Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Do you find your RA acts up when the weather is cold? It's -40 here tonight and I'm having a bad flare in my shoulder and all my joints ache
But I find my OA acts up when the precipitation elevates.
Are you sure you don't have OA in addition to RA?
Do notice that when the temp falls, there's an increase in how often other people tell me my pain "must be because of the weather" and that it'll get better when the sun shines.
small equipment maintenance? yeah. weather is more work. that stresses my joints. i have a correlation between the existence of being an old curmudgeon and talking about weather - for some reason from my childhood I have that tied together along with how is the meat and what about those ----- insert sports team (so I try not to laughing)
Well, I haven't officially been diagnosed with RA. I wss diagnosed with palindromic rheumatism showing early signs of RA. I'm only on plaquenil. It takes 6 months for full effect, and I'm only 2.5 months in. I have to be patient. But I see my rheumy again at the 6 month mark to reevaluate.
It honestly just could be a fluke. I seem to flare up at random. But I think even healthy people ache at -40, it chills your right to the bone!
Oh, you mean UNDER 40 degrees.
I hate cold, but I always have and it has nothing to do with RA. The years my RA was under control I never had any cold related pain when I lived in Edmonton. And the years my RA was not under control I just felt lousy, regardless of the weather. Same with rain and damp. I got RA living in rainy Vancouver BC and it was agony. I never had it under control, I just know it hurt all the time. I do remember going along with my husband and he was skiing. I walked with some ski poles and had a lovely time. And it was cold. And that was when I was getting big flares. I did get a bad flare in my hip on the way home from skiing, But I always figured it was the driving, more than the temperature or humidity.
As for -40, I hate it! When we moved to BC two years ago, my poor husband ended up moving all our furniture for 2 days into our cargo trailer, and it was -40. C or F. Yep, that is where F meets C. Anyway, for some reason he didn't want to use gloves. I was convinced he was going to freeze his hands. But he dodged that bullet, and we arrived happily in BC and it was -5. And we knew moving was the right decision. Just like right now.
It really must just be a fluke that I'm going through a rough patch right now. Come on meds, kick in!
Jealous that you're in BC....though I hear Vancouver just got dumped with snow!!
I am delighted to get some lovely white stuff before Christmas, and we have good vehicles and new snow tires, so we never slip, although we live up a mountain a ways.
But our driveway is flat! So important! My balance and feet are so bad and slipping and falling is always a dangerous prospect for me. Hubby had to help me in and out of church today. And yesterday, a lady at our Ladies, Church Christmas breakfast helped. On the way in, I slid and I am not sure how I remained on my feet, and not on the cement.
I do hate that Alberta cold and wind! We are off to Calgary for Christmas and things are not supposed to be heating up before then. Well, I'll get out the Alberta winter clothes! As for you, how are you handling the cold? I know it really has been mild in Alberta for quite a few years. When I grew up in Edmonton in grade 11, we had 45 days below 0F and most of those days, near the airport, it was more like -50 to -60 F. I learned to dress, as I had to walk a long ways to the bus.
But hey, those are important stories to throw in my kids faces when it gets cold, right?? LOL
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