Our Three Most Commonly Asked Questions About Flare-ups

If you’ve heard the term “flare-up” in relation to your autoimmune disease or chronic pain, you’ve probably got plenty of questions about what they are, how to prevent them, or lessen them when they do occur. For those who are new to flare-ups, we use this term often to describe when autoimmune symptoms are aggravated and “flare,” alerting us that something is off balance. These symptoms can take many forms, from exhaustion and muscle pain, to flu-like symptoms and gastrointestinal distress. Because flare-ups are sometimes hard to define, or their root cause is hard to decipher, they’re a topic we discuss often here at Autoimmune Strong! 

Here are our answers to the the three most common questions we get at Autoimmune Strong: 

1. How long do flare-ups last? 

Flare-ups can be chronic or acute. That means that for some people, they come and go infrequently, while for others, they come on strong and stay on for a long period of time. 

Flare-ups can last anywhere between a day and a year, or maybe even longer. 

Not only does the length vary, but the intensity of the flare-up can vary as well. For some people, they can feel the flare-up effects but still be able to push through their lives. While for others, they feel completely wiped out and are bed ridden. This flare-up response varies from person to person and sometimes from flare-up to flare-up.

For some people, a flare-up can come right away. Or sometimes there is a delayed reaction and it can appear a few days after a triggering incident.

And for many people, it may seem like flare-ups are unpredictable, that they can pop up at any time for seemingly no reason at all. The worst feeling is when you assume that flare-ups will only occur in difficult moments of life. But they can also come during good and happy times as well! Often, the most exciting and busy times are exactly when flare-ups happen. 

And when you know that a flare-up can happen at any moment without notice...well...it produces a life filled with fear and stress. How could it not? 

Just knowing that a flare-up might be lurking is what it felt like when you were a little kid thinking there is a monster under their bed while trying to go to sleep.  

The cycle of flare-ups remains persistent when we live with the unknown—that unpredictable feeling of something lurking around the corner.

2. Can you predict a flare-up?

OK, enough about monsters under the bed! Here’s the good news: flare-ups are actually predictable. You can train your body to understand when they will strike. The first step in reading our warning signs for flare-ups is to remove the fear of the unknown. Begin identifying your own personal flare-up signals, so you can read the warning signs and stop them before they begin. 

3. What triggers flare-ups? How can you identify these stressors? 

Did you know that stress is the most common trigger of autoimmune disease symptom flare-ups? Essentially, a stressed system leads to a stressed out body. 

Now, we typically think of stress as a frazzled person going about their day with too little time, too many commitments, and running on an empty tank. Consider the image in your head of someone working too many long hours, sitting in traffic, not getting enough sleep and other instances when they may feel like they’re burning the candle at both ends. 

OR we think of this person as emotionally stressed: struggling with relationships, and managing parenting and elder care. There are alllll types of stress. Unfortunately, as I’m sure you know by now, it can take on many forms! 

So how can you identify the stressors in your own life? 

First, let’s talk about external stressors, which we can’t avoid. I also call these environmental stressors because the physical stress we experience is caused by the environment around us. Things like mold, exposure to chemicals, radiation, and weather fluctuations are good examples of external stressors. 

Then there are the internal stressors. There are two kinds: physical and mental/emotional. 

As you might assume by the name, physical stressors cause stress to our bodies. Physical activity/exertion like exercise, or daily physical activities such as grocery shopping, can be physical stressors. Oftentimes, the activity you choose requires more energy than you have in your reserves, which means that you put stress on your body by forcing it to produce more energy faster than it should.

This pressure of asking your body to produce more energy than it is capable of is overexertion that causes stress. Beyond an intense workout or day filled with too many errands on your feet, there are many other kinds of physical stressors like the flu, which puts stress on your immune system. Injury, surgery, even childbirth—these are all examples of physical stressors that can overwhelm and overtax your body’s stress response. 

Mental/emotional stress on the other hand, is the most commonly thought of kind of stress. Stress caused by relationship issues, money troubles, work pressures, family concerns, childhood issues (traumatic or not)—all of these and more can create a system of stress in your body, causing your immune system to flare. 

Phew! That’s a lot of information to take in. But in beginning to consider what types of stressors are out there in the world, you’ll be able to start thinking about what stressors you have in your own life. 

If we never acknowledge our personal stressors, we won’t be able to work up to cracking the code of autoimmune flare-ups. It’s the first step on your journey to a more active, pain-free future!