Hi jillg~
I am not sure where you live and how your seasons change but I can tell you that each season seems to have it's own cause for flares. I live in the Northeast US so in the Spring and Fall we have the barometric pressure changes that come with rain. Winter brings cold and snow, which is horrible for Raynaud's and Summer brings heat and humidity which drains what little energy I have.
I have also kept a journal for quite some time now of flares in relation to what I eat and monthly cycles and notice that about a week before that time of the month, I head into a flare and some foods (usually richer foods like winter comfort foods) seem to bring on more flares.
And, certainly, Holiday stress relates to flares big time!

Thank you for sharing your experience, Willows4u. Journaling has been helpful for me, too, and actually led me to noticing how seasonal my flares are. Maybe someday I will have more answers than questions. My goal is to know when a flare is probably coming, and to find ways to stop it before it starts.

My dad had Ulcerative Colitis, which is an autoimmune disease. His doctor told us that the change of seasons tends to bring flares for people with autoimmune diseases (not just UC), although he thought more often in spring and fall. But as willows4u mentioned, it might depend upon the part of the country/world you live in. For me, spring and fall have been the worst, until the last 2 years when it seems to be the change into summer. Who knows! Also my neuro told me that sickness, disease, surgery, stress, and trauma can trigger a flare.

I seem to get every bug around in cold weather, which doesn't help my general health much.

I can count on it - with every change of season...I flare. Rheumys may not tell you that, but mine did. Especially colder weather...it's just a fact of life and nothing I can get around. But, I've learned not to be surprised.

Your entry here & the comments forwarded have just reaffirmed for me that I too do have a seasonal issue. Mine is Dec. The last 5 yrs it's like I fall apart in December. January is here & I can feel myself moving away fr it but man oh man. I still have to work on ways to accept it, go with it as best I can & work towards moving on. Reading this info here at least makes me realize I'm not crazy.

Living in Missouri is difficult sometimes because the weather is constantly changing. The Cold bothers me more than heat. Heat just zaps my energy but the cold makes my joints hurt like crazy. Since I have Lupus and RA it is difficult to sort out what is the Lupus and what is the RA. The pain feels the same but the Lupus has more weirdness.
My spouse and I plan on retiring to the Bahamas. Even though I have to be fully covered from the sun the steady temperature of around 80 to 85 and the salt water of the ocean make my RA feel so much easier to deal with.

I am new to this whole thing, but I am noticing this as well! I live in Florida but we've had a cold/rainy week and my pain became so much worse. Even my husband noticed the difference. I guess this is what a flare feels like! You're not alone.