Why are my flares so painful if my lab results are good?
Labs good, symptoms bad? Any one ever had good lab results but flares are still bad?
My experience with flares
For me a flare is pain in the large joints, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders. The pain feels like what we used to call growing pains as kids. Throbbing pain and you can feel your heat beat in your knees?
Hey
! Great question. I wanted to share an article written by our contributor Carla who sought to answer this for herself when she reached remission: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/feel-bad-in-remission/ I hope this helps answer your question a bit. In addition, I'm hopeful other community members will chime in with their own experiences or insight! - Alesandra (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team) 
Hi
,
I have experienced this before. It's hard to say why exactly this happens. When I observe my own body and habits I do think I am more likely to have bad flare-ups when I drink alcohol, eat unhealthy (lots of fried, processed, sugary foods), don't stretch/move, when I am too cold or too hot, or when I don't get a good night's sleep. Flare-ups don't always occur based on these habits but I feel confident that it has something to do with it. Do you think it's possible that any of your daily living habits could have a negative effect on your arthritis?
Best,
Franki (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)Hi Franki - I do maintain a healthy diet and do not drink alcohol. Definitely, not moving enough will make things worse. I recently went back to Enbrel and I think that is making a difference. Thanks for your reply.
Wayne
Alesandra- thank you. I did come across a good article on RA pain
https://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2017-07-05/pain-is-all-too-common-in-people-with-rheumatoid-arthritis
Thanks,
Wayne
