Flare ups for me are not so much about pain. I lose the ability to sleep even though I am exhausted. I lose control of my legs and get restless leg syndrome. My memory goes and my body is weaker. I need quiet and long periods of total rest. I become very sensitive to noise.

i find the easiest way to tell the difference is when you have additionall or more extreme versions of your symptoms. personally some of my flare up symptoms seem to change with the seasons. in the winter and spring i get inflamation in my ribs and it feels like i just got ran over by a transport, like my ribs are caved in on my lungs making it extremely difficult to breathe. but in the fall and summer i dont have that symptom. either way tho in general my pain will get worse with a flare up, how much worse depends on how bad the flare up is. my flare ups are also triggered by the weather. something to do with the berometric pressure, and snow hurts more then rain? but other then that typicly when im having a bad flare up ive lost all ability to use every muscle in my body, my brain lags so bad from brain fog i call it turtle brain lol. my bones also like to slip in and out of their joints easier then normal. the fatigue is also extreme. i typicly cant get out of bed. started needing assistance to get to the bathroom during these flares so i invested in a cane to help keep my balance.

My flare ups feels like short electric shock sensations (could be anywhere on the body), sudden short, extreme pain (like someone hit me on my shin bone, or thigh bone, or on my arm, rib cage with a baseball bat), must say the pain is disabling but so short that I never fell or dropped anything. Localized burning skin feeling, scalp pain when it touched, tooth ache (even though they are ok), urgent feeling that need to pee/pain (cystitis). They may last only for a few days but had it for several weeks too. When there is no flare, there is "just" general muscle aches, stiffness, joint pain, kind of everywhere. Like I was used as a football and kicked around.

Trust me you will know if it's a bad flair. Varies from what you struggle with. Some days I can not function at all and can cry myself to sleep hoping it's terminal and not just a flair up.

🤞🏻 you won't get them so bad