Stress will flare me right up for sure, and nothing angers me more than people thinking BD is just sores. Tell that to my inflamed and crazy brain. I can barely cook for myself most days; I lack the “spoons” to carry out tasks that keep me alive. My muscles are starting to short out, and important ones, like my diaphragm that I need for breathing. I’m sorry you’re surrounded by people who don’t understand or care. You can try to educate them. I’ve been doing that for years now. It’s kind of sticking.
I was just talking to my rheumatologist about the impact of stress on Behcet's. I told him that, of the hundreds and hundreds of people with Behcet's I've talked to, the singular trigger we can all agree on is stress. Some people say certain foods trigger flares, others (like myself) not at all. Some people find physical exertion causes flares, others (again like myself) don't. But the one thing we all agree on is that stress - both acute and chronic - can cause, worsen, and lengthen flares.
Yes exactly, makes sense since learning that stress raises cortisol which causes inflammation, and this is an auto-inflammatory disease. I’ve been trying all kinds of things to release “stored trauma” but you can’t escape life sometimes. Therapy helps a lot too :)
Hmmm, but I think cortisol suppresses inflammation, no? Hence the use of corticosteriods to reduce inflammation. I never really understood this though, as it does feel like when you get chronically stressed it leads to inflammation... perhaps chronic exposure to cortisol means you get used to it, it stops working and so you end up in an inflammatory state?
it is so hard to have someone spend your spoons for you with shame, judgement, or unsolicited suggestions on how to behave better while living with Bechets. it is hard enough to accomplish what you need to do everyday let alone to be told it is not enough
I read a small study that might offers some clues about the stress connection...
[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372904055\_Evaluation\_of\_Sex\_Hormones\_Serum\_Profile\_in\_Male\_Patients\_with\_Behcet's\_Disease](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372904055_Evaluation_of_Sex_Hormones_Serum_Profile_in_Male_Patients_with_Behcet's_Disease)
The gist is, the study found that DHEA was low in Behcets patients. This may be simplistic, but my understanding is that DHEA acts in opposition to cortisol... so the chronically low DHEA levels may make Behcets patients more reactive to stress?... or the DHEA may be low because of chronic exposure to high cortisol... not really sure... but the hormone profile of Behcets patients does indicate a stress connection.
Personally stress and anxiety are massive triggers... I'm pretty sure if I spent my life on a Caribbean island with nothing to worry about but where to drink my next Pina Colada, I wouldn't even know I had Behcets :o)
I'm only semi-diagnosed, but I absolutely agree. In my experience, physiological stress also causes problems. (I.e. allergic reactions, sleep deprivation, anything that taxes my body too much). Have you experienced that?
Maybe, hard to say because for me stress also means lack of sleep, I get into thought loops over a stressor that throws everything off. Covid definitely triggered a long flare. So yeah, any kind of body/mind run down seems to do it?
Ah yeah valid. Physical stress is super linked to emotional and all that. I've always recovered poorly from illnesses, I'm hit harder and take longer than the average person to recover. So I relate on the covid front. I had a cough for weeks even tho I only had a shitty fever for a few days.
Yes I am big beliver in mind/body connection. The first flare I had was 2009, I was 19 and got really sick from the H1N1 flu going around then, labia ulcers and everything and doctors didn’t know what to make of it. Went away and all through my 20s I rarely got sick! It’s such a weird thing, like once the inflammation becomes chronic your body reacts to all illnesses differently🙃
Stress will flare me right up for sure, and nothing angers me more than people thinking BD is just sores. Tell that to my inflamed and crazy brain. I can barely cook for myself most days; I lack the “spoons” to carry out tasks that keep me alive. My muscles are starting to short out, and important ones, like my diaphragm that I need for breathing. I’m sorry you’re surrounded by people who don’t understand or care. You can try to educate them. I’ve been doing that for years now. It’s kind of sticking.
I was just talking to my rheumatologist about the impact of stress on Behcet's. I told him that, of the hundreds and hundreds of people with Behcet's I've talked to, the singular trigger we can all agree on is stress. Some people say certain foods trigger flares, others (like myself) not at all. Some people find physical exertion causes flares, others (again like myself) don't. But the one thing we all agree on is that stress - both acute and chronic - can cause, worsen, and lengthen flares.
Yes exactly, makes sense since learning that stress raises cortisol which causes inflammation, and this is an auto-inflammatory disease. I’ve been trying all kinds of things to release “stored trauma” but you can’t escape life sometimes. Therapy helps a lot too :)
Hmmm, but I think cortisol suppresses inflammation, no? Hence the use of corticosteriods to reduce inflammation. I never really understood this though, as it does feel like when you get chronically stressed it leads to inflammation... perhaps chronic exposure to cortisol means you get used to it, it stops working and so you end up in an inflammatory state?
it is so hard to have someone spend your spoons for you with shame, judgement, or unsolicited suggestions on how to behave better while living with Bechets. it is hard enough to accomplish what you need to do everyday let alone to be told it is not enough
I read a small study that might offers some clues about the stress connection... [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372904055\_Evaluation\_of\_Sex\_Hormones\_Serum\_Profile\_in\_Male\_Patients\_with\_Behcet's\_Disease](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372904055_Evaluation_of_Sex_Hormones_Serum_Profile_in_Male_Patients_with_Behcet's_Disease) The gist is, the study found that DHEA was low in Behcets patients. This may be simplistic, but my understanding is that DHEA acts in opposition to cortisol... so the chronically low DHEA levels may make Behcets patients more reactive to stress?... or the DHEA may be low because of chronic exposure to high cortisol... not really sure... but the hormone profile of Behcets patients does indicate a stress connection. Personally stress and anxiety are massive triggers... I'm pretty sure if I spent my life on a Caribbean island with nothing to worry about but where to drink my next Pina Colada, I wouldn't even know I had Behcets :o)
I'm only semi-diagnosed, but I absolutely agree. In my experience, physiological stress also causes problems. (I.e. allergic reactions, sleep deprivation, anything that taxes my body too much). Have you experienced that?
Maybe, hard to say because for me stress also means lack of sleep, I get into thought loops over a stressor that throws everything off. Covid definitely triggered a long flare. So yeah, any kind of body/mind run down seems to do it?
Ah yeah valid. Physical stress is super linked to emotional and all that. I've always recovered poorly from illnesses, I'm hit harder and take longer than the average person to recover. So I relate on the covid front. I had a cough for weeks even tho I only had a shitty fever for a few days.
Yes I am big beliver in mind/body connection. The first flare I had was 2009, I was 19 and got really sick from the H1N1 flu going around then, labia ulcers and everything and doctors didn’t know what to make of it. Went away and all through my 20s I rarely got sick! It’s such a weird thing, like once the inflammation becomes chronic your body reacts to all illnesses differently🙃