Invisible Flare Ups

Flare ups are not always visible.
With Inflammatory Bowel Disease, pain and flare ups are rarely visible. Even to the sufferer.
The only real signs of flare ups, apart from blood, are subtle. Sometimes it will be some skin infections, other times I will just feel flu-ish first for a few days, or feel really rundown for no apparent reason, and sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

Crohn's or Pouchitis or Ulcerative Colitis flare ups vary, and pain can be experienced in areas that do not seem at all connected. Flank pain, back pain, joint pain, headaches, muscle cramps or spasms, painful gums while brushing teeth, changes in feeling hot or cold, changes in hair, looking more pale, slouching without knowing. These are all in addition to the digestive pain.
The burning, cramping, sharp, pains that increase exponentially during flare ups.
Note that: these pains do not go away, but they can lessen.

I was lucky during this flare up because the blood only lasted for one day.
That does not mean, however, that the flare up is over. (Although even I got excited and thought it may be over when the blood stopped).
Overnight though, I had so much burning pain and muscle cramping that I could not sleep. The flank pain, digestive pain, back pain (all on top of the pain from other illnesses) were enough to prevent me from sleeping.
The worst part of all of it is that there is not much that I can do.

So this morning, I am having a nice cup of peppermint tea with a simple breakfast: one piece of peanut butter and jam toast.
Why did I choose that?
Well, herbal peppermint tea will help to ease the nausea and potentially numb a bit of the pain. It will always help to move some of the food faster through my system. The reason I chose the toast with pb&j is very simple. Peanut butter offers a bit of protein and energy, jam is just delicious and does not usually cause issues, and toast helps to settle my stomach.
If this does not work, then I will likely go down to Boost for a few meals. If that doesn't work then I will have Boost for a few days.

It is not a horrible flare up. It may last a week or so, but it is not concerning me at the level that other flare ups have concerned me. So I am going to eat simpler foods for my personal digestive system that usually help reduce the pain and inflammation, and continue being optimistic about how short this one *should* last.