Hot weather - good or bad for arthritis?

stickywicket
stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
edited 4. Jun 2012, 18:06 in Living with Arthritis archive
Some people on here seem to be saying they love this weather and others, like me, aren't so sure. I like it in theory but my joints are always worse. It is worse when I'm sitting there, lathered, in blouse and trousers and with sweaty feet cos I can't walk without my surgical shoes and can't use them without socks, while Mr SW sits in his shorts. That's it. Just shorts. Eventually he'll say it's getting cooler. Will he put on a shirt? No, he'll make to close a window :roll:

I thought it might be interesting to see if it's just us auto-immune types who are worse in the heat. Maybe others find it helpful.

So, which is it for you?
If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Steven Wright
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Comments

  • fowls48
    fowls48 Member Posts: 1,357
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Stickywicket

    i'm so thick i do not know which category i would come under , but i feel better when the weather is warmer .


    karen fowls .
  • jillyb1
    jillyb1 Member Posts: 1,725
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm a long term , wheelchair RAer and definitely feel more tired and more flarey in hot weather , but , having said that ; I still love to sit beside the sea in the sun enjoying the warmth and sea air . Guess it's just a more pleasant form of payback in my case . Jillyb
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    The weather never affected the PsA joint pain, but low pressure weather affects my mood and the OA joint pain. I cannot say that this glorious spell is making any difference as I am still struggling with this blasted infection and feeling generally pants. :( I no longer like the sun, mainly thanks to meth rash, if I have to go out and about it's trousers, long sleeves and a scarf to cover the back of the neck. Ye gods. Yet again we all prove how different we are! DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • jillyb1
    jillyb1 Member Posts: 1,725
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry to hear you're still feeling RUFF , DD , I'm loving the warm spell ; we've begun taking a sandwich to the sea front for lunch each day . Spend the day there and are then joined by kids and their spouses when they finish work . Bliss ! Jillyb
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Cor, smashing! You go and have a lovely time. I am reclining on the sofa, trying to cough up a gold watch. Blasted bug. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    jillyb1 wrote:
    Guess it's just a more pleasant form of payback in my case . Jillyb

    I love the concept of 'a more pleasant form of payback', jillyb. I shall remember that. Thank you.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • julie47
    julie47 Member Posts: 6,041
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I am not sure any more :?

    Hot weather is so very uncomfortable, feeling sweaty and tired with feet swelling but I think it is the cold weather that stiffens me more and makes it harder for me to move.

    love juliepf x
  • jaja
    jaja Member Posts: 135
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi stickywicket......im an auto with fibro...love this weather so-long as i dont have to do anything!!!!....feet in cool water...cool drinks..in shade..chilling..with me new drugs!!!!

    JAJA
  • Starburst
    Starburst Member Posts: 2,546
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have RA and the heat makes me swell like nobody's business. It's actually worse for me than the cold. I also am terrible in the sun - break out in a photosensitive rash despite factor 50 and usually end up feeling sick and tired. So, when everyone is happy and in the park, I am at home and grumping! However, I'm determined to have a nice day out with friends in the park tomorrow - loads of suncream, a hat (and I hate hats!!) and no revealed skin. I will not be beaten!
  • Lupin25
    Lupin25 Member Posts: 35
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm another one with RA who's joints swell & flare up in the hot weather, my feet are particularly throbbing & swollen at the mo.
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have OA and I find this weather makes my mood so much better.
    BUT it makes me headachey as well ....if there is such a word. :wink:
    Doesnt make any difference to my joints. Cold/damp make them worse but with this they are back to neutral.
    I certainly couldnt sit out for any great length of time but thats me more than my joints.....

    Love
    Hileena
  • Annah
    Annah Member Posts: 92
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    My joint condition doesn't really fit into your quiz. Suffice to say I wasn't so stiff today in the hot weather, but now everything's all swollen.

    My pain doesn't seem as bad as usual, but my condition means my body doesn't cope well with being hot, so I feel a bit ill and tired.

    I can't say its good or bad. Sunny with a bit of a breeze seems to be ideal, but I'll take hot over the awful weather we have been having.
  • phoenixoxo
    phoenixoxo Member Posts: 625
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi sticky :)

    I've PsA, but just a couple of small psoriasis patches on my elbows. I find everything more effort in hot weather, plus I tend to swell up too, so for much of this week, sitting in my recliner chair and not making much headway with work, I've somewhat resembled a seal on a rock. I don't think my joints are any worse, though!

    Hope you're keeping cool today :)

    Best wishes,
    Phoebe
    PsA (psoriatic arthritis) and other things since 1990. Happy to help when I can :-)
  • resusjan
    resusjan Member Posts: 290
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have RA and this heat is really making me swell up. All my joints hurt, my hands are swollen, feet are killing me. I went to see the rheumatology specialist nurse today and she said its not the heat, its the change in atmospheric pressure. SHe said extremes of hot and cold cause pressure changes which cause swelling for auto-immune arthritis.

    I was going to book a holiday somewhere hot where I could relax by the pool, now I'm not so sure

    Jan
  • valval
    valval Member Posts: 14,911
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    have auto and most of joints not to bad but it does make feet swell but cold makes me hurt far more and much stiffer so like warm but not red hot val
    val
  • caprica
    caprica Member Posts: 195
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sero neg RA here...

    No weather effects at all, hot or cold, wet or dry! Just does its own thing when it decides to.. :)

    The sun certainly cheers me up though!! It's hard to be in a bad mood when it's so beautiful outside.
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thanks for the web stuff, del. I had a look myself, prompted by increasingly achey joints, and it seems there is probably some barometric pressure and high humidity thing going on with RA though the studies are indeed too small to be statistically significant.

    Advice was to drink more water to increase hydration. Ah, so that's where I've been going wrong. Apparently, cider, wine & Pimms are not the re-hydration tools of choice :roll: . OK I knew that but, although I do swill more water, tea & fruit juice when it's hot, I hadn't considered drinking extra specifically to compensate for the alcohol. Water eh? It'll never catch on but I shall test drive it today.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,281
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have OA...I do love the sun it makes for a much better feeling....but I must say the joints are alot worse when its hot....cant win really... :D
    Love
    Barbara
  • elainebadknee
    elainebadknee Bots Posts: 3,703
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have OA and cant say this weather nor the cold makes any difference whatsoever to my condition...I will say im not a big sun worshipper at all more of a shady lady...Used to go really brown when was wee but now just burn easily even today my legs through cropped trousers got like a sun rash on them and was only sat out for 15 mins...

    Elainex
  • scozzie
    scozzie Member Posts: 333
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Good topic! I've OA and I'm finding I'm sorer today than I have been for a while ... but mentally I'm loving all the sunshine, maybe I'm just doing too much! lol

    I've been sitting out a lot over than last week, but in the shade ... forty odd years living in Oz has made me appreciate just how much damage the sun can do! I've had five BCCs cut out over the years, including one behind my left ear. Anyway I've never been one to sunbathe, I burn too easily with my good celtic skin ... one day all my freckles'll join together ... lol

    Take care
    Scozzie
  • lavenderlady
    lavenderlady Member Posts: 409
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    my widespread OA is affected by the weather being worse in the damper weather but i do find the heat makes me so tired and cannot sleep so my aches and pains do affect me at night when I cannot keep cool, I do find I do try to stay indoors in this heat as I have never been a sun lover
  • justinbarrow
    justinbarrow Member Posts: 338
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I find im a bit more flexible during the warmer weather and stiffen up more during the colder weather. Everyone seems to be different.
  • resusjan
    resusjan Member Posts: 290
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    This is a very interesting thread - we are all so different. I am DEFINATELY worse in this heat - I have got pain in my sternum now - never had that before (and I start a new job today so can't be ill!!!)
  • jenniet
    jenniet Member Posts: 27
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi there.

    I've got RA and have to agree with Starburst on this one, all the same symptoms but trying to make the most of it!!

    Jenniet
  • ruby2
    ruby2 Member Posts: 423
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi
    PsA here struggling with the heat, joints and energy not happy.
    Give me snow any day. 8)
    Ruby