How to Cope with a Chronic Illness Flare Up

Coping with a chronic illness flare up is a heavy challenge. Chronic illnesses are persistent conditions or diseases that compromise a person’s health. When flare ups of the illness occur, the symptoms suddenly get a whole lot worse. Chronic illness flare ups cause mental and physical suffering, and depending on the condition, you might even be temporarily bed-ridden.

As a sufferer of multiple chronic conditions, I’m familiar with the sudden bursts of physical and mental health flare ups that complicate my life. I have Degenerative Disc Disease, or osteoarthritis of the spine. When my discs become angry and inflamed, I sometimes don’t even get a warning sign before a shooting pain rips through my back and prevents me from moving for the rest of the day. DDD flare ups leave me bed-ridden and as stiff as a board with chronic back pain for a couple of days. Luckily, oral steroids and anti-inflammatory pills often lead to a pretty quick recovery; sometimes just a week until I’m pretty much back to normal.

Unfortunately, oral steroids and anti-inflammatory medication aggravate my stomach and trigger flare ups of two of my other chronic conditions: Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. When those flare ups occur, I have to take an antacid medication each morning and become very disciplined about what I eat - or else my insides will certainly scream at me. 

I can pretty much always count on a flare up of one chronic condition leading to the flare up of another. It’s a vicious cycle. But you know, I’ve always gotten through them. There has always come a point after each flare up where I’m pain-free and happy again!

Here are some tips on how to cope with those irritating and unfortunate chronic illness flare ups and how to manage chronic pain.

How to Manage Chronic Pain and Chronic Illness Flare Ups

Practice acceptance. 

Naturally, the first thing I think (or scream out loud) the moment I enter a bad back flare up is a bad word. I go through a few moments of pure denial. 

$*&@ NO, THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!!

As I stew and grumble about what is inevitable, negative emotions rise inside me. I’m much more likely to feel like the world is out to get me or that my situation is unfair and hopeless when I don’t accept that I’m experiencing a normal flare up of my chronic condition. The feeling of acceptance is oddly magical. It shifts your perspective so that suddenly, you’re not fighting anymore. The path of least resistance is to accept what is happening to you so that you can move forward. Just let it be. Life just has to be painful and obstacle-ridden sometimes, and that’s okay!

Write a gratitude list. 

Focus on what you can do. Focus on what you do have. You might be lying in bed in pain, but are you in a safe and comforting home? Are you able to turn on the tv and watch your favorite movie? Is your support system a phone call away? You’re alive and breathing, and that’s beautiful. You’re so lucky for so many reasons. Start writing them down, and your perspective will shift from one that views your situation as empty to one that views your situation as abundant. 

Indulge in self care. 

Congratulations! You get a break!! When you’re in recovery mode, you’re focused on healing and reducing your stress. Lower stress levels will improve your chronic condition because stress makes everything worse! Whether you’re experiencing a physical or mental health flare up, you deserve rest and care. So, indulge in self care. Pick up the dusty book on your shelf. Eat comfort food. Do something special that you don’t normally get to do. A flare up doesn’t have to feel solely like a punishment. Taking good care of yourself is essentially rewarding yourself. 

Ask for and accept help. 

You deserve help and support. You don’t have to go through this alone. Your support system is here to lift you up when you feel low. Call on them and count on them to help you out with tasks that need to be done. When I’m in total back flare up mode, you bet my boyfriend is bringing me food and adjusting my pillow for me. Sometimes, it’s easy to feel guilty to ask for help, but we need to erase that mindset. We deserve the help, and there is nothing shameful or burdensome about that.

You can also join a support group full of people suffering from the same chronic condition as you. I’ve found a few support groups through Facebook for people experiencing the exact same symptoms as me! Sometimes, it helps to vent to someone who just gets it, doesn’t it?

Track your triggers.

Take notes on events and symptoms that led up to this flare up. Maybe you can be better prepared to prevent future occurrences. Surely, there is something new you can learn from this flare up! 

I know it can be really confusing during individual flare ups to track what went wrong. The exact cause of my most recent back flare up is a bit of a mystery because nothing profound happened right before I seized up with inflammation. Did mowing the lawn mess me up? Was it the alcohol I had the night before?

However, when I take notes from each flare up and compare them, I’m likely to recognize some patterns. The combination of alcohol and semi-stressful workouts (yes, even just mowing the lawn with a push-mower) is a trigger for my flare ups! The combination of these two things doesn’t always lead to a flare up, so I tend to push my limits. But I’ve noticed a pattern over the years.

You could start by tracking your diet, exercise, positions you’ve been in lately (standing, sitting, etc.), and stress levels.

Remember that everything is temporary. 

Every single thing. The breath you’re taking right now is temporary. It will end and another breath will begin. Moments are fleeting, and emotions and pain are too. 

In the end, this flare up is not the rest of your life. Even if it’s really intense or lasts longer than usual, you’re going to come out on the other side feeling minimal pain again! 

Mental Health Blog Disclaimer

I am not a medical professional, therapist, or mental healthcare professional. The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only, comes from my own personal experiences, and may be read, interpreted, and practiced at your own risk. Do not rely on this information as a substitute to medical advice or treatment from a healthcare professional.