When a flare in Lupus or another autoimmune condition stops you in your tracks, that doesn’t mean responsibilities and your workload gets to stop. For most, we have to figure out on our own how to work through a flare, but that’s where this article is meant to help speed up your time to discovery so you can reap the benefits sooner.

The ability to work through a Lupus flare depends a lot on the individual, their overall health, and their condition level. A couple obvious tips are to get more rest and reduce stress. This article will talk about things only someone living through a flare discovers, not just in a medical textbook.

Over the last 15 years I’ve learned of ways of working through an autoimmune flare and I’ve done a little more research on this topic to try to help you too.

Working through a Lupus Flare Mindset

Depending on your overall health, the level of your condition, your work environment, and your workload, the way you work through a flare will be different than from myself or someone else. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some commonalities that may help you or something that sparks an idea for you to try that works out for you too.

There are supplements and products that help me work through flares, as well as some other professionals with a chronic illness. The key is to figuring out which products increase your comfort to which symptom, so that you can repeat when flares arise or even use it regularly to reduce the chances of a flare from overworking or overstraining yourself.

The key point, though, is having an open mind to growth. You can’t throw a pity party every time a symptom arises and find a solution at the same time. Your mind goes where you focus and the man follows where the mind goes. 

So, decide you’re going to find a solution for you. Decide you will find things that ease your symptoms or make you more comfortable during this season in life. Decide you will make adjustments to your work so that you can continue working despite this flare. Decide when you need to sit it down and rest instead of pushing through and hurting yourself or making things worse. There is a limit, but at least decide to reach for it.

I am NOT a healthcare professional and this is not to be used as medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of any medical conditions. This is simply a list of over the counter things I’ve found that help me and others I’ve talked to or found online during researching for myself and not as a replacement for healthcare or condition management with a licensed doctor. Please consult your personal doctor who handles your personal conditions before making any changes to your healthcare or self-care regimen.

What Can I Do to Work Through a Lupus Flare?

First, I’ve found taking an assessment of your symptoms overall and your habits over the previous 7 days to be very helpful. I note these down in my planner so I can refer back to next time. Figuring out triggers and reducing them has helped me tremendously to work through flares! 

Note down today and for the previous 7 days:

• Your water intake in ounces per day
• Your food/nutrition intake per day
• Your sleep pattern per night
• Any changes in routine, foods, drinks, exercise, sleep, stress, etc.

“ If in doubt, take it out.”

If you find any changes that are questionable or leave you wondering if they’re contributors or triggers, remove it from your routine, schedule, etc. immediately. Better to be safe than sorry. 

If something is exacerbating or triggering your flare and you don’t remove it, it’ll be that much harder to stop the progression of the flare, symptoms may continue to worsen, and thus making it extremely difficult to continue working through an autoimmune flare, even with the help of the next section.

Obvious tips that are worth mentioning are definitely your water and food intake, your sleep pattern, and stress levels. When these are off I see the following symptoms arise for myself:

• If I don’t drink enough water (for me it’s half my body weight in ounces per day) I get a headache the next day and my joints swell.
• If I eat a lot of processed foods or simple carbs, or I forget to eat well for a couple days, I fight fatigue, sore joints, and brain fog the next few days. 
• If I am not sleeping well, I live off of power naps for the next week.
• If I am under high stress for a long period of time physically, mentally, or emotionally, my everything hurts, fatigue sets in, and I get weak physically in my muscles.

1.  Be sure to keep the body in motion, but not strained. A short walk, stretching session, and a couple body weight movements may help retain mobility during a flare so that working is still possible. Just reconsider doing a HIIT workout or full weight or cardio session, this could be too stressful during a flare, depending on your symptoms.

2.  For headaches that won’t go away or tension in my upper body I use wash rags soaked in hot water on my neck, head, and shoulders (some people need cold due to inflammation, I have an ice allergy and my pain comes from the lack of blood flow, lymph flow, or cerebral fluid movement so I have to use heat) Be sure to ask your doctor which is right for you.

3.  Soaking hands in warm water periodically throughout the day helped me get through my corporate job workday.

4.  20 minute shutdown per day. We can’t always take a nap but a good shutdown is needed. During my lunch hour I would set my alarm on my phone for 20 minutes and sit in my car in silence, no radio and earplugs sometimes so I couldn’t hear traffic or conversations outside. I was intentional to not allow thoughts of work, health, personal, life, or conversations in my mind but to make my body and mind relax and recharge for 20 minutes. 

5.  Prioritize and Delegate. Are there anay things on your to-do list that can wait until next week or be delegated to someone else? Prioritize what truly must get done while you’re in a flare and a list of post-flare priorities that need to get done but can wait  a few days or a week. Look and see if anything can be handed to another team member or assigned to another department. (Do it through email so it’s documented when you handed it off, that brain fog will have you asking yourself what you did with that paperwork later.)

What are some products that can help me work through a Lupus Flare?

Next, are things to help supplement or make dealing with the symptoms a little more comfortable. Things like arthritis gloves, Epsom salt baths, Arnica, Amino Acids, heated blankets, CBD Gummies, etc. We’ll go more in depth in this section. 

Depending on the symptom, this section will vary for each of us. 

1.  Rub Arnica Gel on sore joints and muscles, random bruises, and tight tendons and ligaments. On shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hands when typing or writing a lot. Knees, hips, and ankles when on your feet or walking a lot. Neck and shoulders for tension and headache relief. (Most of the brands I’ve gotten are scentless once absorbed and really don’t have an odor straight out of the tube.)

2.  I also like Arnica Montana 30x. A homeopathic tablet that dissolves under the tongue. I feel I get the best benefit when I take with Nux Vomica 6x for the quizzy or nauseated stomach I get with pain also.

3.  I love the watermelon flavored Amino Energy by ON. I do the recommended 2 scoops in a ¾ full cold water bottle. It helps me focus and think a little clearer on the days I’m holding my hair brush and can’t remember if I just brushed my hair or if I was about to. I kept the small container in the breakroom. It was soon a big hit and all my co-workers used it too lol.

4.  Arthritis or compression, fingerless gloves. They can be worn while typing but keep the joints warm and slightly compressed. 

5.  Compression socks or stockings. I use the thigh high stockings because of the clotting I had in my groins but some people prefer the socks. You can find a lot of socks that add compression and still are fashionable. If you opt for stockings I suggest Jobst. They’re worth the money, lasting well and comfortable. 

6.  Heating pads, heating blankets, etc. Yes, I used these at my desk at work also. There are some cute heating pads and small heated blankets now.

7.  Foot warmer. Ya know those heavy microwavable, rice filled foot pads you slide your feet in to warm up? Yep, I kept one at the office. I always wore slip on heels so I could easily slide my feet in and out of the shoes and the foot warmer. I was even known for keeping warm slippers in the break room so my feet, legs, and back got a break during my lunch hour.

8.  Throat Coat Tea. Add a little honey and sip on this throughout the day when you have a sore or dry throat. 

9.  Peppermint candies or peppermint oil in a water bottle will help settle the stomach. It also leaves your breath refreshed without using the artificial sugary gum that upsets a lot of people’s stomachs further.

10.  Gel insoles. Even my strappy high heels had gel insoles. It dramatically made a difference in the way my feet and ankles, even knees, hips and back, felt at the end of the day and towards the end of the week. 

11.  CBD oil. I rub the CBD oil on my neck, jaw line, down my spine a little, and temples when I have a migraine or really bad headache. I definitely feel relaxed muscles and less tension shortly after.

12.  CBD Gummies I take when I have a migraine with nausea and all other attempts of relief have been exhausted. Otherwise, I take it at night before bed to help me rest better when I’m in a flare or having trouble sleeping. It personally works better for me than taking Melatonin, but I also only use it when absolutely necessary. 

13.  Epsom Salt bath with essential oils is great for relieving stress, drawing out impurities, relaxing muscles, and warming the body. A good stretch afterward while the body is still warm feels amazing too and helps keep mobility during a flare. 

• Using Eucalyptus or Lavender in the evenings can help you relax and rest well. 
• Citrus in the morning will help energize you to start your day while the warm bath helps limber the body for mobility. 
• Eucalyptus in the morning before work is good for those who have a lot of stress at work or in their jobs. (Take some Eucalyptus lotion to use throughout the day to help reduce stress while on the job)