Lupus Flare

The Lupus flares that you are describing are similar to mine.  They wax and wane, or in other terms,  you have a "flare-up" where you are in pain, and have all the signs and symptoms that you discribed, and then you have a period of remission, where you have no signs or symptoms of your disease, and you feel pretty good.  Your times of remission might be a couple of days, to a couple of weeks, to a couple of months.  But then again, the opposite is just as true.. you can have a flare for just as long.  

Anything that you do could bring it on, you could lift something that is just a little bit too heavy and twist yourself the wrong way, or overextend your muscles, and that can set off a major flare.  Or you could do too much housework one day and that could set off your flare, but you might not feel it until two or three days later, and the flare can last for 3 weeks or a month..  You just never know what might throw you in to a flare, so you have to really be careful about what kinds of things you do, and how much you put your body through.

I hope that this helps you out at least a little bit.