opened the ledger yesterday, wrists felt fine at 9am. by 11, my left index was swollen, but my right hand? nothing. my hips felt like they were on fire by lunch.
nobody warns you that the pattern doesn’t follow the pattern. when i got diagnosed, my rheumatologist said small joints first, then it spreads. textbook ra. my hands showed up first in labs, so i figured everything else would follow.
linear. predictable. except my body doesn’t read textbooks. my C3/C4 dropped three weeks ago and i felt fine.
then swelling showed up in one wrist, not both. my ESR and CRP looked normal at the appointment but the complement markers said i was in a flare. visible and invisible didn’t match. i track everything now because appearance lies.
i need the lab numbers to know what’s actually happening. but even with the data, the order makes no sense. small joints aren’t always first. sometimes big joints flare alone.
does anyone else’s flares completely ignore what they’re supposed to do?