http://www.arthritis.org/when-stress-flares-
Stress can exacerbate arthritis pain, as well as other chronic pain conditions that are harmful to your health. Chill out and feel better now.
Chemical Messengers
What exactly is stress? Hans Selye, MD, known as the “Father of Stress,” defined stress as our response to any demand or stressor. Traffic jams. Tiffs with family members. Long waits at the post office. Many people experience stressors like these every day. If you’re living with arthritis, you know a chronic condition can heap additional stressors on the pile. Stiff joints can slow you down in the early morning, making you late for work. A favorite pastime like needlepoint can go from relaxing to aggravating. Joint pain can keep you up at night, making you feel sluggish and cranky the next day. The potential result? Stress overload.When we’re sailing through life without any hurdles, our body’s organs and the chemicals they produce are balanced. When we experience a stressor — for example, when our car fishtails on a slick highway — our bodies respond by activating chemical messengers, says George P. Chrousos, MD, chief of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Branch, National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md. The chemical message starts in the hypothalamus, the master gland in the brain, which spits out a hormone that zings over to the pituitary gland, which shoots out another hormone that signals the adrenal glands to release stress hormones, including epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradenaline) and cortisol.These releases occur in seconds and help fuel our natural fight-or-flight response — the jolt that enables us to focus and react, and right our fishtailing cars. When these chemical messengers work well, they help us navigate around life’s punches: a fever breaks, a bad mood lifts, pain subsides. But, when one or more of these chemical messengers doesn’t do its job just right, the balance can go down with the punch. Stress hormones also control other chemical messengers that influence biological processes such as body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, appetite, metabolism, mood, sleep, fertility, pain perception and immune system responses.
Managing Stress
Although stress can take quite a toll on the body, as Dr. Selye first examined, stress is our response to a stressor. By practicing methods of stress reduction, you can decrease the damaging effects of stress. The trick to stress reduction is finding strategies that work best for you, says Dr. Rosenbaum. One person might find taking a drive in the country relaxing, while another might find the time behind the wheel stressful. Knowing you have the resources to deal with your disease and feeling empowered to control your health as much as possible can reduce the stress-load of having a chronic condition, says Dr. Rosenbaum. Bolster your stress management techniques by adding new ones to your repertoire, such as:
Release self-defeating thoughts. Becoming aware of judgments about your health and body, such as “I’m too young to have pain” or “I should be stronger than this,” can ignite the stress response. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may help people let go. It involves recognizing stressors, and letting them drift away like clouds, says Trish Magyari, the MBSR program director at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. “People learn that self-defeating thoughts are doorways to the pit of their own personal despair. If they can learn to see the doorway, they can learn they don’t have to go through it,” says Magyari.
Breathe and focus. One MBSR stress reduction technique is diaphragmatic breathing, which is done by consciously taking deep breaths in through the nose, out through the mouth and expanding the diaphragm. Progressive skeletal muscle relaxation — a series of tightening, holding, then releasing muscle groups in procession from toes to face — and imagery or focused attention — centering on a word, phrase or image to relax — also are used.
Vent. Releasing anger, hurt or other negative emotions can diminish stress. A study of the effects of keeping a journal by researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, found that those who logged 20 minutes a week for four weeks lowered their blood pressure. Writing in a daily journal, calling a friend or joining a support group provides a daily or weekly vent needed to keep stress from building.
Cap your sweet tooth. A body under stress craves carbs and sweets when the extra cortisol produced in response to stress triggers the cravings. While carbs and sweets release feel-good endorphins, the effects are short-lived and the body begins to crave more, again putting a person in a hard-to-break cycle. UCSF researchers studied women with high levels of cortisol and found the participants turned to sweets and ate more after stressful events. Studies indicate that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and proteins lowers cortisol levels.
Turn off the TV/Computer and get moving. Sedentary behavior, like chronic television watching, is associated with weight gain and increased health risks — hence, more stress. A recent Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., study concluded that men who watched TV more than 40 hours per week had almost three times the risk of developing diabetes, compared to men who watched TV for less than an hour per week. Get a break in routine by taking short, brisk walks when stress starts to build. Yoga and tai chi are more meditative forms of exercise that can also be easy on the joints, providing flexibility and strength training as well as stress relief. A study from Reed College in Portland, Ore., suggests 90 minutes of yoga reduces perceived stress as well as salivary levels of cortisol; other studies have shown two to three hours of tai chi a week improves sleep quality and mental health.
Medication. As inflammatory chemicals ignite or perpetuate swelling and pain, pharmaceutical companies design drugs that target or block those specific chemicals to reduce inflammation. For example, the biologic response modifiers (BRMs) adalimumab (Humira), etanercept (Enbrel) and infliximab (Remicade) target and block the proinflammatory chemical TNF-a, which accumulates in the joints of people with certain types of arthritis, like RA, contributing to flares and tissue damage. Researchers are now reviewing if stress reduction itself can work like a BRM and block the build-up of proinflammatory cytokines in people with autoimmune diseases. If stress relievers like practicing breathing techniques or following a more nutritious diet don’t work, a doctor can provide short-term relief for acute stress or severe anxiety through medication.
While not all stress is avoidable, and some can even spur you on to try new experiences and grow, you can find strategies that help you overcome detrimental stress or stress overload so you’re less susceptible to flares.
 Holiday Travel Tips
http://ww2.arthritis.org/resources/travel/holiday_travel_tips.asp

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