Am I always in a flare, just sometimes worse than others?

You know, , that's a great question! And, frankly, it's really not an easy one to answer. Every person has a unique experience with RA and what one person may consider a flare for them might be another person's good day with RA. And, the definition of 'remission' means a little something different for different folks. Some people think an absolute absence of symptoms is remission. Some people consider a manageable level of symptoms that don't interfere with their day-to-day lives to be remission.

But, you weren't asking about remission. You may experience some level of symptoms almost every day (that stinks, I know). I think if you are in high levels of pain and your labs are showing increased numbers, you may be in a flare.

Also, here's a conversation from our forums on the topic of flares that you might find helpful -- https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/forums/flare. You're definitely not alone in asking, "Am I in a flare? Am I always in a flare? How do I know if it's a flare?"

I hope this information helps, even if I never did really answer your question!

Best, Erin, Team Member.

Hi . My wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), was diagnosed at age two, 46 years ago and one thing is simply over time a person learns what their normal is and what is different. I know, again, not much help. Another thing that can confuse the issue even further is that her rheumatologist and another in consultation acknowledged that there may be inflammation that simply doesn't show up in current tests - pointing out that people didn't know about more detailed reading of CRP until it was developed. One final thing to take into account is the fact of pain and symptoms from existing damage. Kelly has extensive damage from years of juvenile RA before modern treatments, so there is a certain level of pain, that can fluctuate depending on circumstances, complete separate from the day-to-day RA.

The main thing Kelly's rheumatologist stresses is for her to not chase after the pain - meaning it is harder to get back into control if you don't nip things in the bud. They have a flare action plan, including a prescription for extra prednisone, available for when she feels a negative change that time has taught her seems to be the start of a flare. That's about the best I can do to explain and offer her experience. Hopefully others will chime in with thoughts. Best, Richard (Team Member)