Navigating how to manage and deal with flares is full of trial and error. Finally, after three years full of flares I have a bulletproof flare plan. Now that I am on a journey of healing my Autoimmune diseases I haven’t had to rely on my flare plan but I still wanted to share what I did.
There are a few reasons I wanted to share my flare plan even though I’m on the journey of healing. For starters, I feel like since I got sick so young and started homeschooling due to being so sick. I had a lot of extra time to learn, experiment, and craft a “flare plan”. One thing I’ve learned as I have gotten older is life does not stop when you’re in a flare your body does. Having two years of homeschooling allowed me loads of time to really experiment, learn, and grow with my Autoimmune disease.
Not to mention my mom had worked with patients suffering from all types of Autoimmune diseases daily. So right off the bat everything my mom had learned that helped the patients she worked with plus being a nurse started me off with a plethra of information, tips, tricks, and hacks. I was very blessed with information and had a great starting point where as many do not have that. So I think I have a unique perspective when it comes to flare hacks or maybe I had a lot of free time and I like to make things as easy as they can be. Either way I hope my trial, error, and now flare plan can help someone else get a head start on making their own flare-plan.
Tracking
Tracking my symptoms, triggers, and a few others I will list below allow me to pinpoint what caused my flare-up. I made free medical binder printables that you can find in our resource library that I use! I made them to lead me to the hidden triggers that were causing my flares. Religiously tracking just about everything I do quickly pointed out the patterns of what was trigger flares, what worsened/ helped, etc.. Below are all the categories I track.
- Element exposure
- Stress
- Diet
- Caffeine
- Symptoms
Tracking your symptoms and flares is also very helpful for doctor’s appointments. There is a lot of information to go over in a very short time at the doctor and being able to share any data is always helpful for the doctor. As well as helping you stay more organized, allowing appointments to run smoother, and all over just making it easier for yourself.
Cutting out all triggers
To prevent further worsening of any symptoms/ the state of the flare I will cut out my biggest triggers; inflammatory foods, extreme hot/cold, emotional situations (toxic people, stress-inducing situations, etc), and exercise. These are just my biggest triggers, everyones will look different. But by cutting out anything that can worsen my condition helps me get on track to getting out of a flare by controlling what I can.
Rest
Allowing your body to rest means turning off your mind. I know it can be hard when the world around you doesn’t stop but you can choose to allow your body to rest or your body will choose for you. Either way, you’re going to have to rest and if your goal is to get better quicker you have to allow mental and physical rest. If you’re allowing thoughts like “I should be doing this” “I’m going to have so much work” and “I’m so lazy” you are not allowing your body to rest which prolongs the flare.
Give yourself grace which is easier said than done. You have to work it out like a muscle. A method I like to use when I am having trouble giving myself grace is talking to myself like I would talk to my best friend. I would never say the horrible things I say to myself to anyone else…..so why would I hold myself at such unreasonable standards? It only harms me to be hard on myself when emotions affect autoimmune diseases. Working through my emotions this way has been a game-changer in healing my body and mind. Helping me learn how to let my body rest by turning off my mind.
Diet
Diet directly affects autoimmune disease so it’s super important to eat foods that work with your autoimmune disease and not against it when in a flare-up. Anti-inflammatory foods are what I focus on in a flare-up. I already eat a clean diet year round but when in a flare for me it is extremely important to crack down and eat anti-inflammatory to prevent any worsening of symptoms. If you haven’t checked our post on “Why I chose a paleo diet to heal my Autoimmune diseases” now is the time!
Cooking during a flare-up was out of the question for me. That’s one reason I love and live by meal prepping. I keep smoothies, meals, and desserts in my freezer that I rotate out each month. Having pre-made options packed with anti-inflammatory foods available at any time was a life saver again and again. I cannot recommend meal prepping enough it’s really changed my life by helping me save money, reach my health goals, and be prepared! I will link some of my favorite recipes below that are great meal prep options!
Anti-inflammatory foods
One of the worst parts of flare-ups for me was inflammation. Which can present in many ways such as redness, swelling, heat, and pain. Coping with the relentless inflammation during flare-ups was one of the situations that led me to use food as medicine. Many foods contain anti-inflammatory properties. Incorporating these foods into my diet during a flare-up 100% made a noticeable difference in my pain, fatigue, length of flare, and inflammation. Below I will list some foods that contain anti-inflammatory properties.
- Leafy greens: kale, collards, and spinach.
- Fatty fish: salmon, herring, mackerel, etc.
- Berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
- Cherries
- Grapes
- Tomatoes
- Nuts: walnuts and almonds
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Avocados
- Broccoli
- Peppers
- Turmeric
- Green tea
- Chia and flax seeds
Anti-inflammatory tea
On the topic of anti-inflammatory foods, I love a good tea packed with anti-inflammatory properties. This is my OG tea that has helped me through numerous flares. I almost instantly feel less pain and inflammation after drinking it. Turmeric, ginger, and green tea are my three favorites for reducing inflammation. I think this one works the best and gives the quickest results!
Flare-up hobbies
There always was a certain point when I was coming out of a flareup my body needed rest but my mind needed stimulation. This is a super simple fix; have some flare-activity as I like to call them in your back pocket. A flare-activity would ideally be something you can do sitting down that is calming and in no way exerting for your body. A few of my favorites are coloring, reading, listening to podcasts, movie marathons, etc. I will link all of my favorite flare activities below if you want to check them out!
- Enchanted garden coloring book
- Flower blooms coloring book
- My favorite colored pencils (don’t make your hand as tired)
Navigating flare-ups is full of trial and error. This is just my best practices list I live by and follow. Make sure to check out our free resource library for medical binder printables, chronic illness trackers, self-care printables, and more!
