Cold weather and rigidity?

[Vintageglam]

I just got back from traveling to Switzerland and had a bad experience with walking. While I have some minor issues with mobility here in the south (Memphis, Tennessee, USA), I was unpleasantly surprised with severe ankle and calf rigidity in cold temperatures. I’m new at this, just diagnosed in April this year. Is this to be expected? Can I do anything to help it?

[Kia17]

Any changes in temperature can have affect on PWPD since the hypothalamus is a section of your brain that controls thermoregulation and that section is a part of the PD game.

[Rlp1]

I ski and ride my bike in cold weather. I don’t notice any change in condition.

[kaypeeoh]

My main symptom is tremor in one hand. It's much worse in wintry weather.

[WinnieThePoo]

Like Rlp1, at my early stage, I ski and walk the dogs in the mountain and don't notice any difference with rigidity or pains. I do get very cold hands which people comment on, and occaisionally (maybe 6 times in 2 years) I get really really cold and shiver uncontrollably and struggle to get warm.. My Dad, who is 5 years post diagnosis, also suffers with the cold, and cold hands

[ddmagee1]

In the early years, since my diagnosis, and in the years before, when I had early symptoms, the cold didn’t bother me too much. I live up North, in a cold climate, where each winter the temp. drops, below zero, and we have several feet of snow each winter. Now, a few years later, and as autonomic symptoms of PD have advanced with me, unfortunately, cold bothers me a great deal. I get stiff walking etc., in the cold, and now that I have painful peripheral neuropathy, in my hands, and legs, being out in the cold really bothers me, a lot. After shoveling snow, my hands hurt and tingle, and are cold, for a good 10 minutes, after I’m in the house warming up. So, my hypothalamus is, obviously, affected. My sensation of temperature, especially cold, has gradually gotten worse, in the last several years, for me. Everybody in a room can feel ok with 70 degrees, and I’m the only one cold, wearing a sweater. While walking in the cold, my ankles bother me, and, sometimes, want to give out. I do have stiffness, rigidity, when walking in the cold. My doctor has not come up with any help or solutions to this problem. He states that loss of temperature sensation and resulting problems, is something he sees as part of the Parkinson’s symptom list. I guess we just have to live with it. It got so cold up here, that I went to Florida, for a couple weeks, in December, and was happy with the 75-82 F degree weather. No problem. I may have to make a move to a warmer climate, during the winter!

[Vintageglam in reply to ddmagee1]

Thank you so much for the reply. You just described my symptoms. While I am newly diagnosed, I have had Parkinson symptoms since 2007. My PD has had thirteen years to advance. Now I know what has happened, my hypothalamus is affected. It is so comforting to hear that I am not alone. I felt like an idiot on walking tours in Switzerland because my ankles felt like they would give out. I was so slow I had to give up on the tours. So frustrating. First time I cried because of PD.

[ddmagee1 in reply to Vintageglam]

Glad I could help!

[jenniferdunstan]

I have the same thing. My back seizes up in cold weather. I avoid going outside. Good luck.

[laglag]

My symptoms get worse in cold weather and in really humid weather.

[Pauldmd]

I also find my symptoms worsen in cold and humid weather (the humidity affects me even in warm weather. Actually, I find large fluctuations in barometric pressure is what causes my symptoms to worsen. My wife and I have talked about moving to Arizona or Nevada when she retires.