How long can a flare last?

[Josie2]

My current flare in my left wrist has been with me since before christmas.

Is this a normal amount of time?

Ive just started new meds (well only hydroxy!!) but im climbing the walls with it!!

Also badly flaring in both my shoulders since xmas!

[Hidden]

My flare started slowly mid october building to peak dec and january mine caused by medication stopping working after sixteen month, had sterodi injection other week and taking oral steroids too! meds can take up to eight to twelve weeks to work and hydroxy is considered a weak dmard, it may not be strong enough for bad disease symptons or it could be that you havent taken it for long enough.

Ask gp. or rhuem team to review pain killers in addition ot dmard which is not a painkiller! and maybe consider steroids? x

[Hidden]

typical flare can be Two weeks To three months it prob depends on how quick you can see a rheumy says me cynically

[Hidden]

Depends so much on what you call a flare. I don't think it's a very medically exact term at all but is used to mean times when an individual's symptoms are a lot worse than they are at other times. As Summer suggests it seems likely that your disease is not yet under control. I hope that the hydroxy kicks in soon & sorts out the pain in your wrist & shoulders. I think it gets harder to be patient after your first DMARD but hang on in there, the mtx / hydroxy combo (which is what I think I remember you are on) seems to work very well for some.

To look at things another way, though, after a couple of years of thanking my lucky stars that I usually have so little pain I'm getting a bit fed up now & wondering what 'under control' means. Things are just bad enough that I can't quite get back to normal life as much as I'd like, is this as good as it gets I wonder?

[Terrpist]

Talk to your Doc they only can go by what you express to them

[Victoria-NRAS Partner Moderator NRAS]

The length of time a flare up lasts varies, and sometimes they run their course and disappear more quickly, but if they persist like this one has it is always worth mentioning it to your rheumatology team, as they will sometimes offer a steroid injection to get it under better control.

Hope you feel better soon!

Victoria

(NRAS Helpline)