Getting back into the routine of going to school is difficult for anyone. Navigating the new challenges with an autoimmune disease piled on top like lupus. Can compound the issues making normal challenges hard to conquer. In today’s post I’m going to cover how I get ready to go back to school, health precautions I take, and back-to-school essentials I can’t live without.
I am going to go ahead and add a disclaimer about this post. The focus of this post will be centered around solutions and best practices for taking care of my body and Autoimmune diseases. Most Lupus-related posts I see are centered around talking with your school, getting doctor’s notes, etc. Which is important and helps your teachers and school take care of you. But this post is solely focused on what I did to manage my diseases and take the best care of my body I could. Leave a comment if you would like to see a post about how to communicate with teachers about Lupus.
Living with an Autoimmune disease means putting your health first at all times. When I plan to do anything…literally anything. I make sure I have done all of my basic care necessities that keep me running. Like hydration, eating a clean diet, managing my emotions, and avoiding triggers.
Life comes at you fast which is why it’s very important to have a strong foundation and routine that you follow to manage your autoimmune disease. It will look different for everyone but it just matters that you consciously put your time and effort into taking care of yourself.
For me, this looks like tracking my symptoms/diet/ emotional regulation, meal prepping once a week, exercising consistently, and overall listening/ caring for my body’s needs. I have a lot of different lupus-related posts that cover the nuance topics in depth. They are definitely worth a read if you are in the process of developing your own plan to manage your autoimmune disease. Seeing someone else baseline can help you get an idea of how to start.
The main takeaway is you need a healthy terrain to give yourself the best chance at a stress-free, comfortable, and hopefully flare-free back-to-school season. I know this isn’t some unheard of idea but even I need someone to remind me to get back to the basics before taking on anything else.
How I get ready to go back to school with Lupus
First I make my meal plan. I am a creature of habit and someone who relies on planning. So meal prepping is a must for my life to run smoothly. It is also super important because diet directly affects lupus symptoms and the state of your disease.1 This makes eating a diet that works with your disease and not against it important in managing Lupus. You can check out our post on “Why I chose a Paleo diet to heal my Autoimmune diseases”. For a better look at how and why I chose a diet that works with my diseases.
Meal prepping saves me time throughout the week and cuts down on decision fatigue because the last thing I want to do after a long day is make another decision at dinner. I just want to heat up my nourishing meal prep and go to bed. Check out our post on “Meal Prepping 101” to learn more!
Deep clean
I heard someone say “Your room is a reflection of your mind” one time and I have lived by that quote. Starting with a clean and tidy room will aid your mental health and give you a clean slate for the school year. I start my deep clean well before school starts so I can break it down into sessions. 15 minutes a day adds up and helps you work smarter and not harder. Helping you to avoid cleaning yourself into a flare.
Morning plan
I think your morning routine is the most important part of the day. What you fill your mind, body, and spirit with sets the tone for your day. I have a low, medium, and high morning routine written down on one of our free printables you can find located on the Free Resource Library page. I broke down my ideal morning routine into three categories (low, medium, and high energy). My low-energy morning routine consists of only the basic necessities I have to do. And on the high-energy morning routine, I have all the extra items I would like to have in my morning routine that arent possible every morning.
Outlining my morning routine has led to stress-free, smoother mornings. Overall leading to me having happier and more content days. If I wake up with no energy I won’t feel bad for not getting everything in my morning routine done I can just do my low-energy routine. Having it set in stone that meeting just my basic needs isn’t lazy it’s just low energy has shifted my mindset completely. You have to try it out I never have a “bad” morning anymore because I don’t have crazy expectations I have routines that fit around lupus.
Managing stress
Developing hobbies and routines that benefit your mind and body directly control the state of your disease. Studies show Unmanaged stress can trigger a lupus flare so it’s important to find ways to cope with stress and big emotions healthily. Making your habits/hobbies a vital role in managing an Autoimmune disease. Incorporating habits and hobbies that aid in regulating your emotions and mental health knocks out two birds with one stone; managing your autoimmune disease and taking care of your mental health. That starts by being aware of your emotions and listening to your body’s signals. Then finding hobbies and habits that allow you to regulate and manage emotions those emotions. For me that looks like exercise, meditation, spending time with God, and disconnecting from my phone when I’m feeling stressed, upset, overwhelmed, etc.
Signs of Stress
When the body’s under stress it secretes the hormone cortisol to trigger fight or flight – your body’s natural response to dealing with stress. This can display in various ways such as:
- Aches and pains
- Chest pain/ racing heart
- Stomach pain/ issues with digestion
- Exhaustion
- Trouble sleeping
- Muscle tensions
- Dizziness
- Shaking
Your body communicates with you – you just have to learn to listen. If you have read “The Body Keeps The Score” this is a great example of how your body does communicate with you and can be brushed off. If you haven’t checked out “The body keeps the score” I can’t recommend it enough. It’s still to this day one of my favorite reads and I without a doubt think anyone with an Autoimmune disease should give it a read.
Stress can lead to mental effects like depression, sadness, anxiety, irritability, and panic attacks. It’s important to seek professional help when the signs of stress or the mental effects of stress get out of hand.
Under stress and pressure, we fall back on our habits and routines. This is why it’s extremely important to have habits/ routines that work with Autoimmune diseases. Like meditating, reading, writing out your feelings, etc. Getting back into the groove of school can be stressful. Start building your “toolbox” packed with coping skills now. A few other ways I like to de-stress and manage my emotions are stretching, breathwork, picking up a new hobby, and cooking a meal.
CBD cream
I rave about the Truly Beauty Unicorn CBD cream like every post. But it deserves the coverage because of how well it works at reducing inflammation and pain. I have tried 20-30 other CBD creams and NONE of them compare to the results I get from the Unicorn CBD cream. It smells exactly like what I imagine a unicorn smells like and I get results within a few minutes. Pain and inflammation is the last thing you want to worry about when getting back into the groove of school. If you take any piece of advice from this post try out this cream, it will change your life. Living without pain (or a quick fix) is worth the $35 price tag.
Sunscreen
Sun is a known trigger of lupus symptoms like a lupus butterfly rash. It’s important to protect your skin and with the right routine hopefully avoid a lupus butterfly rash. I have raved about this sunscreen in every skincare post and it deserves it. If you’re looking for a sunscreen that works well with sensitive skin, is dermatologist recommended, does not cause breakouts, and doesn’t have a weird smell this is the sunscreen for you. The last thing you want to worry about is a butterfly rash on top of starting back to school. Start building your lupus skincare and makeup routine now!
Foundation for lupus
A good foundation is extremely important especially if you deal with constant Lupus rashes. The sun without fail used to bring out a raging Lupus rash within a few minutes before developing a solid lupus rash makeup routine. I couldn’t even ride a car without tinted windows because by the time we got to our destination my lupus butterfly rash was burning something different. The formula to avoiding a lupus rash in my experience is having a “second skin”. A full coverage foundation does the trick (with a good SPF underneath of course). This is my OG favorite foundation for protecting my skin from a lupus butterfly rash flare-up. Any friends with Lupus I have told about this foundation were weary at first until giving it a try. Now I have all my lupus friends hooked on using the IT cosmetics CC cream. It’s full coverage, has SPF included, isn’t cakey, and protects my skin. What more could you ask for?
Make sure to check out all of our Lupus skincare and makeup-related posts. I will link them below!
- “5 Products to help prevent a Lupus rash from the sun”
- “How I take care of Lupus skin”
- “7 Products for a Lupus butterfly facial rash”
- “Best skincare for Lupus patients”
- “Best makeup products for Lupus skin”
Hoka shoes
Wearing shoes that were designed for the look not what is best for feet health will exacerbate preexisting problems like knee pain, joint pain, ankle pain, hip pain, etc. Making the switch to Hoka tennis shoes was one of the best things I’ve ever done for my knees and joints. I can enjoy time on my feet and not be in constant pain. I don’t think they are the most fashionable shoe but the pain relief I get from wearing them is worth it and I see more and more people wearing them! For back-to-school time I would deficiency invest in a shoe like these that will protect your joints instead of modern shoes that will go out of style in a couple of months and exacerbate your preexisting pain.
Juicer
Juicing can provide benefits like increased energy, reduced inflammation, detox the body, and provide anti-aging properties. Reducing your inflammation and increasing your energy will help you to focus and be more comfortable getting back into the routine of school. I wish I had known about juicing and the benefits sooner. Before utilizing natural remedies for symptoms and everyday problems I would have taken a Tylenol and barely made it through the day. Now I am juicing, making a tea, and listening to my body. I would have never touched a juicer a few years ago and now my juicer is put to work multiple times a week. It is a must to at least try it out! Check out our Tik Tok for juice recipes by clicking here!
If you’re in a time deficit, not a funding deficit you can check out one of the many companies that make the juice and send it right to your doorstep. I have had the pleasure of enjoying a Quick Roots juice starter bundle. Which included 4 juices and 2 juice shots. Purchasing pre-made juice is not something I would personally do on the regular due to the cost but if you live a busy lifestyle and have the extra money to spend outsourcing for your juice needs you should check out Quick Roots juice. My mom and I enjoyed all of the juices and shots!
These are just all the things that have helped me and I cannot live without. For more posts on lupus click here. And don’t forget to leave a comment with your must-haves for the back-to-school season lupus style!
citations:
- NAGARKAR, AKANKSHA. “Does the Food We Eat Impact Lupus?” UMass Chan Medical School, 28 May 2023, www.umassmed.edu/lupus/blog/blog-posts/2023/05/food-for-thought-does-the-food-we-eat-impact-lupus/. Accessed 18 July 2023.
