Dear , I don't go out at night or day,lol
only when needed :(

Oh, I know this feeling well :( Only for me it's not always necessarliy caused by cooler weather. I do feel much worse in the winter though, achy all the time, I am dreading it!
I live in VA and it gets cold here for sure, I just try to stay warm and avoid the cold any way possible :)

I've noticed that cold/damp air seems to worsen things for me, too. Keeping warm and covered up seems to help, so maybe wearing warm slacks and having a heavier jacket might help you be out more when its chilly...

I'm in bed by 9pm at the latest these days- so your post title made me laugh! This will be my first Michigan winter with full RA, so we'll see how it goes. Maybe you can just pile on the layers? Best of luck with the cold!


Colleen

I found the winter to be "BAD" for me. I had many flares and the pain was worse then I had ever felt. I bought the warmest boots, gloves & coat I could find, always have slippers on, the boot kind.. Thank God for heating pads, we became best friends. It's only 63 today and I have a heater going by my desk for my ankles.... I am from Chicago, so the cold can be nasty.. not looking forward to winter ugghh.....

Damp cold is really tough on RA, but I found out this summer that hot, humid weather is a bear for me. I swell more, I ache more, and I just generally feel bad. I have lots of warm clothes for winter...flannel lined dress pants, etc. That helps a lot! Hope you can get warm and feel better.

V

I'm in CA as well.I understand what you mean about the weather ( we're spoiled) and I go out :)
I find that boots help with mobility and I layer up. I stay in when I'm flared up pretty bad unless I have a work function.Then I hit the road with my cane.lol
Are you going to the prime time conference in long beach? There are supposed to be some pretty good breakouts re: coping with RA etc?

My heating pad is also one of my best friends. I don't go out at night very much, as I seem to get stiff in the late afternoons. When I do venture out, I pay days.
I'm not sure how to get a balance in life. All work and no time or energy for play makes me pretty boring. I am VERY SLOWLY improving, so someday I may have a bit of a social life.

That is horrible when you wake up seized up like a clapped out engine! What I am wondering is if the weather was on the change. I notice that I am actually worse if there is a low pressure front out there. Once it actually arrives I am a lot better so for me it isnt just cold - although generally worse in winter than summer. So I do go out in the winter in the evenings although not when truly feeling in a lot of pain. I have two regular evening commitments and try not to miss them. One of them is in a hall that isnt well heated and I wear long johns and thermal vest(s) and warm clothes. I do go to dinners, movies or cultural things at night too if that is how they are timetabled as these venues seem to be properly heated. It is a real shame to let this Beast stop all you enjoyment. You are too young to behave like someone in a retirement village (and a lot of those people are still sassy enough to go out at night sometimes!)

When I lived south of Lake Erie a year ago, I found that mens real wool hunting socks were great for cold days and nights when you want to go out for any length of time. You can't take your heating pad out with you but you can use the hunting heaters in your shoes or gloves. I found that as long as I kept my hands and feet very warm I didn't mind being outside. I'll be going to an out side Willie Nelson concert in mid Nov. when the night temps here in Texas are about 50. I'll most likely take wool socks with me just in case and my leather gloves although I think leather boots will be enough. Don't let the time of year or the time of day stop you from being who you are.

Camba you may be right about the low pressure front and I'm going to look up those socks, Holee. It's nice to learn that my night social life isn't entirely over. Thank all of for responding! I'm learning so much here and it's giving me some much needed encouragement.

Well, you made me have a good laugh. LOL. Cold in CA. Funny stuff. Sorry, very hard for me to muster up a sympathy card.

I just brought in all my tomatoes, because we are going to have a hard frost any day. I've already lost the pumpkins, zucchinis and cucumbers to frost.

It hasn't hit 60F or 15C in days and this is as good as it gets. I'm actually going to ride my bike inside on the trainer, because the wind is so brutal.

And it will snow any day. Winter temperatures down to -40. That's C or F, because they match there. Last winter we had 6 feet of snow. The last snow from the winter just melted this week, because our summer was so cold. 6 months minimum of snow and cold. If we are lucky.

So how do I cope? Electric blanket all but 2 days this year. I rev it up in the morning to warm up the joints and muscles. And I dress warmly, winter and summer. I wore shorts one day this summer.

I have a heavy parka and Ugg boots and Helly Hansen underwear I wear inside and out. And two pair of mitts. Well, an inner one which are gloves, in case I have to use my hands, and thermal outer mitts. And heated car seats, for sure. And we have 2 x 6 walls and special windows. Since natural gas comes from here, we have central heating and it rarely costs more than $200 a month to heat our 3500 sq. foot house in winter.

If you need any more tips, just PM me. If you dress like it is summer in CA all winter, then you will be cold, and your joints will bother you. Dress up warmly, and don't worry about fashion.

Sorry for laughing, it just kind of made my day to hear about how the rest of the world lives. LOL

Also here, the colder it gets the more you go out in winter. If you didn't, you would get cabin fever and go crazy.

I feel for you! I live in CA, too; our weather is difficult to manage. The temp drops drastically and 50 degree swings are common.

Personally, nights are when I feel the best. My mornings and afternoons are very painful and well, I'll just leave it at that. I don't go out much, day or night.