Weather and Chronic Pain

@emeraldisle (13139)
United States
April 16, 2007 6:16pm CST
Do you find that some weather aggravates your chronic pain more then others? We had a cold snap today and boy am I feeling it. What is worse is humidity. It could be nice and warm but if the humidity is really high everything hurts. I also live in Florida, we have high humidity year round and it plays havoc with me. So what about others? Does the cold make it worse? Humidity? Or something else?
8 people like this
20 responses
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
17 Apr 07
I tend to feel my worse on chilly damp days myself..I thought the pain I was having in my joints was starting to ease up a bit since I've been taking Glucosamine and extra Omega 3 --uh--nope-the weather's turn crisp and cold again and oh, yikes am I ever feeling :-(
2 people like this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Tell me. It turned cold here, a good 20 to 30 degree drop, and I am feeling it. Probably why I thought of this topic for on here to find out if it bothers others as well.
1 person likes this
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Actually, I have problems with migraines with weather changes. When a cold front or warm front moves in and the barometer changes or bouncing up and down, I get a migraine. If it is too hot and or too humid, pressure if either to high or too low and it causes a migraine. Sometimes I feel like a walking migraine and other times I am wow'ed because I can go a week or two without any pain. It is really exhausting at times. So, even though I probably do not have the pain that you are speaking of...I do understand.
2 people like this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh trust me I do understand. I suffer from migraines as well and I know how that weather change can trigger them. I have a lot of triggers actually and I know how miserable they can be. They are a chronic pain as well I agree even if many might not think so. I feel for you with that. I can well understand how bad it is for you.
1 person likes this
@lonewolfnan (4366)
• Canada
16 Apr 07
My g/f has a severe level of RSD which keeps her in constant pain 24/7 with a few break-thru pains a day.She says she can feel when a weather change is about to occur thru atmospheric pressure changes.When she "feels it in her bones",we check the weather report and it seems to varify her belief.This has been around for years as many people with arthritis or broken joints report the same thing.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
16 Apr 07
Oh I believe it. There are times when I can tell when the weather will change. I feel it in my joints and muscles as well. Can make me down right cranky.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Apr 07
Personally the heat makes everything worse for me. Once again, this is the opposite of most everyone else. When I get hot I am totally miserable, this causes me to "stiffen up" with anxiety, causing my muscles to tense, and on and on from there. Not to mention the fact that I have a medication that makes me sun sensitive, so I stay inside as much as possible during the summer and keep the air conditioner on and stay as cool as possible. ~Donna
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
18 Apr 07
I stay inside during the summer as well. I just can't do much at all when I get too hot. When we had the hurricanes a few years ago and were without power for a few days, the one day I ended up laying on the couch almost out of it while I waited for a breeze. So I do understand. I'm also light blind so going out in the sunlight blindes me without sunglasses, really dark sunglasses. So I stay inside a lot as well.
• Philippines
19 Apr 07
yup, i live in the tropics and everytime there is rainy season, i couldn't help but sneeze all the time. i don't know why and sometimes it develops into coughs that are so hard that i can't breathe and sleep. it sometimes triggers my toothache.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
19 Apr 07
Oh I understand that one. When it's really humid here I have a hard time breathing. Since I've been on a new allergy med though I havent' been sneezing like I was. Those would be miserable especially when I first got up, I'd sneeze for a good ten minutes.
@Woodpigeon (3710)
• Ireland
19 Apr 07
Yes, the weather does make my pain worse. I get a lot of aches and pains when it is cold. I can also flare up if it has been cold and suddenyl changes drastically to much warmer weather. I don't think the humidity is much of a factor, just the temperature.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
19 Apr 07
The sudden changes are always miserable. I don't think it matters if it's from cold to hot or hot to cold. When it changed that quick you are just plain miserable. The body doesn't know what to do.
@bhawnam (1436)
• India
17 Apr 07
yes, weather has a lot of effect on our body.. i have experienced that rainy season and very cold season always aggraves my pain in legs.. especially when cold winds blow during rains, that is the hardest time for my legs.. i once had a fractured leg.. it has been yrs now, the bone has healed but even today in some weather conditions, the pain comes back.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
I know how that goes. My one leg is that way. On top of everything else I broke my leg as a child and still to this day if a cold wind hits it wrong it starts aching horribly. You'd think after 33 years it wouldn't but it still does.
@Mickie30 (2626)
17 Apr 07
Most of the time I am in pain. I have fibromyalgia and the weather takes it toll when it is too hot or too cold. Dramatic weather changes. It also makes it much harder for me to do things like exercising because I am in so much pain all of the time.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh I sympathize because I'm the same way. It makes trying to lose weight really difficult. When doing everything hurts it's hard to be active.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
17 Apr 07
Once upon a time I broke my shoulder bone. It used to ache in dampish cool weather. It hasn't ached for years. Just yeaterdays my horrid knees were hurting , ordinarily they don't work but they only ache and hurt when there is fluid on them. They were actually painful and I had a feeling it was because it felt like it might rain. Sadly, there is no rain inn sight and it is drier than ever...maybe that's what my knees are saying..."hey you...it's still not raining!"
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Ooh ouch I feel for you there. I've had that, am having it actually. It felt like rain here too but still nothing. If it did and got it over with I'd feel better, at least in theory.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
17 Apr 07
I have arthritis in both of my legs and i have had it for years. My legs get so achy sometimes no matter what the weather is. They hurt even worse when it is damp or rainy outside. I also have restless leg syndrome and sometimes I cannot get my legs comfortable for nothing. The arthritis situation doesn't help matters much either. It makes me have a hard time getting comfortable in bed and going to sleep because I keep moving my legs because they hurt so bad.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh that has got to be miserable. I know how hard of a time I have with trying to get comfortable at night and that sounds a lot worse.
• United States
17 Apr 07
i used to think my mom just liked to complain about all the aches and pains she had boy have i ever eaten those words and to top it off i just moved to a colder climate and the pain is horrific when it gets cold i fully understand where you are comming from !
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Hehe amazing it's it how as we get older we realize perhaps are parents weren't wrong about everything. I feel for you with the cold climate. I hope it gets better for you soon.
• Canada
17 Apr 07
Strangely enough, I get pain in my scar from the Casearean sections I had when it gets cold. It starts as a stinging pain, but then it gets worse and literally feel like I have red hot needles being poked into it. I asked the Doctor about it and he reckons it's damaged nerves. I had no clue you could suffer nerve damage there, but whatever. I just know when it gets cold, and I have to go out - there are days where I suffer.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
That is strange although I get something similar with my Gall Bladder scar. It's due to scar tissue inside and every now and then it wraps around something and I get this massive pain there where I feel like someone is ripping something out. It sounds like yours is much worse though. I feel for you with that.
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh yeah. I have fibromyalgia. I thought the pain usually just got worse when the weather got worse (cold and damp). I am finding that it is actually anytime the pressure changes up or down. I live in the pacific northwest and it seems to be forever changing.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh I know how that goes. I'm on the Atlantic side of things in Florida and the pressure is forever changing as well. It plays havoc on the body doesn't it?
@kodie420 (872)
• Canada
17 Apr 07
For me its not the cold or the heat that reeks havoc on my muscles its the wet and damp. I live in a part of Canada where all it seems to do is rain so since I have lived here I have almost been in some kind of pain everyday. It sucks but hey thats life and old age right. You being in Florida I would think that would be an ideal environment for me but I guess not for all though.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
18 Apr 07
Well it might be but due to the humidity level it makes it miserable. That and once you have been here a couple of years 50 degree weather suddenly feels very cold to you unlike when you lived up north and it was short weather.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
17 Apr 07
Yes I do in my case the Winter is the worst time for me as the cold affects me bad In the Summer I do get breathing Problems but not as much Pain as I do in the Winter
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Sounds like me. I get the breathing problems in the warm weather, between allergies and the heat and humidity it makes it hard but the cold seems to hurt me more then anything.
@Island_Geko (3759)
• Canada
24 Apr 07
Yes, most deffinatly. I have had chronic pain for 20 some years. I have experience all sorts of weather and the only type that helps is warm, moist heat or dry heat. When the changes a lot I get cranky for the pain digs in and does not let go. I have neuropathic pain, and it is progressivly getting worse and the only season I beg for is summer. It has been raining here a lot and of course my pain is high as usual. But it is much better than -35F and snow.
1 person likes this
@dlucia (208)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh I can relate to this topic. I can usually tell when the weather is going to change just by the pains I get in my fingers. I think the barametric pressure has something to do with that. Seems right before it turns colder, my arthritis acts up. Humidity doesnt affect me re pain, just brings on the sinus problems. I live in Missouri, and humidity isnt as bad here as FL, but we do get it in the summer months.
1 person likes this
@Shaun72 (15959)
• Palatka, Florida
17 Apr 07
When I got to hot I feel the worst. I guess because the heat has caused my body to shake. I take =pills for it but it seems bad for anyone else who has multiple sclrosis also.The winter my feet get in pain though. I think i might have arthrits also.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
17 Apr 07
Oh I feel for you. When it's hot and humid I have a hard time breathing but for the most part the heat doesn't bother my joints, just the humidity. You should get that checked out. Feet pain can be miserable and if you do think it's arthritis your doctor should be able to find out.
• United States
17 Apr 07
definetly.cold and pre-rain storms set off my leg everytime.i have arthritis in the leg partially due to multiple injuries-and i seem to be more accurate than the weather forcaster.
1 person likes this
@wachit14 (3595)
• United States
17 Apr 07
The only time I had a problem with the environment is when I worked as a warehouse secretary. It was so cold and damp, even in the office, that my hands often hurt and my fingers would ache long after I came home. It was like that the whole time I worked there and when I finally quit, the pain in my hands stopped.