Is Florida A Big Pain Too?
 

Got your attention. ;)

There is anecdotal information that suggests that cold weather and/or barometric pressure (dampness) may trigger aches and pains.

I noticed that weather(dot)com even has a weather related pain index... Aches & Pains- weather.com


My wife from time to time suffers for mild to medium pains (on again...off again). She does not have severe dibilitating pain thank goodness. But sometimes she is fairly distressed by it. I will also add that my wife seems to have a low threshold to pain (compared to me) and she does tend to fret about it a lot. But it is real!

She has been to multiple doctors (real MD specialists) and out of desperation a few quacks over the last 15 years. The last 5 years it has become a little more frequent. I won't give a rundown on the history, it would take too much.

One Doctor (a real MD not the quack) said... you are likely experiencing age related aches and pains... possibly exacerbated by cold weather/barometic pressure. He also said there was only anecdotal information about weather triggering episodes of aches and pain (no definitive legitimate medical studies).


I thought I would put it to the group in Florida... For those of you that experience body aches and pains, that get out of the cold North to Florida (late fall and winter), did you notice any change? What has been your experience.


If any of you have lived in Arizona or similar warm/arid locations... please comment on that too.

For some reason I thought you were a girl.

Glad that is cleared up. I don't know why. I image people who post as male or female. I hope that isn't politically incorrect.

I THINK that Florida doesn't make much difference except for people with allergies and that can be AWFUL.

No. More like a desperate attempt to come up with a handle that I could remember that did not require a bunch of number tagged on it.

But I am alive and it is a journey.

weather(dot)com also has allergy related indexes.

Before moving here from the frigid frozen tundra (midwest)....I had severe undiagnosed pain. It was here that I found out that I have several autoimmune diseases that sometimes are difficult to diagnose. Maybe to the OP..your wife has some or one of these. The pain after moving here is lessened from what it was before diagnosis. That being said I've also been given some RX medications for these issues which have helped immensely.

Rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia are a couple .... For the latter "some" practioners who are informed will touch certain "trigger points" from the neck down the spine and can tell from this. I'm not so sure a "pain doctor" would be the one to see for these. A good rheumatologist would be my suggestion.

I for one, find that changes in the weather seem to bring pain (various degrees of it) so I attribute it to the barometric pressure.

[QUOTE=JourneyOfLife;649797]Got your attention. ;)

There is anecdotal information that suggests that cold weather and/or barometric pressure (dampness) may trigger aches and pains.

I noticed that weather(dot)com even has a weather related pain index... Aches & Pains- weather.com


My wife from time to time suffers for mild to medium pains (on again...off again). She does not have severe dibilitating pain thank goodness. But sometimes she is fairly distressed by it. I will also add that my wife seems to have a low threshold to pain (compared to me) and she does tend to fret about it a lot. But it is real!
************************************************** *********


Of course it is real and don't ever doubt her. Many people are sensitive to the change in barometric pressure..........especially those who have various arthritic type ailments..........

In the north, our weather is constantly changing........from morning to noon to night.........we have have many extremes of weather coming in and out. I do feel the change which makes me keep our home super hot in the winter.

We were in TV during the month of October and month of November.
After recuperating from the Orlando airport, I did notice less pain in my joints, knees, fingers, etc..........in Florida. Perhaps it was the sunshine or lack of having to climb two flights of stairs daily in a tri level house or walk up and down a hilly driveway, etc.

By the time I was ready to go back home for early December, I can honestly say I felt relief.

We made our decision to buy in TV after spending this recent winter in the north........severe pain with the cold days, rainy days, snowy days, damp days...........however, it does RAIN in Florida........there was only one front that came in when we were there...........we were out in a restaurant and by the time we had finished and walked to our car, I could feel it in my entire body........we drove back in torrential rains and really bad wind.
However, it didn't last long.

I do notice HUMIDITY will make one's joints hurt........so that's another story. Florida is always humid. But after this winter, I'd say nothing is as bad as the cold........(and we had a fairly warmer winter compared to the old days)............but just the same, when snow is coming in, or rain, and the barometer is falling............I do feel it.......as do all of my peers.

I have a sister in law who relocated to Arizona simply because of her severe joint and knee pain.............(it does seem that once a woman loses her hormones post menopause, all of these joint pains get worse).

She arrived in Arizona in a wheelchair.........and left without the need for one (to fly back to sell her home). She claimed the "hot dry air sucked all the moisture out of her knees and diminished the swelling".

However, the dry arrid climate does not stop joint damage and a few years later she did have to have total knee replacement surgery.

Arizona is a bit too HOT in the summer and too brown for my tastes.
The Villages was very green......as was the surrounding terrain as we approached.....or went for rides outside the bubble.

All I can say is, the warmth or warmer climate of either Florida or Arizona does make the pain seem less. I think it's also the FLAT HOMES.
Up here there are so many steps and hills.......everything is hilly.
Flat is better.

In N.J., my sister in law could no longer manuever the steep steps in her huge modern home. Ditto for visiting her sons who had spiral staircases.
Again, flat is better.

The worst time up here seems to be spring when the furnace is not kicking on as often as it does in the winter time..........and the house can get "damp" as you say.........that really seeps into the joints and bones.....and does cause pain...............and stiffness.

Not knowing where you live now..........the D3 from the sunshine will also help. I stay away from arthritic medications, etc. Just take aspirin.
Plus she can do water aerobics.

GOOD LUCK.

P.S. I forgot to mention that "living on cement slab floors" can aggravate arthritis pain in the feet and legs..........ANYONE who has a family room or lower level room on a cement slab knows what I mean...........unless they install radiant heating under the flooring..........which is all the rage now. In Florida, lets face it....all the homes are built on cement slabs...........I did feel the need to put the heat on at night in November in TV.....or the floors felt "damp". When I was younger, I would have enjoyed that cool feeling on the floor, but not now. I've decided that we'd only buy a home with wood floors..........not tile as tile is too cold and too hard on the bones.......esp. in the kitchen. Have it now but would not get it again. Hardwood floors are the best if one does not want carpeting....which is softer and warmer.....

Some years ago I was looking for investment property in the Phoenix area and got to know the real estate agent who was helping me. He was from Iowa and had come to Arizona on his physician's advice since he was suffering severe, crippling back pain in Iowa. Long story short. The pain all but went away and he was able to function normally.

It's the dry air that does provide relief, in Arizona.
Plus, as my sister in law said, "The sunshine is very soothing".

Let's face it, New Jersey has also had a lot of rain in the past several years.......and can get cold and damp.

Ditto for Colorado.........joints and bones most definitely feel better in Colorado....or out west.
Just don't like the altitude.

Weather can make a huge difference in how one feels.

p.s.
The only thing she did have to learn to do in Arizona was "pace herself" as far as when to go out into the sunshine and when to stay in the shade. Her first attempt at playing golf, the temps were so overwhelmingly HOT that she felt like she was having a heart attack..........the doctor told her to avoid certain times of day. I would assume Florida would be the same in the summer months.......until one acclimates.

I really don't have any pains from being in the cold weather except for the psycological type of wanting to be in a warmer weather climate. As I age, I find myself feeling more cold every winter. The old bones don't seem to enjoy the cold weather.

I believe warmer temps make one feel like being out and about and doing the thinge one enjoys. That is why sooooooo many people here in the north can't wait for temps to rise and look forward to summer.

I am not a Dr. and I do not play one on TOTV :smiley:, but I do have a friend who had these aches and pains you speak of and his Dr. told him much the same, its his age. As it turns out his wife recently developed a gluten allergy and since he is a good husband, they removed all the gluten type foods from the house. He told me once he stopped eating gluten his knees and back stopped hurting in about 10 day or so. He wasn't sure why until he started eating foods containing gluten away from the house ie. pizza and subs. He said the aches and pains came back in a couple of days. He experimented with this a few times and figured out that it was in fact the gluten!

Now I don't know if your wife has a gluten allergy or not, but, if in your words she saw a few quacks, then what do you have to lose? Try it and see what happens. Good luck!

for me it is simple.....warm weather = significantly less arthritic and imagined pain.......cold weather = significantly more pain.

So I have a simple formula that seems to work for me....only live where palm trees and hibiscous grow!!!!!

If there are no palm trees I know I am too far north.

btk

I think it's psychological. When you live in a cold / dark climate you have more down time to notice all your aches and pains and every ache / pain can be used as an excuse to not do something in the cold. When you live in a sunny warm climate there is so much you can do outside like golf, swimming and on and on that you refuse to let the aches / pains from stopping you from enjoying the great weather. Plus you are most likely more active in a sunny warm climate so your muscles are a little stronger and it relieves some of the stress put on joints.

Make sure she gets her Thyroid checked. As people age, their thyroid tends to slow down and not produce enough Thyroxine. It's called Hypothyroidism. If it's a little slow, it's okay. But if it's very slow it can cause a whole host of problems.