I am so sorry to hear about your pet. 3 years ago, My Corgi had a seizure on Friday afternoon, and by Monday, he needed to be put down. It was very hard. Hopefully you can find some relief soon

Rose, I'm so very sorry about your kitty. We have pets and always have, so I sure understand what it feels like to lose one. To answer your question about stress and pain....yes! I recently got over a flare that was totally caused by increased stress. I've always noticed a connection between added stress and pain.

I hope you feel better very soon.

So sorry to hear about your kitty.

Stress does affect my RA symptoms. I was diagnosed over 4 years ago and last year we finally found a good combo of meds. Everything was under control for a good 6-7 months. I hit a stressful time at the beginning of November last year and I flared terribly. Before that, I honestly didn't think stress affected my RA. I was definitely proven wrong!

I hope you can find some relief soon!

Stress does affect me.... it can prolong pain and zap energy. Rose, so sorry about your kitty. That must have been so hard.

2leftfeet, I'm sorry about your Corgi. We had to put our Corgi down a few years back. They are sweet little fur balls.

How you find relief soon!!!

O, speaking of stress... I find the holidays very stressful.... I could easily do without them.... but I'm going to try to have a better attitude this year.

Yes- stress is a big trigger for me.
:( so sorry about your kitty. My 18 year old recently died in my arms. I am so thankful that she passed on her own. She had been in a decline but not in pain. A lot of behaviors were hard to live with but I couldn't bring myself to put her down.
I'm sure you know you did the best thing but it's still so sad. What was his name? How old was he?

I am sorry about the beloved pet loss of all on this board.

stress just feels normal to me - it does not increase nor decrease my RA pain - i find that happens in between biologic infusions or in between methotrexate injections. I actually feel better when I have challenges - not that I deliberately want loss and emotional pain - but I am dating also and that in and of itself could be considered stressful (laughing) but challenges and stress are a given in my life. I try to emphasize the successful (or even mediocre) handling of my challenges thing rather than the word stress which sounds negative. i also try to ice more, sleep more, stretch more, exercise more and laugh more if I am going through a challenge that is crappier than most.

I also try to see saw it. find something soft and wonderful to immediately do when you feel yucky emotionally or physically.

the least helpful of all the challenges thing for me is rumination. that just leads me down to the path of perdition.

I hope this helps

depot

Thank you all so much!!! I know it was for the best, and it is a comfort to know he won't suffer any more.

His name was Barney (we called him Fat Boy because he was so chunky), and best guess is he was around 8. He was a rescue kitty a former roomate had adopted from petsmart, and when she took off I didn't have the heart to take him to a shelter so I just kept him. He would greet me at the door when I got home from work and chase me around the house meowing at me. I used to love when he would hop onto the toilet when I showered and sit there and wait for me to open the curtain up, then he would sit up on his back legs and wave his apw at me and meow...like those fat chinese good luck cats... it always made me crack up laughing. Aaahhhh I will miss him.

Good call with the stretching and everything else. I tend to forget to take better care of myself when I'm stressed out. So I'm sure that doesn't help.

Oh, Rose, I loved hearing about Fat Boy! That's so cute. Our cats definitely have such individual and endearing personalities. We had to put our 20 year old Molly down almost two years ago, and it tore me up. I had so many sweet memories, but time does help.

Bless you for giving Barney such a loving home.

Yes it can cause a flare. I have a high stress job and a rather dramatic part of my family, stress is no strange and I've always dealt with it with little trouble. RA changed that.

I loved hearing about Fat Boy too!
I have a chunky cat right now whose nickname is Fatty Patty.
She likes to lay next to a group of toys on the floor as if they are littermates.

Great story about Fat Boy!! I have had to put down 2 kitties over the last 25 years. Difficult, but glad they do not have to suffer. Stress definitely causes flares for me. Usually, I get through the difficult, stressful time and then my body falls apart afterward. I just try to take extra special care of myself during and after stressful situations.

I find that the easiest way for my family to heal after putting a kitty down is to go right out and get another one. It is a revolving door at my house. As soon as one goes on to the other side, another one comes to be part of our family.

Take care,
Linda

Sorry to hear about your cat. That would be very stressful.

For me, stress does not affect my RA. I did find that prolonged stress affected my blood pressure. At least, when the stress went away, the blood pressure came down on its own.

But we are all different. So I would say not to stress about the stress. You are going to grieve this loss for a while. Maybe do some kind of relaxation exercises or meditation? I find that praying really helps settle me down. (I also meditate when I am at the doctor's and they are going to do my bp. It works! LOL)

I'm so sorry about your lose. We had to put our dog down also. So so sad. Just so hard.
Stress can trigger bad days for me.
I have no doubt.
Because we are all so different I've been paying close attention to certain factors.
Stress is one of those.
Grieving can take time but Marlene has good suggestions.
We need positive outlets.
Blessings & here's to better days a head.
Sammy

Hi Rose, so sorry to hear about your Kitty Fat Boy. It is always difficult to put a pet down as they are like part of the family. We have always had cats and I have had to put two down due to illness. One Meshach had been with us for 18 years. Very sad.We have three Tuxedo cats now all with different personalities: Batman, Robin and Kanya. It is so difficult to be stressed. It wrecks havoc on our joints. Try to stay stress-free and without upset and strife in your life. It is easier on the joints. Again so sorry about kitty.

Hi Rose,
So sorry to hear about your cat. I believe emotional stress obsolutely contrubutes to a flare. A perfect example from my life right now is that I'm a teacher applying for disability. I haven't been there for my students all year, going in only 2 days a week. On top of that I keep feeling how leaving them is going to be painful for both of us and it has been weighing on my mind terribly. As a result I began flaring on August 16th and it's been ongoing ever since to the point that I've wondered if I just simply damaged myself. I've had pains so deep into joints that it felt like nails were being driven into them, same feelings in muscle and bone. I began wondering if I'd ever be the same. I just couldn't figure out what was going on. Well, on Friday my principal, who is awesome, saw me hurting and called me in to talk to me. She really put things in perspective for me. Let's face it, when these kids graduate most of their middle school teachers are forgotten except by a few and we all move on. Between my principal's words of wisdom and the fact that a very, very busy person took the time out of her day to show true compassion toward me had me feeling better within a couple hours. Things are still calming down for me but my point is they are finally calming down, So I do believe emotional stress can cause or exend a flare but I also believe that genuine compassion and kindness can just as easily turn it around!
I'm sure it's been studied but I'm very much interested in the psychology of pain and what emotional and psychological factors increase or decrease it. Certianly we all cope with things in different ways. You won't find me saying that true pain doesn't exist because I'm certain it does and I also believe in treating it with conventional medicine but maybe there are other ways to treat it as well that transcends our own biological make up. Showing love, compassion and kindness to those who are ill quickly come to mind. Hang in there. People here care and we want to see your pain subside and become more bearable.
Greg
Greg