7 Proven Methods to Control Rheumatoid Arthritis Flares

Introduction and video overview 0:00

Hello all of you RRFS warrior. Today I am doing something different. I'm dividing the talk today on this RRRFS flare into two pieces. In the first video we talked about what is RA flare, what are the triggers and then how do we understand those triggers. And in the second part we'll talk about how we use our NASCAR framework on how you manage and prevent your RRS flare. So don't forget to watch those two videos that will help you guide on how you fight RA flares, how do we prevent RA flare so that you don t have to be scared of the next flare.

This is Dr. Ananda Subedi, your rheumatoid arthritis coach at The Room Doc, as well as a practicing rheumeatologist at Empower Arthritis and Rheumatology Center here in Cary North Carolina. Before I go deeper, don't forget to accept my gift on this holiday season. We have this free rheumatoid arthritis guidebook just for you. As well as I have prepared a special smoothie recipe to fight against rheuptoide arthritis and those flares. Please accept those in the description below. And we also have an important mission for 2020 Sets.

We want to reach at least 100,000 Rheumatoarphitis Warrior through our channel so that we can help them feel better and empowered.

NASCAR framework: nutrition, hydration, and exercise 1:14

And you can support us in this mission by liking our videos, sharing with other people who are suffering from rheumatitis. Please help us reach that goal. Now we talked recently about how do we manage those acute attack of flares. The next topic I'll talk about is how we do manage flair in general and how to prevent another attack. use our NASCAR principles on how do we manage flares and how we prevent future flares. So let me go through our Nascar N-E-S-C-A-R framework that we will be applying in rheumatoid arthritis flair.

And the first one is the N for the nutrition. These are the two important things you can do. The first being anti-inflammatory diet. As we talked about in our earlier videos, how much diet is important in rheumatoid arthritis. Medication is part of the treatment, but with diet and exercise, we can manage rheuma arthritis more effectively with less medication. Hence, using anti-inflammatory diet can help manage and prevent your rheoma arthritis attacks. And the next one is hydration. It's very important to hydrate yourself when you are in a flare.

If you're well hydrated, your joints get enough oxygen, they get blood supply and that helps with the healing process from RA flares. The next is exercise. Now be careful on what you do but gentle stretching and bracing is so important for movement of the joints and also protecting your painful joints. So move slowly and gently. Also safely use braces so that you don't over exert those inflamed joints Now the third is the S is stress management and there are two good tools that you can use to manage stresses.

The first one is a breathing exercise. Breathing help calm down your brain and calm your body. So this is simple technique but it is effective. Even I'll give you my personal example. Now I have so many things to take care of in my life. I had to see patients, I just have to care for my family but when I feel stress I take a deep breath.I do this breathing exercise daily in practice so

Stress management and sleep 3:24

that I am grounded and less stress on those stressful situations. So from my personal experience it's a very effective way of managing your stress.So when you are stressed with your RF flair please use the breathing exercises techniques. And even silent prayers can help you stay grounded and it gives you a little more clarity and give you some break from those out of flares. So use prayers as your tool of stress management. Now the other S is your sleep. As we discussed, sleep is the time your body is recharged.

When you are having a flare, your bodies battery is significantly down. So use the sleep to recharge your battery so that you can fight against this inflammation. Now the other one, the C, The Checkpoint. When you are having RFR, this is the most important time to check with your doctors. So check it with a rheumatologist on some of the topics, including whether you take medication or not. What are the medications you may take? For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. Whether you have any prednisone or you don't have supply of prednison.

and also whether you need to change your disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. As I discussed earlier, if you are having multiple flares, that means it's time to make some changes with your Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumaic Drug Treatment, and that includes adding or even substituting your older medication with newer ones. And these days we have so many options. That's why always talk with you local rheumatologist. So they can guide you what are those newer medication that we need to add or subtract to help you prevent and manage your flares.

Checkpoint with your rheumatologist 4:59

Now the next one, the AA for the avoidance. So try to avoid the risky substances and most important one. Smoking we know that smoking is one of the most important trigger that can cause rheumatoid arthritis and that Can also trigger your rheuma to our finest if you are a smoker and if we have rheoma to arthritis if You continue to smoking your medication may not be effective So it's a good reminder for you to stop smoking if your having a flare So always talk with your doctor on how you quit smoking So I'll always prioritize smoking so that it does not lead to the rheomatoids arthritis flare Other one is excessive alcohol.

Excessive alcohol can also trigger rheumatoid arthritis. So try to avoid alcohol while you are having a flare. And alcohol also can interact with your other medication. For example, methotrexate. If you take methtrextate with alcohol, your liver doesn't like it. Your liver marker could be high and if you do excessive, it can even cause liver failure. So be careful and cautious while you are taking methotrexate with drinking. The last but not the least is the R, that is, the relationships. the relationship with yourself and others.

Try to create a positive relationship yourself, not blaming yourself for the flare. As I mentioned earlier, The flare is not due to something you did wrong. Flares are unpredictable. So don't make a habit of blaming yourself for those flares.

Avoid smoking and excess alcohol 6:29

And if you're having a flare, sear your problem with your family and the friends and they can support you. They can help you do your daily tours. they also support on other things like shopping. Always seer your experience on how you are feeling during those Flairs. The other most important, do not blame yourself. It is not your fault. Your RA flare is not because you did something wrong, so don't blame yourself for this flare. Now all of you RA warriors, let me leave you with one of the most important tool kit on how we manage and handle rumored RFS flare, these are all the tool kits that will help you, that'll prepare you for your next flare now starting with the number one heat and the cold packs.

As we discussed earlier, if you are having an RA flare you will get a lot of stiffness, you'll get lot pain and swelling. If you have lot stiffness the heat pack will usually help you make your joint loose. And you can find different options on how you use heat. But try to find some option that you find from your local store of these heating packs. and so is your cooling packs, a cooling pack typically help to minimize your pain when you're having a flare. So keep those things handy for your next player.

And the next option are those painkillers. There are so many options that you can find as a paankiller.

Relationships and self-compassion 7:54

But you have to be cautious what you use. These are some of the examples. For example, Tylenol or Paracetamol. Depending on which part of world you are in, it comes in different forms. Here in the U.S. we call Tylanol, in South East Asia we called Parasetimol so you could use either of them. Now other one is non-ceroidal anti-inflammatories. Now as we discussed earlier the NSAIDs are milder form of anti inflammation but there are a few caution we need to take including kidneys, liver and all the things I just discussed.

But always ask your rheumatologist on your next visit what are the pain killers that you can safely use on you next flare and then buy those and keep it handy if in case you have a flare. You can buy those over the counter so that you can keep it handy for your next flare and then add those in your toolkit for rheumatoid arthritis flare management. Now, there are a few other medications that can ask a rheumeotologist, including the corticosteroid, but your rheutologist need to give you the green light whether you take those medications or not.

So the next one is the assisted devices and these devices help you manage those flare symptoms and that includes elastic gloves,

RA flare toolkit: heat, cold, and pain relief 9:01

cane, reachers and jar openers. When you're having a lot of pain and stiffness, these device could help make your life a little bit more easier during a flare. Now the other one is pre-prepared meals. Now when you are having a flare you may not be able to cook. So for those rainy days you need to get prepared. You can prepare a meal and you can put in your fridge so that it is ready there when have a flair. The next one relaxes and aid. Prayer, some good music and then guided meditation tools. These techniques typically help you minimize your stress.

Please understand what you like the most, either the music or prayer or those guided meditation could be a tool for you to handle those stressful situations when you are dealing with RA flares. And the other one is informing your employer. Many of the time your employers may give you excuses from work. So prepare those ahead of time. In many of the places you can even fill up forms which will inform your employer that you have this condition which tend to have these flares. So always ask your employers if you are allowed to take time off during those flares.

And if can take the time that will give you some time to recover faster. So always ask your human resources if you have option to take time off during those flares. And your rheumatologist can help you guide on how you obtain those time-off. So all of you Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior, please take a picture of this so that you can prepare your RA flare toolkit that will prepare you for your

Supportive tools, planning, and work accommodations 10:35

next flare and this will help minimize your stress on what to do when you're having a flare. When you have this toolkit ready then you are prepared for your next flare. But let me also remind you that you need to talk with your rheumatologist if you're having too many flares. If you having to many flare that means your RA treatment is not optimized. Now if you could recall when we treat rheumatoid arthritis we have two important goals. The first one being disease in remission and what does that mean?

Disease in Remission means your disease is very well controlled with a combination of medication.The next goal we can sometimes achieve is called low disease activity. So our goal in our RA management is to achieve those two goals either remission or low disease activity and if you can achieve your chances of such flares is significantly low but if your having multiple flares that means we need to optimize your base RA medication so consult with your rheumatologist. Now, all of you RA warriors, thank you so much for watching today and I hope it helped you make some plan for your next RA flare and hopefully you have

When to optimize treatment and closing remarks 11:48

some toolkit ready for you, so that you don't have to be scared for the next flare. Now before I depart, please don' forget to accept our gift, the rheumatoid arthritis book free for and the RA Smoothie that will help you fight against rheumatoid arthritis as well as those flares. And support us in our mission, the mission of getting up to 100,000 RA warriors to help them fight rheuma. I'll see you in the next video. Bye-bye.