I Have a Cold and a Question
I am 66 years old and have had the diagnosis of RA for 5 years.
I have been working with a flair, taking my prednisone and trying to just be normal. My son and daughter in law are coming home with a new baby today and I have been helping some with my 3 year old grandson.
The flair is 4 days old and today? I woke up with a head cold. 😑
Do you find flairs usually happen before a virus or infection?
Is this just a fluke?
I am only on Hydroxychloroquine and have prednisone to take 3 to 5 days if I have a bad flair.
Motrin and/or Tylenol help my pain.
Do you find sickness usually means a flair too?
Many thanks,
Julie Torrens
Hi
, I'm so glad you reached out. I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with a flare, and now on top of that a head cold! I do know that some of our community members notice a that illness (like a virus or infection) can make an RA flareup more likely. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems that if the immune system is working to fight off an illness, it also gets triggered for a flare as well.
I wanted to share an article with you from one of our advocates. I know her situation is a bit different than yours (she ended up with a herpes viral rash), but you might still be interested in her article, https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/ra-herpes. She wrote about having a flare and then getting sick with the virus.
Hopefully some of our community members and advocates here can also chime in with their personal experiences.
Congratulations on the new grandbaby! I hope that you're feeling better and up for more play time with both the 3 year-old and the new baby soon. Sending you gentle hugs! -- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)
Hi
. We have a number of article on having a cold or being sick with RA (see Daniel here for example: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/getting-sick), but I was surprised I didn't find something quite on topic. Surprised because I know that this happens to my wife Kelly sometimes. There are very often precursors to her coming down with a cold. It is not rare that I see it coming. In fact, I can tell you, that in Kelly's case, the flare symptoms she gets that precede a cold are somehow different. It is hard to describe, but I know from the achiness, energy levels, etc... I don't know if hearing that you are not alone helps, but at least you know that what you sensed is real. Did the flare feel different in any way? Hoping you feel better soon and let me echo Christine in saying enjoy those grandchildren. Best, Richard (Team Member)
Thank you both for the helpful articles. My flair was only different in that my knees were so swollen they were shiny.
The rest was my typical elbows, neck, wrists and feet.
The fatigue was ferocious this time, but I was doing a lot extra because of the grandsons. ❤️
Fever 101.7. Ever since diagnosed with RA fevers are definitely more frequent and higher than before.
Many thanks again! 🩷🩵🩷
I have more reading to do.
JulieHi
. It is interesting what you said about the fevers. Kelly runs a really low temperature, so even when she gets sick it only registers a little bit. That said, she feels the fever. Also, they seem to sometimes be random. To add to the reading list 😀 , here is what she wrote about it: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/phantom-fevers. Best, Richard (Team Member)
Wow! Yes fevers are now a thing for me. When I was put on methotrexate, I had a fever running 101 and 102 for two weeks. I had tests and no infection could be found. Stopped methotrexate? Fevers stopped. The rheumatologist doubts one had anything to do with the other.
I will never know.
Every infection I get since RA will come with a fever.
Thank you, again! I appreciate you taking the time to find articles for me.oh wow! Of course, I don't know either, but they're always learning new things about various diseases and medications, so it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility that there might be a link, even if the rheumatologist doubts it.
It sounds like it would be extra challenging to have every infection come with a fever. Like it's an added layer of exhaustion for your body. How are you feeling today? Has your flare gotten any better? Have you spoken with your doctor at all?
I did also have the thought that you might appreciate this article from one of our advocates about having a flare action plan, https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/flare-action-plan. It might not help for this specific flare, but maybe for any flares in the future?
Sending you gentle hugs. -- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)
