Weather Changes and MS

[SalpalSally]

I know this is, duhhhh, nothing new, but I'm just so sick and tired of it all..

I used to love all the change of seasons. Each one brought special memories and desires.

My fav, Fall...the start of school and seeing old friends again, the crispness of the air and pumpkin pie..
Spring has sprung, the grass is Rizz, I vunder vare the flowers is. Weddings, Graduations, Love!
Winter ice skating, building snowpeeps. sledding, warm fires and the holidays.
Summer..schools out, sun, rain, swimming, parties, cookouts and picnics.

I always felt soooo good with the weather changes for the seasons, before MS and...Now my body rejects every atmospheric change and I hate it.

I dig the cool weather more now, with MS and dispize the bitter cold and sweltering hot extremes. They didn't used to bother me, I grew up without A/C and walked to school through the bitter cold with scarves over my face.

Now, the weather back and forth changes from hot to cold to hot to cold to humid to dry to whatever, keeps me tired, listless, grumpy, achy, spastic and sad.

Anyone else? And what do you do to help.

[agate]

Hi Sally,
I don't know if weather changes bother me but I do know that extreme heat and extreme cold are very bad news. The cold doesn't need to be so very extreme any more to be bothersome. There was a time when I found only subzero temperatures to be a problem. I'd lose sensation in my legs then and have other problems too. Nowadays problems come on after only a few minutes outside on days below 50'F.

I stay in much of the time, where I can control the temperature. No longer being dependent on landlords who turn the radiators off or on at their whim has been helpful for me. Since 1983 I've been able to control the heat in my apartment. And in the last two years AC has been available too. Before that I tinkered with fans and windows until I felt comfortable.

It took a lot of tinkering sometimes, and I added on a cooling vest and cooling wristbands. Now with the AC I find I don't need those as much.

I have little thermometers in every room and a thermometer on an outside window to show me the outdoor temperature. I prefer living in places with a north exposure--no direct sun.

I really try hard to avoid temperature extremes.

[Virginia]

Hi Sally, you described how I feel about the weather better than I can do it myself! I feel every change it seems. More tingling, sometimes more spasticity, more numbness in the cold. I also can not get warm in real cold weather - no matter what I do. The heat is absolutely awful for me. And yes I feel the sadness very often. My moods can now change with the weather as well as the MS. In just cool, low humidity I do much better and my mood is much better.

I have not found much that I can do about it. Sometime I read and try to get lost in a book or a movie, but these things are very transit. So mostly, I guess we all just take it one day at a time as best we can.

You are always so sunny and such a cheerful person. Like you I miss the old me that could do all the things you talked about, but know that will never be again.

Maybe the weather will not be so severe this winter. At least we will hope.

[Lady]

I'm going to use the hate word. I don't like to say hate because it it a very negative word, and I try to stay positive. That said, I HATE the cold weather and I HATE the snow and ice. There, I said it! :ambivalence:

I really like the Spring, Summer and Fall and can make it okay with that weather. But the Winter is so unpredictable, ask the weather people, they don't know either. When it is below 60 outside, no matter what I have as a temperature inside, I freeze.

I have to keep moving, or having a hot drink, to keep my internal temperature up so I don't pile on many layers of clothes indoors. My family wears shorts and tops in the Winter, while I have sweats and a sweater on. I have a normally low body temperature, so it never gets up there high enough to warm me.

I can take the hot Summer, with humidity, better than the cold with slippery snow and ice. I still go out and drive so I am stuck in, housebound in the Winter. I am afraid to fall and break something vital, like my head.

Even now, one day it is warm, next day it's cold. The nights can drop down 30 or more degrees while you are out shopping. It would be nice if each season would be more consistent so we could get used to it gradually.

Sally, I miss those good old days too. I think nothing bothers the young folks, or the people without disabilities. JMO


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[SalpalSally]

Thanks so much Agate, Virginia and Lady. I am soooo validated by your thoughtful replies.

I can't say I hate anything as beautiful as the winter's snow and yes, even ice, is a beauty to behold, but I can say that, I HATE the effects that it has on my poor old MS body,

[renee]

I have a one season clothing preference, live in a 2 season clothing sized apartment
and in a 4 season town.

Time to move to San Diego and live in a sarong, tank top and pink high tops.
Moderate temperatures sound sweeeeet.

Snow predicted later in the week.
Down vest over a tank top, eh.

Keep your stick on the ice, kids.

[SalpalSally]

I agree Renee, I wish I could move my whole family and all my friends to San Diego..

[Parsi]

I have trouble with heating/cooling systems. They cut in/out about 2 (?) degrees of the set temp. Both of those extremes make me uncomfortable -- I'm always trying to adjust it. And the blowing air is as bad as the extremes.

I'm happy right now, because the weather is neither hot nor cold, so we don't have the A/C on.

[SalpalSally]

Thanks Parsnip..:)

[Beccie]

Weather changes

I do not have MS so I will start out with that. And for those of you who do, I am sorry, I have 2 cousins with MS and the rest of us got other disorders of the immune system. I myself got Fibro w/chronic fatigue and Bi-Polar and IBS. But, even those disorders bring migraines with the weather change. Like the last 3 days I have had bad headaches. I think it is the front coming through, so I can look forward to these headaches till the front passes. And with airplanes if the cabin isn't really in good shape changing the pressure of the plane when landing, OH MY, it's like a knife in my forehead. I could scream. But, I am fortunate enough to have a script of Imitrex for the headaches.
Now, about the hot and the cold temps. When I had to leave the house or go outside when it was cold, I would shiver and shake and the muscles up my spine would get so tight that it would bring me to my knees. I don't allow myself to get cold any more. If it is cold outside, this ole lady stays in. Now for the hot. Had a terrible time this summer with those dern ole hot flashes. As soon as I would eat, or night sweats they would wake me. nothing helped. Wish I knew a secret for them, but, now that it is getting cooler, I just get them a couple times a week compared to all the time. So I am happy with the cooler weather. :o Beccie

[SalpalSally]

Thanks Beccie, I think anyone with a chronic illness, suffers from the weather's barometric pressure changes. It's just part of the perks..*mad

[stillstANNding]

Welcome Beccie :)

Sal, I am always cold except when I am too hot which doesn't last long.

As to the seasons, I am best after the change to winter- when winter is good and settled in. I have lots of fleece and blankets and gloves and fingerless gloves and heating pads and a twin size heating blanket for the couch. I manage the cold problem.

The change in seasons, especially fall to winter and spring to summer, are the hardest MS months for me. Last year, I actually felt normal - yes!- for about a month and the MS specialist was pondering why and suggested it was the switch to winter- yeah winter! And I remember when they said that the weather had no effect on MS! We knew but they did not.

Best to all who have to struggle w "what is my body going to do today?"
ANN

[funnylegs4]

I have spastic CP and weather changes are a real pain for me too. Too cold and I get super tight. Too hot and some of my muscles are loose while others are tight and I can't think straight because my brain feels like it is boiling so I fall all the time. 70 degrees to 85 degrees is perfect for my body. Sometimes I get pissed when people don't understand this.

[stillstANNding]

Funnylegs4 - very similar things happen in MS. And, I do get tired of educating others about my disease (especially the "psst" part) but how else are they going to know if we don't explain?

I appreciate your participation in this forum and explaining how the weather affects you.

ANN

[renee]

Sometimes it is very healthy to complain.
Hey, I'm having surgery next week!

It's much easier and very distracting to complain about being cold
and then plan a move out of exclusive HUD Estates.

Bring on the polarfleece.