Lupus joint pain - my breaking point

I've alluded to the joint pain that's been hanging around for several weeks now...and I can finally say I think it's on its way out. Thank goodness! It was a little touch and go there for awhile. Even upping my prednisone per my doctor's instructions wasn't working. But it wasn't until I combined the increased medication with a decrease in errands, an increase in rest, and more routine exercise that I noticed a difference. Ah, the value of the three-prong approach. I'm glad I've had 12 1/2 years to develop the strategy!

I had a scheduled doctor's appointment last week. So when the joint pain kept hanging around morning after morning at the end of August, I just kept telling myself that I just had to make it to the appointment. But about a week and a half in (still almost two weeks until my appointment), I hit my breaking point.  Not my threshold for pain, but rather, my threshold for how disrupted my life can become because of the pain. Over the years, I've found it easiest to gauge my joint pain by my ability to function (or not) on a daily basis - if I can't do "x", it's not so bad, but when I can't do "y", I know it's time to reassess.

So before I tell you the accommodations I made (I know you'll be on pins and needles until Friday's post), here are just three of the simple benchmarks I hit, telling me my joint pain was getting in the way, and I needed to make some changes:

1) I couldn't open the plastic of a new cereal box. Ugh! My weak, arthritic hands just kept slipping off the plastic. I couldn't get a grip, and it was painful to try and do so. And when I tried to open a second unopened box (telling myself General Mills simply sealed their cereals too tight), I couldn't open that one either. (Turns out Post does the same thing!) Of course, in this case, no food company is at fault. I just had to admit that my joint pain was causing too much trouble.

2) I couldn't do the girls' hair - which was really a bummer. Deirdre came three mornings in a row to ask me to put her hair in a ponytail, but trying to open the elastic band and grab her hair at the same time just wasn't possible. Spreading my fingers in directions they didn't want go caused excruciating pain,  and I had to pass her off to her dad each time. Watching her walk away dejected, and feeling rather inadequate, I knew I couldn't let this level of pain continue.

3) I couldn't lift the covers over my shoulders while sleeping. How annoying! Anyone who's experienced joint pain at night knows the frustration this causes. You're in bed, trying to sleep because you know that's the best thing for your disease, and you innocently try and pull the covers up over you and experience horrific pain that leaves you wincing for several minutes. Double ugh! I absolutely hate when that happens...and it was happening every time...so I knew I needed to take my disease activity seriously.

Now - could I do all of these things after a few hours once my increased medications kicked in? Most of the time. Was the rest of my day unaffected after that point? Pretty much. Have there been times in the past where these inabilities were just part of the lupus deal? Unfortunately yes. But I'm not willing to settle for a couple of hours of pain every single day, when I know how good it's possible to feel. I know lupus can flare, and I realize there may be a point where some degree of pain just has to become part of my day. But I'm certainly not going to accept that new "norm" without exploring every option for keeping the pain at bay, be it lifestyle changes, medication adjustments, or both?

So stay tuned for Friday's post, where I talk about the three "lifestyle limitations" I had to put into place in order to try and combat my joint pain. I knew I wasn't doing everything I could to rest my body, so I had to enforce a few rules to ensure that I was. And oh, how they're working!