you all well! :rolleyes:

:flowers: Geri

[aloneagain50]

What to do about a flare up?
I end up in bed until I start feeling at least semi-human again. :sick:
I'm sorry you feel like crap, been there way to many times myself, yuck! :wacko:

You said you were getting an ablation done soon, and I just wanted you to know that my sister just had a loop ablation done a month ago, and it has helped her a lot, and she's doing much better, and her heart has been in good control since she had it done. B)

The only problem she had at all was that she didn't get stiches where the little incision was on her leg, so she had to go back a day after for that for them, but no big deal there.

I hope the ablation helps you as much as it has helped her, and chances are I'll end up getting one done before long myself, since I have those palpitations every once in awhile now, but not enough to be a real problem yet, whew! :blink:

I don't know if the heart problems are from the lupus since my sister doesn't have lupus, so go figure that? :huh:

I would imagine your rheumatologist will probably want you to start taking plaquenil since almost all of us need to have our immune systems calmed down with it, but each case can be different in how your Doc wants to treat it, so let us know what's going on after your appointment. :luck:

I wish you better health, and no more pain Geri! :love: :thumbs: Bye! :wave:

[believe]

Hi :wave:

For some, the patterns signaling a flare have a tendency to repeat themselves. We learn more about our disease activity as we watch and monitor our SLE activity.

I concur with the above postings. Depending on your case, lab work may or may not be beneficial. For instance, my WBC drops and my C3, C4, and CH50 also drop when I am heading in the wrong direction. The Rheumy can gather information to piece together the "whole picture." Other symptoms that clue me in- in my particular case: pressure behind my left eye, right knee pain, cold intolerance, worsening headache, facial numbness, pernio, to name a few. I guess it takes time to learn about ourselves with SLE.

Take Care!
:flowers: :love: Believe :love: :flowers:

[Sannie]

Hi Geri

I think you must take one step at a time here.

First you need to see a very knowledgeable rheumatologist who will hopefully make some kind of diagnosis.

He/she will then put you on the appropiate medications depending on what that diagnosis is.

After that, you should start to feel much better!

In the meantime we are all here to help if we can.

Take care.

Love
Sannie

[Geri]

Aloneagain, Believe, Sannie...

Thanks for the replies. They have been very helpful. What you all say makes sense. I'll discuss all this w/my rheumy, which is why I called to make the additional appt. (More on my heart/ablation in the previous post from me. I go today to discuss/schedule the ablation--glad to hear good things, alone, thanks! I wish your sister well!)

Well, thanks for all the replies. I appreciate you guys so much. Thanks for reading the long post (try as I may, I am bad about them being long. Sorry).

Thanks for taking the time! I wish you all good health and happiness!

:flowers: Geri