Does climate and where you live affect you?

General
1

I have read many posts on this site and alot of members state that weather changes affect their Fibro pain. My future sis-in-law has RA and she lives in Florida. She states that she feels so much better in warmer climates. She is originally from NJ and when she comes home to visit she has more pain.

As for myself, I feel much better in the summer! I am dreading the winter coming because I know that my pain is going to get worse, my SAD will start to kick in and I am going to be miserable. I don't know but every time I go to Florida I feel much better! My allergies go away, no more headaches, and my pain is better. Is it my imagination? Is there a barometric pressure change from north to south that affects our health?

Does where you live and climate affect you and how?

2

I’m in Texas and we are normally dry and hot. I live in the northern part of the state far away from any water. This week has been humid and cloudy. Temps have dropped today and I’ve been achy all week. Humidity seems to just make my joints hurt. Every time we have a weather change I end up in bed for a day or two.

3

Barometric pressure does affect us . I have always done better in the fall and winter. I get out more during the winter and do more things I have always been more of a night person to. I think we just have to find what works best for us. One of the nurses I worked with moved to florida because of his breathing problems and they have both done better.

4

It has for me! I lived in Utah when I first came down with symptoms and in California when I was diagnosed. We now live in AZ, Phoenix area and my pain as been so much better! The winters are really tough still though. I seem to really feel the difference when the temp drops below 78 degrees or so. Makes me feel like a wimp, but even in the summer I can't handle the A/C below 78 and sometimes even that can be painful (I try to avoid the vents, but it's hard). It's like a switch goes on when the sunsets - I don't know what it is, but my pain gets so much worse. I tried visiting family in the different states a couple of years ago. Cali in winter and Utah in June, both were worse for me.

So, no I don't think it's your imagination at all!! My husband has throw out Colorado a few times and I've told him NO! The places he likes change weather like every 15 minutes. Place looks beautiful, but I highly doubt I'd get the chance to enjoy much of it. =(

5

I just need a state where there is no cold, ice or snow and where I can go to the beach all year round! That is my paradise. Sometimes in the summer the AC bothers me also, I just go outside to warm up. I also love really hot showers, heating pads, electric blankets..etc... and food that is supposed to be hot..I like boiling hot!! LOL...I'm a strange one...

6

I haven't noticed change with the pain (my right knee does hurt more (hurt it a few years ago), but then again, it would hurt in the summer if the fan is on it. LOL). What I do have problem with during the winter months is with my asthma, although it has to get pretty cold before it does (like below 40 degrees). Luckily it doesn't get that cold that often here (southwest), at least in the city (the mountains are another story). We're getting into the months my relatives envy, hehehe. But we 'pay for it' during the summer months.

7

Any change in the weather causes me to have more pain. Anytime it is going to rain or a storm starts moving in, I will get a massive migraine. I used to be able to take Imitrix to head it off, but can no longer take due to other meds I’m on. I don’t have as much pain as a lot of people with Fibro, mine is more extreme fatigue due to the Fibro and autoimmune disease.

8

I live in NC, and the weather is all over the place as is my pain. I live in bed.

9

I’m with you Linda.

10

Hi. Sorry I’ve just not been in here for a while. Energys have been and still are so low, Pain like I
thought could never get any worse. And I’ve had kidney stones, hobbling around in agony for 7 weeks before diagnoses , bcos GP and A n E kept saying I had urine infection, Damn idiots I kept telling them it was more!
I find I’m better when I can actually escape England to a hotter climate. I am able to walk better and a bit more than here, although I do still have the pain I don’t think it’s as ever Intent.
Strange how we all differ.
Gentle hugs to all

11

I live in Florida am in constant pain , just moved 3 months ago from Oklahoma really thought I would improve out here but I have gone down hill

12

I live in NC and any weather change affects me. It doesn't matter the season--if the barometric pressure changes I hurt!!!

13

Good question, Linda!
I’ve wondered how others feel in different climates. I live in Minnesota & always have more pain whenever the climate changes, be it for the better or worse. I do know that when we were in Las Vegas, I felt MUCH better!! I believe that it’s because there weren’t changes in the pressure, etc. When we were in Southern Florida, I was better for several days but then the weather changed & it started pouring rain & my pain kicked into full gear.

I understand your concerns about SAD, I’ve dealt with that for many years, long before I got fibromyalgia, even. For many years my doctor would prescribe Prozac for me to start taking in September. The last few years I’ve just been starting to take vitamin D in September & I’ve had good results with that.

Thanks for starting such a great thread! I’ll be keeping an eye on everyone’s responses because right now, my hubby & I are planning to retire in a few years and we’re, at this time, planning to move to Southern Nevada. That will be far away from family, which will be difficult, but as it is now, I don’t get to have a lot of interaction with anyone. It would be great to see if someone from Southern Nevada will respond so I’d have an even better idea of what their experience may be.

14

Winter up here usually does make my fibro much worse. I live in area in mountains that gets snow. Not a ton of snow but keeps me busy. Plus we are cold twenties at night and teens..hits below 0 about week out of entire winter. So not as bad as Tahoe or even worse Truckee who often has coldest temp in lower states!!

This fall, i am trying something different. Normally by now i would be beginning to hurt more. We get below freezing at night and days in the 50's. I normally would have fire going all night already. Instead, i been keeping the house a bit cooler. in the low 60's. So there is not such a huge difference from indoor to outdoor weather. No woodstove fire yet even! I feel better...they say have cool house so we shall see!

Now with my RA/lupus yes weather changes do cause my joints to hurt more.But it has been proven that you can move and no matter where you move...eventually( year at most) your body gets use to the climate so if weather changes your joints hurt. Does not matter if in Arizona or New Hampshire or somewhere with high humidity...studies say it is all same, if weather changes ..pressure goes up or down...joints hurt.

But fibro is not arthritis disease so why does colder weather hurt it or weather changes? For me in keeping a diary on another site i can see that my lupus and Ra do really react to weather changes but my fibro mainly does to when weather gets colder...warmer nothing..i feel better normally.

Other thing i noticed differently ..is with my lupus high heat with high humidity like even a sauna makes me very ill. Places such as mid Texas with humidity ..well when i gone to visit my friend i get sick if in mid summer. No more high humidity visits!!

So i am going to see about keeping house cooler and see if it helps.

15

Hi Christina,

Oh, you bet it does! It's not just the cold, but it's every time the barometric pressure drops, like it does when storms are building, so it's something to deal with no matter where you live, it seems!

My Rheumatologist told me that I would do better in a warm, dry climate, but my son and grand kids are here, so that would be a far greater pain than fibro and arthritis! I'll suffer it out to be near them! They are my heart and keep me going!

There is very little info on the net about this, except that there is no hard evidence, but we are all the evidence we need!

My Chiropractor explained that it is the LOW pressure that gets us by causing the body to swell and thump, and thump it does !http://www.ehow.com/about_4597603_what-barometric-pressure.html

Wishing you well,

SK

16

Hey Linda,

I live in Maryland and can say with certainty that the weather absolutely affects me. Mostly, it amplifies my fibro, RA and CFS symptoms. It's not a particular weather (like getting coler) that is the culprit. For me, it tends to be the change in barometric pressure. That's the killer for me.

In 1996, my wife and I went to vegas in July to take part in a wedding. It was 107 degrees and dry, dry heat. No humidity at all. At that point, I'd had FM for five years and I NEVER felt better than those four days in Vegas. After my return to Maryland, my wife and talked about going back there, even if it was just me, so that I could feel better during a bad spell - sort of an injection of Vegas. Ten years later, my father and I decided to go for it and spent five days at the Mirage Casino. We took a glass plane ride over the Grand Canyon, spent an afternoon at Red Rock, took in a few shows, ate at Emril's restaurant and lost a good bit of money (so much for my system!). I actually ate a Kobe steak and it is everything they say it is.

Here's the problem - I had a major flare in the middle of the meal at Emril's restaurant. The food was excellent but my fibro kicked in and ruined the meal. It hurt me to watch my father se me in such pain. I did my best to mask it, but at that point, there was little I could do.

Another story involves when my daughter was five and my wife and I took her to Disney World as part of a FM conference which I presented. It was a record high for three straight days (anywhere from 97 to 102). I had a major flare before we left. I needed a wheelchair in the airports and a scooter to get around the conference and Disney World. I had been to Orlando before my daughter was born tagging along with my wife as she had been asked to present at a professional conference. That time I felt great.

Upon arriving home from Vegas, I contacted my friend on the Board of the National FM Partnership (I was a board member for more than ten years) and told her about my two Vegas experiences. The bottom line is that there are people with fibro in every state, in every county, in every town. The weather may help but it will not change the fact that you have Fibro and will have to deal with fibrofog, pain, fatigue, sleep issues, cognitive issues, etc.,

My wife and I are now seperated and my only child is a senior in high school. Seven of the nine universities she is applying to are beyond my ablity to get in a car and drive as they are nine+ hours or so away. Once she leaves, other than my doctors and friends, I have no reason to remain here. I do not think I want to go back to the area I grew up (Cherry Hill, NJ in the suburbs of Philadelphia). I'm seriously considering moving somewhere that is remote and I know nobody - ca chance to remake my life. I loved Boulder, CO when I visited in the 1990's when I was being recruited for job. I've considered going south-south but to be honest, I love the four seasons even if it affects how I feel.

I hope I have given yu some information that will help.

17

Yep...ANY! And the barometer rise or fall means migraine and then the body aches from head to toe, like THE worst case of flu hit me.

18

am so sorry :( Love and gentle hugs to you

19

Mine said the same....that with Fibro being a 'connective tissue' issue, when the body swells, it swells against...tissue. That's why we hurt from top to bottom. I believe I feel mini-flares with the full moon, beautiful as it is. Anyone heard of this?

20

That's a definitive broad view. Thank you for that I hope you love CO.

I've always loved having the four seasons and have lived in Michigan for all of my 58 years the last 34 in Northern Michigan and although I have to be indoors mostly from October till the cold goes away, I am fortunate enough to live on 18 heavily wooded acres that provide endless entertainment to me as the seasons change.

Along with my fibro, arthritis, scoliosis, I have Geniculate Neuralgia that, short of explaining, keeps me out of cold or cold drafts, can't go out on windy days sunny or not so I have to be content with the beauty out the windows and watching my Grandchildren enjoy the Fall and Winter. I am getting quite a hat collection too as I do have to go from house to workshop often and the shop isn't always as toasty warm as the house. My daughter and S I L just installed an outdoor wood burner that will keep us as warm as we want to be and unlimited hot water. Big plus as hot showers are amazingly therapeutic if you can prolong them. We bought it with the money we were paid by my sons' insurance company for his attendant care after his accident. The cold hurts him badly now too so we all ought to benefit (my Daughter is a fibro sufferer as well...and quite the trooper)

The change in seasons, barometric s, moon phases, humidity...all affect me....whatever way they can but like I said...it is what it is. Gotta find the blessing.

Great question to us all and informative answers. Thanks so much...I wish we all didn't hurt so much for all different reasons, ya'll break my heart. Sweet gentle hugs to everyone!