I am lucky to live in a place that never gets too hot or too cold, maybe on the colder side (50-70) all year round).
As I think about vacation, retirement and other reasons to travel around, what's worse for ms folks like us? Too warm or too cold?
I kind of know what too warm brings. But I have never experienced too cold? Does it bring up MS symptoms?
I think it depends on the person and cold intolerance is less common in general. Where are you thinking of visiting?
no specific place. I was just in Boston and the cold did not seem to bother me.
I'm just surprised by the posts that report on problems with the cold. I did not know this could impact us with ms.
the only time the cold really bothers me is if I’m sitting in the hockey rink at one of my boys games. I think it’s because I’m sitting for an extended period of time in that temperature on cold seating so once I get up to leave I feel as though I am more stiff trying to walk but once I warm up I’m OK. Regular day and it really doesn’t affect me. I live in northern New England. 😜
I never really paid much attention to the effect of cold, but I will confess to spending most of the winter indoors. The heat kills me, though! I just feel like I'm melting. My legs get weak and I have to sit down. We have to plan my summer outings very carefully using a weather app. It's pretty ridiculous.😊
yep, heat takes all energy out of me.
I know the heat intolerance is pretty common, but I'm learning more about the effect of cold on here the past few days. 😊
I moved from Massachusetts to Arizona a couple of year partly because I just couldn’t take the cold anymore, anaishunter . The hot hot hot also affects me but not as bad! Go figure
thank you for sharing.
Both, but in different ways. Heat with weakness and cold with increased spasticity and stiffness. Both make walking more difficult but for me cold feels worse.
ok, thank you.
me too…I think cold > heat. But both. And getting worse over time 🫤
The cold is definitely worse. My body hurts and doesn't work right. Anything below 60°. When it's warm I find I'm able to walk a lot better and further. But when it's cold my hands and arms don't work right and I have less control of them. I get stiff and everything hurts in the cold. I don't even want to go out. Even if it's 65° out I'm so cold. I'm thankful I don't live in the North anymore.
interesting. thank you
This is absolutely the same for me cold makes my body just want to shut down. My arms and legs tend to hurt and get very stiff and my hands ache. I live in Texas and the extreme heat 115 degrees is to much for me fatigue wise and weakness but I feel better when its warmer.
You summed it up well, I agree also my body wants to shut down with the cold. If it's extremely hot also then I have worse fatigue but it's better than hurting and not able to function as well. Anywhere between 70° and 85° is good for me.
I'm similar to Starlight5. Any temperature extreme gives me problems, but in different ways, and heat is much worse for me. In the summer, I deal more with weakness, vision problems, and brain fog. Winter is mostly stiffness and pain, although it's manageable as long as I'm not out in it. Fall days when the leaves are changing are the best for me.
thanks, I'm very much like you. But I have not braced super cold yet. Just wondering.
Hot weather. I can't stand it.
I also stay out of the kitchen because I can't stand the heat, so it evens itself out and I remain happy.
😅 I don't mind staying out of the kitchen, either! When I do need to use the oven, I have learned not to preheat it so I don't melt. I turn it on when the food is ready to go in. And forget standing at the stove for more than five minutes!🫠
I hear that😆
My mom used to warm herself up by standing in front of the stove.
She got a new bathrobe every year because she'd light her arm on fire, multiple times,
Her robe looked like a fisherman's net.😅😅😅
🤣 I can only imagine how the rest of your family responded to that! It's very fortunate she didn't get serious burns.
I know! The potential for that did not stop her!
😅Every meal she cooked was also well done. Some habits are tough to break.
I guess so!
Your mom sounds like my mom. She was a saint if there ever was one, but cooking was not her strong point. I would love to have one of her meals right now though! She has been gone for almost 8 years and I think about her every single day!
Mine died over 20 years ago and while I do miss her, I don't want anything she cooked which means no chop suey, meatloaf,pork chops, wolfburgers, goulash,.
Se did make a good spaghetti sauce though..
For me it’s the heat I lose all my strength can barely move even with help. I live in north Florida so I live in the a/c 8 months a year.
Thankfully I live in Greater Manchester in Great Britain. Its almost never too hot or cold, and if it's cold I've always got a coat to put on when I'm outside the house. Inside the house, when it's cold, I can put the heating on. I might even wear socks to bed! Me and my husband still need to go on our honeymoon, and we don't know where's best for me 🫣 I keep on saying I'd like to go to Spain, but that's mainly because I'm learning Spanish through duolingo (building up on the Spanish I learnt in my GCSEs when I was 14-16) because it keeps my brain active. I know it's hot during the summer, so we'll probably go in autumn or winter 🤔 got married last May, so we've been saving money in the meantime 🤷♀️
The heat will make me feel drained and eventually cause symptoms to flare, how quickly that happens depends on how hot it is. However, the cold affects me almost immediately. My symptoms flare, I have trouble walking, etc. I bundle up this time of year as it us in the 20s-40s overnight. I crank my car heater up and park as close as I can to the door at work so hopefully, I make it there before getting cold. I don't have to worry about parking close on hot days as it doesn't affect me that quickly.
Where do you live?
Generally, heat makes everything more difficult, but as I've gotten much older, the Raynaud's (which first appeared 50 years ago), has gradually become more intense and much longer lasting. It's a washup: heat makes it difficult to do anything outdoors for more than 30 minutes, cold (and it doesn't even have to be extreme, just getting food from the freezer triggers it) affects me almost instantly and painfully.
Heat absolutely makes me so I can't function. If you are thinking of moving, take a vacation to each climate to see how you do.
Before joining here I had no idea that cold affected pwMS. These days I am so tight it hurts, perhaps it is the cold. I don't think it helps that I automatically tense up when out in the cold. Food for thought! Heat didn't impact me for many years, but it does now. Mostly fatigue.
Hot weather always Is worse for me but when I go into cold water I begin to spasm
thank you all for sharing your experience. I did not know that cold could affect ms so much.
I don't like surprises or get got off-guard by ms rearing its head so I'm trying to learn all my ms limits - how much I can walk, stand, and more. I'll add getting expose to cold to the list.
Too hot for me! The humidity of the summer can really do me in😔
I live in NJ. We haven't had snow in about 2 years but had cold days. Just recently we had two snow storms come through and dumped about 7.5 inches where I live. When it's cold outside I instantly hurt like crazy and get very stiff. It's weird because if I'm inside a building I'm ok with the cold stiff but ok but as soon as the door opens or I feel the cold I start to hurt. Mostly in my legs. On top of that, I have Raynaurds so instantly my hands and feet turn white. The blood stops flowing in them. Hurts like hell, and is weird to look at.
The summer which I used to love, still does over winter, I get very overly fatigued. Like someone sucked every inch of energy out of me and sleep is never enough. Yes, weak also.. It's an effort just to go to the bathroom or eat, drink anything, and at how bad it gets. Don't get me wrong the winter had been bad with fatigue also. Like now I'm at work, typing this up and all I want to do is put my head down on my desk and sleep until it's time to go home. I felt like this this morning when I got in at 730 Raynaurds don't go away so in the summer with the air on or touching something cold I get the same results, blood stops flowing in my fingers and toes, and they will turn yellowish white until I get them warm. Then they will turn bright red then my normal color. It gets to be too much to wear gloves in the summer ughhh.
lastly, it doesn't matter how cold it gets even ~7 it doesn't have anything on the HOT FLASHES I get all year around, and every day. I'm walking around with short sleeves and head hanging out the car window with them down, (heat blasting on my feet) and me enjoying the nice cold air to cool me off. Those things are no joke. Why, Why, Why do some women have to go through all that. so not fair.
thank you Lisa for sharing your experience.
I agree with you on the hot. It's like it drains everything. I'm slowing down, and start to feel nauseous.
I used to have Raynaud (very painful). I don't know what I don't have it any more. I'm not exposed to the cold as I used too. But I remember Raynaud starting just on a drop of temperature.
For Raynaud, I used to have a warming device that I would put in my pockets. They now have electric ones you can recharge daily.
everyone is different, but too hot is worse for me. Overheating is the worst. I put a cold wet washrag on the back of my neck, which brings my body temperature down and helps me not pass out. I deal with cold (negative and single digits) by wearing gloves non stop (even in the hose). I also “wear” a blanket
What are your MS Foot Symptoms and Shoe Size Changes?
