In my experience over the past 3 years or so I've found that the only way to help this is to look at the source of the pain. After working steadily for 35 years this was the hardest part for me.

You have to pace yourself.

I have found that on days that I feel pretty good (a couple days a week here and there) I would go at the chores around the homestead. Then as you have found, you put yourself into a long pain cycle for a few days afterward. After so many cycles like this over the years, I have finally trained myself to only do stuff in very small increments. Since my wife is home and disabled also, I try my best to share in the housework. What I will do for example is vacuum one room a day. I've found that 20-30 minutes of any type of chores per day works ok for me. When I am having a day that I am feeling pretty good, it is so hard to stop after that 20-30 minutes. Many many times I would say to myself that I am feeling ok and keep on vacuuming or whatever. Then I will pay for it for 3-4 days afterward.

This is very hard to do, but it is the only way I've found where I can at least accomplish a little something each day.

I've done a lot of working out in a heated pool in order to get my muscle and flexibility back (I'm 41)

This said, I overdid it gardening yesterday. In the calm before the arctic blast it was sunny and in the 50s. I couldn't resist! I hand hoed/turned over a 20'x15' landscape bed, then dug 50+ twelve inch deep holes to plant daffodil bulbs. Took me four hours straight.

Today my sciatic and hamstrings are sore, as are the soles of my feet from jumping on shovel, my shoulders/arms/hands are sore from lifting said shovel and how. I took some enteric coated aspirin and am actually enjoying the fact that I'm suffering from more exercise pain than RA pain. I think the fact that I view the exercise soreness as a good sign - makes it less painful.

I'm planning on housecleaning today while the weather has me trapped inside. The light work will loosen everything up.

Wow -

Hoed a 20x15 bed
Dug 50 holes

I guess there are different severity of RA as I would never be capable of doing any of that.

I take tizinadine and clonzepam at night. I am very thankful that i have these meds bc they really help on those horrible nights.

Coal train, I am enjoying a diet induced full natural remission of my formerly severe RA. The only symptoms I now am dealing with is the loss of stamina, muscle strength and bone density resulting from all those years of limited mobility. Before RA, I worked as a landscaper and horse trainer. Now I'm happy when I can complete a morning of slow and steady gardening.

But hopefully the more I physically push myself and the longer the remission lasts - the closer I will get to my goal of regaining what I once was :)

Hi Fran being in NYC with this crazy weather we have been having on the east coast is enough to make everything hurt even if you did not overdo anything. I was on Tramadol for a while. When it needed to be bumped up the Rheumatologist sent me to pain management. I have a Butrans patch that has helped me a great deal. I have Nucenta which works very well and i have Percocet when I cannot control the pain with what I am using. That learning to pace yourself is a toughy. Especially when you are still young. I have to plan my activities and sometimes have to cancel some things if the body says no and just lie in bed and rest until I feel stronger and hurt less.

i plan everything ahead including organizing or cleaning or going out whatever it can be. here is how i do it.

1. watch the weather - i dont plan to do anything during the rain or cold.
2. listen to your body - before you start doing anything just observe your body how energetic you feel.
3. prepare your body - i always take a hot shower to warmup my body so that i dont strain it. i do apply topical creme (i use penetrex) after the shower and then start the work.
4. try to do during the time when you feel more energetic. for me, i feel more energetic during the afternoon time.
5. do only those you really can without straining yourself. i mean to say GO EASY. most of the time i end up doing only 70% of the work that i planned to do. sometimes i finish the work that i planned and i also do some extra work too. it depends on how energetic you are that day - that time
6. i do take a hot shower again and have a good meal than take a motrin or tylenol depending on how i feel.

planning does help. i follow the above rules whenever i had to do other than my regular chores. this planning always helped me.

Probably rest.
Not only am I ADHD but a little on the OC side.
So if I have a good spell I can easily over do it.
I'm better after learning some painful lessons.
It becomes a game of catch up with rest & treatments.

I had a couple weeks where I felt better then I had in years.
It was all timing, went in for Rhizotomy ( nerve burning) in my neck with nerve block, restarted Enbrel & was finishing up Prednisone.
I smiled & enjoyed the relief. I also well over did it to the point I could barely walk & could not put my shoes on.
Rest was the only thing that calmed this messed up body down.

It's ever so tempting when we are feeling good.
No matter how much temptation you face remind yourself it's not worth it.
Yep pace yourself. You'll accomplish more in the long run.
Sammy

Hi Frannie - heat and ice therapy works well for me. I love hot tubs, showers and baths. Alternating these treatments with ice packs feels great. My feet are the most vulnerable part of me as far as red-lining activity goes, so elevating my feet helps a lot, as does rest in general. Doubling down on my prednisone works over the short term (my usual dose in 5mgs, but my rheumy is ok when I have the occasional 10 mg day). Pain meds (in my case, Vicodin) are made for this reason - peak activity/flare where increase in pain is temporary.

I know this won't be the majority opinion, but I think overdoing it every once in a while is fine. If it results in a flare, take some of the advice you see here and ride it out. I recently ran a 5K for the first time in over 10 years and tried cross-country skiing (FYI, in case you're thinking I have a mild case of RA and that's why I can do these things, I don't - it's at the 95th percentile, which is severe, I have permanent joint damage and I've had RA for 13 years). The race and the skiing resulted in increased flaring and pain for a few days, but the sense of accomplishment and freedom I felt was worth it to me. Try a few ways of managing your symptoms after activity and see if the trade-off is worth it for you too.

2sicrazed,how did you achieve remission.I'm 12 yrs andworse than ever.always anxious to hear about progress with long term. Disease.what worked to get you there?

Usually just trying to rest and spoilt yourself in the process if you like to watch movies or read..that way you won't feel so bad that you overdid it..because at any age that can happen

Thanks all for your suggestions. It makes me feel better that others overdo it to. I am used to being super-busy and doing everything, but I keep being told to pace myself and that I have to stop before I feel pain/exhaustion, rather than when I feel it.

Christine26, this cold weather has been AWFUL. I feel better, and then I feel like my whole body is frozen and stiff again. I know it's the cold.

Trinaunz, so impressed! That is a time worth overdoing it. But not when I overdo cleaning and organizing my apartment, or running errands.

I also take klonopin sometimes at night. It tends to help relieve the tightness, which is a lot of what is causing me pain (in addition to the joints). But it also makes me more sluggish the next day.

Ahhh...the fun trials of trying to figure out how to live as "normal" a life as possible.