oh yeah - to the point we have been thinking of moving to the SouthWest to get away from the cold.. but I hate the heat and so does hubby. Our life is just in complete flux right now. sigh

yep cold weather and wet cold weather suck....bone chilling cold has been a saying for many many years we are not alone....hugs

Absolutely! I'm in North Dakota, just south of the Canadian border, and I dread winter. Not only does the cold affect my joints, it makes me so tense always being that cold. And it does a number on my mood. 7 months out of the year I'm shuffling from building to building, trying to find warmth. I use a heating pad year round for my back and neck, but turn it up to high heat in fall.
Yesterday it was beautiful here and I laid down in the grass and gazed up at the blue sky and tried to drink in the comfort and sunshine. Hope you can do the same.

I have osteoarthritis and it is definitely exacerbated in the cold weather and, also, humidity (rain, snow, etc). Winter is definitely the worst but my pain fluctuates greatly with the changing of the seasons. I'll have a good day and then several bad days. Or a few good days and a REALLY bad day or 2. I live in Ohio, by the lake. Weather is terribly unpredictable and, as a result, so is pain control. I have learned to pay more attention to my body so I can oftentimes feel when nasty weather is coming and I'll try to plan accordingly or at least have some items (meds, heat, cold, TENS, pillows) to do my best to maximize my comfort.

One thing I don't really have the luxury of doing very often is resting. I work full time and have children, animals, and a home to take care of. As much pain as I'm in, I must work to take care of my family. I don't have much help at home at all. The kids do what they can but they are only almost 12 and almost 8 (in December for both). I'm learned to let go of some of that compulsive control I have. Pain has forced an entire new life that is very hard, as a 34 year old, to deal with.

My experience with pain management has been terrible so I've been doing what I have to do to find a doctor willing to do a knee replacement. While I have OA in many joints, my knees are the worst. I can eliminate my narcotic usage and PM visits if my knees were taken care of. The other joints don't flare as much probably because I'm not walking on them every day.

Anyhow, sorry to get side-tracked. I feel your pain and it's really tough during the changing of the seasons and the long, cold winter months. My best advice is to keep a care bag with you that has all the stuff that helps you feel even just a little better. I have a bad I take with me nearly everywhere. It has a portable heating pad, my TENS unit, muscle creams, OTC and Rx medications, cold packs to toss in the freezer as needed, and a small pillow I can use to prop my knees up on my rolling cart at my desk. I try to keep these items with me because I never know when they'll come in handy. Even from morning to afternoon my pain can change.

I'm sorry you are dealing with pain and I hope we don't have such a nasty winter like we did last year. At least we'll all be here to vent to each other when we are, inevitably, hurting more than normal.

(((HUGS)))

~Michelle

For me, Fall and Winter is when I get the most relief for my pain. I have migraines every single day. It starts in the Spring with the allergies, and then in the Summer with the heat. I literally stay in my house for about 6 months of the year. Once it gets chilly, I can finally open the windows, go outside and breathe in the fresh air, and my head feels so much better.

I live in the Northeast, and it gets cold in the winter, but I'll take winter over summer any day. I think the cold does affect my arthritis in my back and knees, but my arthritis doesn't put me down and out like my migraines do.

I'm on the other side of the world to most of you guys so spring has finally sprung here and I'm so relieved. The weather doesn't affect my main cp probs in my back and leg but it has a big affect on the mild arthritis I have in my knees. In our last month of winter we had non stop rain and storms so I was woken up by horrible throbbing pain every morn around 3am, just what I need, even less sleep!

I hope that, while we're boiling down here, you all have a mild winter.

My OA is terribly sensitive to humidity levels; not so much temperature. I can feel even the tiniest increase in humidity and it makes the pain in my feet practically unbearable.

I scheduled my hip replacement surgery for early October because that month is our narrow window of opportunity for then the temperature is moderate and there is very little precipitation and humidity.

Of course, as they say, the weather in the Midwest changes from moment to moment, so who knows what it will be like when a week from Monday rolls around!