Peaks and valleys of my flare

Since my flare returned this week after having a glorious 1 week break from my near entire body flare for months, I have noticed a pattern.  I call them my peaks and valleys.  I itch 24/7 still so no break there.  But the redness and swelling come and go in a very specific pattern - in the mornings I wake to very light pink skin and nearly no swelling.  Mornings are tough due to the ongoing fatigue.  I have a seriously hard time waking up.  But I get going by 11am most days.  The afternoons are my best time - I have more energy and my skin is still pink with some slight redness in my worst areas like the back of my knees, my thighs, and my arms.  Somewhere between 4 pm and 6 pm is when the "fun" begins!  I start off feeling very cold - the shivers that I have had this whole TSW.  I then get very fatigued and very anxious.  This is my worst time - I will often flip out over any small thing.  Every noise bothers me.  I then notice my skin getting very red and swollen.  I tend to scratch more during this time as I will get a feeling like bugs crawling under my skin - it drives me nuts!  By 8-9 pm I am calming down and typically will exercise and take a shower.  Although I have been trying to exercise every other day now since I seemed to be more tired with daily exercise.  The pain in my knees and wrists is at its worst right before bed.  I will still be swollen and red but the anxiety will be gone.

I am doing so much better with this flare.  It gives me so much more ability to get things done and not feel anxious, cold, and in pain all the time.  I am on a serious mission here people!  I sooooo need to get back to work.  Hubby working 60 hours a week has really drained him.  He then works around the house on his 2 days off.  Not only that but we bought 70 acres in KY and plan to start our own small farm there.  But we cannot move until I can go back to work as we need the dual income so we can put a house on the land to live in!  We bought this land 2 years ago and is our dream!  It is quiet with rolling hills and lots of green!

In order to get back to work, I will need to get my hands, wrists, and forearms cleared as much as possible.  Working as a nurse brings me into contact with loads of germs!  I can cover everything but my face and hands - and since I use my hands so much taking care of people, that is where I risk getting an infection - and that is how I believe my arms got infected a few weeks back when I attempted to go back to work one day a week.  Since the emu oil is showing good results, I am going to now spray it on both forearms, wrists, and hands each day - hopefully in 2 months they will be significantly better so I can return to work.

My only other concern is the fatigue - but that is where I am hoping the juicing and the GAPS diet will help.  The vitamins really were helping a lot with the fatigue so I know the juicing will help because the vitamins are "real" in the veggies!  :)

So now at 5 3/4 months in, I finally feel like I have a bit more control over this TSW.  I still fight the itching and the fatigue, but seeing as how my skin is more manageable and less painful, I can really get more done I feel less stressed and so much less depressed!  I know that can change if my flare decides to worsen, but for right now I am taking what positives I can and going with it!  I am hoping that the sun will start being my friend and not my enemy!  I would really love to get to that point where the sun helps the healing!

Keep strong everyone!