I Asked and You Answered

In this three part series we’ll be investigating pain flares: how it varies for each individual, what triggers them, how to prevent and also cope with them. (You can find links for the other two at the end of this post.)

Pain is a private and personal experience, one which no one else can feel for you, no matter how empathetic they may be. Often the best thing a person can do is to acknowledge that it’s impossible to comprehend, but validate the existence of the pain. Then, find ways to help make the sufferer’s life a little bit easier. This can also vary from person to person.

In this first part of the series, we’ll take a look at what the biggest flareup triggers are for people living with various chronic conditions. As you will see, there’s a common theme running through the responses.

My Biggest Trigger for a Flareup is:

“Pushing myself to far physically, or being overly stressed.”

– Abbey – diaryofafibrogirl.com



“Sitting/standing more than an hour at a stretch and emotional stress.”

– Sreetama –

“Stress, including positive stress, and feeling overwhelmed by it.”

– Alison – thrivingwhiledisabled.com

“Pushing my body to do too much physically.”

– Rachel Hill – theinvisiblehypothyroidism.com



“Situations involving external stimuli. Either too much light or noise. Sometimes various noise happening at the same time such as a conversation and the radio and/or television.”

– Tom Seaman – tomseamancoaching.com



“Overdoing it. Walking too much. Doing too much work around the house. I want to pace all the time, but sometimes my brain thinks ‘Hey we can do this’ and my body is like ‘What the hell, man!'”

– Nikki Albert – brainlessblogger.com



“Weather. Specifically, it seems like I’m most likely to flare as a bad storm is moving in. Once it hits I start to feel better.”

– Julie Ryan – countingmyspoons.com



“Stress and lack of self care.”

– Candace – bucketsoftea.co.uk



“Exercise. It never fails to flare the worst muscles spasms due to my peripheral nerve disease.”

– Kyra –

“Stress.”

– Michelle –

“It has to be doing too much, whether it’s pushing too hard at the gym or doing too many chores in a short amount of time. Doing so, only leads to increased pain and fatigue culminating in a massive flare.”

– Rhiann – brainlesionandme.com



“Work stress.”

– Lin Shuwen –

“Unexpected change of plan.”

– Fibro Jedi – fibrojedi.me.uk



“Stress, usually psychological but can be physical, I push too hard sometimes and get ahead of what this disease will allow my body to do.”

– Ray –

“Allergies.”

– Jessica –

“With chronic UTI, a flare up occurs when bacteria are released from within the cells that form the bladder lining (urothelium). This causes the bacteria to ‘wake up’ from their dormant state and multiply in the urine. This often results in an attack of acute cystitis symptoms (a flare). Chronic UTI sufferers commonly report triggers that ‘wake’ the bacteria include sexual intercourse, internal gynaecological procedures, vigorous exercises such as horse riding and cycling, stress, bowel movements, alcohol and some foods that individuals are sensitive to.”

– Chronic UTI Australia – chronicutiaustralia.com



“Stress and taking on too much.”

– Effie – risingabovera.com



“Chemical scents and fragrances (and some “natural” ones too, like cigarette and marijuana smoke, and some essential oils).”

– Sara Russell – buildnurturerestore.com



“I have two major triggers for flares. One is activity. If I do too much or surpass my daily step count, I can count on a flare hitting within 48 hours. My second trigger which is just as important as the first is stress. When I’m stressed, flares hit much quicker and equally as hard as activity-related flares do.”

– Carrie Kellenberger – myseveralworlds.com

“Using more energy than I’ve got, but particularly if there’s been some kind of stress or pressure involved.”

– Julie Holliday – mecfsselfhelpguru.com



“Having a shower or bath!”

– Chronically Hopeful Char – chronicallyhopeful.com



“For me it’s pushing myself too far physically. I work and I like to keep fit but I’m not always great at keeping in check with my body. I’m terrible with doing too much, pushing my limits too far and ending up with seizures and pain flares.”

– Ruthy – d2shine.co.uk



“Corn.”

– Alice hightower –

“My biggest trigger for a flare up is absolutely stress. Initially it just starts off by me feeling fatigued and down, but then it will often flare up into a full-blown MS relapse. As a result I try and minimise stress as much as possible through meditation and yoga.”

– Jenny Clarkson – trippingthroughtreacle.com



“Aside from stress and general moving it would be overdoing it. That changes depending on the day. Overdoing it could be cleaning the house or on bad days it could be getting out of bed.”

– Monica Laipple – invisiblenotbroken.com



“Overexertion; exceeding my limits for the day.”

– Alisha – honhic.com



“Stress – physical + mental/emotional.”

– Kirsten Cliff Elliot – helpmyhusbandhasaspergers.wordpress.com



“Stress and dehydration are two big triggers for me.”

– Audrey Housworth –

“Hormone fluctuations.”

– Hell’s Bells and Mast Cells – hellsbellsandmastcells.com



“Stress, whether it be from change, worry, or exhaustion, is my biggest trigger.”

– Lynn Clark – iamlynnclark.com



“Social interaction.”

– Taylor –

“Doing too much without giving myself enough rest breaks between activities.”

– Pamela Jessen – pamelajessen.com



“Any kind of stress. Work stress tends to be the worst of the lot; I guess I tense my body up subconsciously which ‘holds’ all that inflammation in. By the end of the day that becomes painful, and by the next morning my joints and muscles are sore and limited in function. Usually around the three month mark of working any full-time job I end up in hospital from worse side effects that may require surgery or a high dose of steroids.”

– Sheryl – achronicvoice.com



Thank you to everyone who contributed to this roundup. Keep an eye out for part two and three, where we’ll learn what everyone’s coping strategies are!

The article is based on each individual’s own experiences, and nothing should be taken as medical advice. Always be sure to check with your doctor before you start on any new treatment or protocol, whatever that may be.

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