MS in winter

[Corriel]

Hi everyone, just wondering how many of you experience difficulty with symptoms in colder weather.

Heat and humidity knocked me flat over the summer but now with cooler temps I am noticing more pain and weakness in both arms and my legs seem to be twitching more at night. Trying to figure out if this is a coincidence or if any fluctuation in temp will cause me issues.

Thanks!
Corrie

[Sailorsong]

Poppy,

  I take not only D but b12 as well. Both are good for SAD.

Ess,

   One of the nice things about the place in ME is that it has a lot more windows than my place here in TN. I think that will make enough difference in my intake of light to compensate. But if it doesn't I will keep the light boxes in mind.

Dennis

[essdipity]

No personal experience with seasonal affective disorder. but I've heard that light boxes are a very effective treatment. Often these can be prescribed, making the cost minimal or free.

No drug  interactions, no side effects, what's not to like? The worst that can happen is that it doesn't work. Dennis, since you are moving to a place with longer, darker winters than you're accustomed to, you might really want to look into this.

ess

[Poppy7402]

Have you tried taking a good Vitamin D supplement in the months when there isn't a lot of daylight?  I suffer from a bit of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and find the Vitamin D makes a massive difference to how I feel.

Poppy

[Sailorsong]

Winter is a blessing for me in regards to my MS, but it is the pits for my PTSD. Guess I'm just lucky huh!

I use to hate winters and the cold when I was younger. Blamed it on my being born in Panama. LOL. But since MS I can go outside when it is anything above 40 wearing just shorts and a short sleeve shirt and feel fine. But I do get seasonal depression due to the lack of light.

I use to love summers, the hotter the better. But now if it gets above 72 my MS rears its ugly head big time so I spend all of my time indoors. But due to the extra light each day my depression calms down to nothing. So I actually feel like going out to do things.

Too bad since I moved to TN 8 years ago there have only been two seasons each year. Summer and Winter.

Dennis

[Corriel]

Thanks for your comments! It seems temp issues are as various as our other individual symptoms. I am already dreading the scraping and snow removal several times a day to drive this winter but I will just have to hope for the best and see how things wind up.

My heart goes out to limbolanders dealing with symptoms that seem MS related while they await their dx. You guys are amazing!

Corrie

[cramp_n_mystyle]

Not diagnosed,but I cannot take either extreme in temps,and have trouble adjusting.It's always just "wait and see".

[cubbiesfan918]

Oh Corrie - my dear friend. I really hope that you can catch a break. I haven't noticed heat sensitivity issues yet, but I proactively try to keep myself cool.

I don't really wear coats in the Winter, so I will report back if I begin to notice something different this year.

Best Wishes, keeping you in my thoughts and hope you didn't corrupt the kiddies too much during your weekend babysitting gig :)

XOXOs
Lizzie

[doublevision1]

The weather this time of year is perfect for me. 9 - 12 degrees Celsius with a nice brisk wind here in Calgary. I'm outside with my puppy every day now and it's such a relief to have those hot summer days behind us.

The only symptom that worsens for me in winter is the numbness / disordered sensation in my limbs, especially my left hand. The sensations intensify and turn my hand into a useless, clumsy stump. It takes a few hours to thaw out and feel like my usual normal (still abnormal but not as bad). It was worst when cleaning ice and snow off my car in minus 40 Celsius weather in northern Alberta. Now that I'm in Calgary, and have a garage :) , I expect not to suffer quite so much. Very happy about that!

[Milliepede]

Heat and humidity are my worst - some days this past summer I walked and talked like I had been drinking at work. And fatigue... there's 'always there' fatigue, then there was 'heat fatigue,' 'stress fatigue,' 'lack of sleep' fatigue...

Now temps are cooler, the 'always there' fatigue seems worse. Could be because, like you, my muscles are hurting worse. Weakness is no longer constant but pain has now replaced that. And when a leg buckles now, it's not the gradual 'jelly effect,' it's the 'down she goes'!

I'm still in infant stages, not on DMD yet, on 3rd neuro, etc. and until last year, my sx for 8+ years were RR. Now it seems some of them are here to stay. And yes, some seem to react to heat and others to cooler temps. Makes me want to say that 'naughty' word that seems to constantly be floating in my head!

As my Nan, who lived through WWII in London, would've said, " It will all come out in the wash." I take that to mean, in this situation, I'll see what I have to deal with - then deal with it.

Stay warm - but not too warm! Blessings to you.

[PastorDan]

No dx here either, but I will say that cold and heat both give me extra difficulty.  I think I handle heat better, though.  We don't have to scrape it off our car windows.

[aspen2]

Not diagnosed here, but cold is much worse for me.  I have increasing sx below about 21 celsius.