Do you have any warning signs before a flare up?
This is a question that I'm posting on behalf of our community member South Paw. They write:
"Speaking for myself, I find that an exasperation is scary as hell because there is little, or no advanced warning of it coming. It hits you from left field like a freight train and leaves you lying on the tracks. With every other sickness, there seems to be a signal. We all say, "I think I am coming down with..." and it manifests itself almost on cue. But no such warnings that I am familiar with where an exasperation is concerned.
I am not sure if this is the same with some, most, or all other folks that experience them, but I am curious as to anything someone else may have noticed as a 'tremor' before the quake they care to share."
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Excellent forum topic. I can feel when I have a flare up coming on. Sometimes I can stop it and sometimes I can't. Usually it starts with breathing becoming harder. Mucus production increases. Coughing increases. Mucus color changes. If I catch it soon enough, I contact my medical team and get antibiotics and prednisone to stave it off before it becomes a full blown flare up. There have been a few times I was too late and ended up with a flare up. I have gotten my doctor to give me prednisone prescription so I always have some on hand. I have used it a few times to stop the inflammation of a flare up before it had gotten out of control. The times I haven't stopped a flare up were catching the flu and catching a cold over the winter months. The oak pollen season here in South Central Texas is really miserable. Pollen counts in the 25,000 range and there is not much I can do to stop that except stay indoors. That seems to cause the most problems for me. I am getting better at avoiding flare ups. I continue that quest daily. Take care all and God Bless!
