I have just returned from a wonderful week's holiday in Greece, soaking up the sun and swimming every day. Back in damp, rainy Ireland I am like a rusty tin man barely able to turn my head. I am down to 4mg Pred (slow taper since Dec 2017) but will probably up it again this week if I aim to get anything done.
I have been considering a long term winter rental somewhere warmer this year to escape the worst weather, but in reality summers here (apart from last year's wonderful anomaly) are just as damp as the winter.
Has anyone relocated somewhere with good weather and benefited health-wise from the move? I am 55, have no other health issues alongside PMR (apart from dodgy knees which I should get a few more years out of) live alone, studying part time mainly online. My social life used to be 90% through playing badminton. I rarely manage a game now but still see friends for coffee etc.
I know the climate question has been raised before, but usually with other health issues to be considered. I guess I am wondering how much of the improvement was the joy of being on holiday in the sun and how much the real physical effect of environmental factors..
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Danda99
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Living in North Wales , specifically Anglesey , we get the same weather pattern as you , but possibly with the added bonus of living in a wind tunnel between two weather systems.
Weather does seem to have got worse and damper over the last five years.
Something I noted , not just because of health issues making it appear more cold, but in my outdoor work and how it affected materials I had to use and how often I had to give up working because of conditions.
For the last few years , and particularly since GCA/ PMR and increase in pain from my other health issues, I have seriously been considering moving away to , if not full time , then like you , and the migrant birds , flying South for the winter.
As I know that my symptoms improve alot in warmer , drier , less windy conditions and it is also easier to exercise and take part in outdoor activity that helps recovery for me , I definitely think it's worth considering.
I fancy Southern Spain for the winter personally , just the right type of temperature ( not too hot) and you can even still Swim for some of the time in the Sea. ( Temps of sea water in Jan in Valencia area like the temps of water around the UK in August!).
Sounds like you are in a similar position, Blearyeyed. I think Spain could be my first choice too. I love Italy as well, but my Spanish is slightly less appalling than my Italian.
I will continue with some research (including interrogating my sister who lived in Madrid for a few years)
My first holiday 5 months after being diagnosed with GCA showed me just how much life stress was having on my general well being. Being plucked out of it and my only decision being where to eat, what to eat, what relaxing thing to do next, removed a whole layer of negative influences. It was quite an eye opener.
Difficult to say - living here in northern Italy which is drier than the UK and usually less windy I certainly have fewer problems than lots of others on the forums but I also won't compromise with pred dose either. For me it is damp and wind that are worst and I'm better than the Italian weather forecast for them a day or two ahead! I have a PMR friend who usually feels better when at her villa in Torrevieja, where she used to live - that said, having moved to the south coast in the UK she is doing loads better there too. Maybe it is the sea in her case!
There are other considerations though. Language? Medical cover? Rheumatologists in the local medical system? I speak fluent German (local language) but am lucky in having a world name in the field rheumy whose English is better than my German. You say Ireland - I assume not NI so relocation is less of an issue than it could be.
Is it an option to try it out? We had lived abroad before so knew all the pitfalls and bought the appartment as a holiday place long before we came to live in a region we had visited 3 or 4 times a year for probably 25-30 years. We knew what to expect. We wouldn't go back without a very good reason to do so.
My godmother rents out her house in U.K. during the winter months and moves to the Canary Islands, she has been doing it for years. She has rheumatoid arthritis.
Sounds like your godmother knows what works for her.
Lots of people I have met here in Dublin, even without existing arthritis/rheumatoid conditions have a similar plan for when they get older, to escape the worst of the weather.
I might put out some feelers to see if winter rentals are a thing here.
Yes that was my plan for when I was up to travelling and had some other health issues finally resolved.
Not always necessary to move entirely or own the place you get.
There are lots of 3 -6 month winter rentals available at a much cheaper monthly rent than the types of things you pay in the UK. They are available across Europe.
And then unless you plan to move full time you don't have the added stress or hardworking of maintenance of owning a place abroad.
The reason a favour Spain over Italy is because I have enough hills at home😂😂😂😂
I had a holiday in Majorca once and there were loads of old people living in the hotels over the winter. My godmother got pensioned off from the forces when she was in her twenties and got a lump sum with which she bought her place in The Canaries. I think she rents it out during the summer thinking about it.
Earlier this year I had three glorious weeks in South Africa, near Cape Town. Walking out every day bathed in warm sunshine melted away a lot of twinges and I do bit it down to the warmth as I also upped my physical activity with no ill effects. Being away from home and the inevitable stresses and strains will have had something to do with it I’m sure, but like you I am wondering about Winter re-location 😀
I am of the opinion that you are very fortunate, you don’t seem to have to work and have the wear with all to go on holidays, all my children are over sixty and can’t afford to retire. Don’t we all find that a bright day and/or company makes discomfort less intense?
Is it a prerequisite for pmr/gca to be able to afford holiday homes ? It would appear so from the replies to your post.
Sorry to be so grumpy but, let’s face it, there are many people with far greater burdens to bear.
Please, I really don't think you should judge any of us without knowing all the facts.
Some of us have relocated entirely - and that is what I hear in these posts. I have a 3-room flat I live in all year round, my entire "portfolio" in the UK wouldn't buy me a 3 room flat in the south of England even if I could sell the individual places. I moved here to work freelance because I could. Now I have my pension. Living in another country with a more beneficial climate doesn't cost more than staying in the UK, in fact, most of our costs are far lower, especially heating. Would you criticise us for choosing to move home from Wales to England? It isn't any different.
Hi Mipsie. You seem to be having a rough time today. Has something happened?
Frankly I'm envious of anyone who can enjoy sunshine these days, no matter their status. It's so bad here (Nova Scotia) right now that we've taken to greeting each other ironically - "Enjoying another nice warm sunny summer day?" When it's so cold and rainy some people are wearing winter coats.
🤣It's usually really nice here in May, June tends to be foggy, but this year it never got properly warm in May, and today we are having a true rainstorm, described as tropical. Drivers during rush hour described it as being as bad as during a hurricane. But I don't think there is much wind, thankfully. Haven't ventured out yet but have art class this afternoon and it's my turn to bring something to draw, so will have to wrap up well! We have been promised two consecutive nice days in the near future, however, so we are all keeping our fingers crossed. Hope it improves for my UK cousins who arrive for a visit next Tuesday.
We could have an opinion of you based on how rude you are to people you dont know but we have quite reasonably deduced you are not feeling well like the rest of us irrelevant of where you live or how much money you do or dont have.
Over here on this side of the pond (New York City), I don't get to retire until I'm 70. As of July 1 this year, that's 7 years to go.
I'm not moaning about it.
I'm darned glad I can still work.
I had a really healthy life before PMR, and am enjoying a pretty healthy life now. When I look around at my friends with cancer, heart disease, diabetes etal., going broke while trying to get the treatment they need, I feel darned lucky by comparison.
As I am only 55 I cant imagine having to work till i was 70!! Is it that age all over America? But like you I am very grateful for being able to have a relatively good life with the help of pred unlike some of our friends and colleagues who have succumbed to cancer and heart attacks over the last few years well before they should have gone. When my husband broke his back 10 years ago in the fire service I took early retirement from my job as a barrister and just as things were settling the pmr jumped in to upset things. Not the best times but I am still grateful we are both here and able to enjoy our life together albeit not the retirement we had planned.
Here in the US, your retirement age depends on the year you were born. Recognizing that most people now live well beyond 65 (the original Social Security retirement age) we now require people who were born after 1954, I think, to retire at later and later age depending on the year of their birth. Technically, I can retire at 66 and 2 months, but the benefit I receive won't even cover rent, much less food, medicine, health insurance and utilities. Bur if I wait until 70, I'll be getting about the same benefit as I get from my full-time salary, which is enough to be "comfortable".
Of course, the whole deal can be changed by an act of Congress at any point, so we're really only speculating here.
Like a lot of other things, man plans and god laughs.
Hi mipsie, I had to retire on ill health. I have lived on a very limited income every since so I appreciate that people have different burdens. I haven't had a holiday in the sun since 1994, and had a week in a cottage in Wales 2 years ago as a friend wanted a companion so I bought food and she paid for the cottage. 99 days out of 100 I just feel happy that people who have a debilitating auto immune condition or 2, or 3 can get some rest and recuperation in different climes. I hope you feel ok as I am usually grumpy when I feel unwell. 😊
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