Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 2 Location: wokingham, england
Arthritis And Climate Posted: 07-27-04 04:23am
Greetings,
during my 20s I suffered from ankylosing
spondylitis. I was living in england at
the time. In my 30s I moved to florida
and the ank spond disappeared. It only
recurred either after I came to england
for a vacation or if english people came
to visit. This seemed a little too
coincidental. I have speculated that
environmental antigens have a role to play
in inflammatory attacks of this
condition.
Now in my 40s I am back in england. I
have recently been diagnosed with
osteoarthritis. I have pain and stiffness
in my fingers and hips. I am wondering if
climate or geographical location could
play a part in this condition as well.
Can anyone report any relief of symptoms
that have resulted from moving away from a
cool, damp climate to a warmer one?
Thanks,
adam strait
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orionstar
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 2 Location: Australia
Posted: 07-29-04 09:51am
Hi adam!
I have no medical answer to give to your
question, but i've been experiencing pain
in my hips for almost seven years (i'm 21
years old) and even though doctors cannot
seem to find something wrong on x-rays I
believe it is a form of arthritis. About
six months ago I moved from sweden to
australia, to commence my university
studies. My belief was that maybe the dry
and warm weather in australia would be of
benefit to the pain in my hips, but
unfortunately I can't say that it has
helped much. I do believe though that
there is some truth to the theory, since I
do feel better when i'm warm then when i'm
freezing .
It's winter in australia right now and
contrary to what one might believe it's
actually quite cold in australia during
the winter, but i'm gonna experiment
further when the summer comes and see if
it will help any.
- josephin
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purple333
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 1420 Location: Sydney
Posted: 08-01-04 12:02pm
As an australian who has lived in england
& who has had arthritis for over 30
years I can assure you that - for me -
cold weather aggravates it - that said
however I also found that when in england
once I acclimatised - my arthritis
responded to "warm" englsh weather versus
"cold" english weather in a similar way to
what it does here. Hope that made
sense.
My bones do like hot packs, electric
blankets etc in winter & when they're
really bad sometimes even in summer -
which here is a major issue. I am 49 by
the way. Like orionstar drs often have
been unable to find a cause for my pain
but then another x-ray & dr will
recognize I have problems. We are all
unique & must work with our bodies
& determine for oursleves what will
work.
Orionstar, I have been to sweden too
(& in summer) I don't know where in
australia you are but can only sasume it's
in a far south state for you to say it's
really cold here in winter - I had the a/c
on in the car twice last week.
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orionstar
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 2 Location: Australia
Posted: 08-03-04 08:41am
I think you have a good point there, purple333. I think that the
body acclimatise to the weather, which
unfortunately means that you will feel
pain everywhere you go...
Yeah, sweden is pretty cold
(understatement), but I always freeze. I
read somewhere that always freezing can be
a consequence of having arthritis so that
might be why i'm always cold. I'm in
perth and even though i'm normally used to
an average of -15 degrees (celsius) in
winter, i'm freezing here when it's "only"
0 degrees (which it was last week). I
think that I can't deal with the drastic
temperature changes though. Here in
australia it's more of a desert climate -
warm during day and cold during night. In
sweden it only changes a maximum of five
degrees up or down during one day...
I'm very reassured by the fact that there
are more people whose symptoms cannot be
identified by doctors. Of course, I hope
it wasn't so, and I don't want to be
diagnosed to have arthritis, but at this
point I just want a diagnosis (because I
know that there is something wrong) so
that I will know if i'm doing something I
shouldn't do. If I should avoid doing
some things and instead do other stuff -
like when it comes to exercise.
Anyway, take care everyone!
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purple333
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 1420 Location: Sydney
Posted: 08-04-04 01:52am
Orionstar,
you might try checking out some of the
natural supplements which can & (for
many people do - me included) help ease,
stop, prevent further debelopment of
arthritic & other bone pain - such as
shark's cartilege - never tried this
myself; glucosamine & chondroitin in a
combined tablet or 500-1500 mg of each
twice a day - I take these - the diosage
varies with the individual start low &
work up - but remember that natural
supplements tend to take longer to have an
effect allow 12-16 weeks.
Also in your case make sure you can gewt
it when you go home or that you can order
it - I order some stuff from the states.
Keep your hips warm (heat packs are great)
also use heat creams like dep heat or
voltaren.
What course brought you all the way to
perth from sweden??
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engxladso
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 2 Location: wokingham, england
Posted: 08-05-04 03:05am
Orionstar and purple333,
thankyou for the input. I appreciate it.
And orionstar I am not surprised you find
zero degrees cold. It is cold. I didn't
know it got that cold in perth.
I have also found that I acclimatized to
the florida climate when I lived there.
Took about 18 months. Similarly when I
returned home it took about the same time
to get used to the cold again. However my
back didn't flare up at all while I was in
florida. Maybe that's because it never
really gets cold there. A cold day in
south florida is one where you have to put
your jeans on and wear a jeacket in the
early morning.
Purple333, I am interested by your
statement that you suffer the same in an
aussie winter as you used to in an english
one. How cold does it get in sydney in
the winter? Do you suffer as bad in an
aussie winter?
I started taking glucosamine a couple of
months ago, 2000mg per day. So far it has
had little effect although my hands don't
hurt like they used to in the middle of
the night, but they are still stiff in the
morning. I have spoken to quite a few
arthritis sufferers locally, many of whom
swear by glucosamine, but they all say it
takes about 3 months for the effect to
kick in. I have heard differences of
opinion about chondroitin. Some people
say that you shouldn't combine the two
because they interfere with each other.
Hav eyou heard that?
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purple333
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 1420 Location: Sydney
Posted: 08-05-04 03:44am
As with many meds everyone is different,
personally I take a combination tablet of
the two & it helps a friend who takes
them together but in two separate tablets
to get higher dosages swears by them - but
our problems are different.
I'd try adding the chondriotin. I'd also
look into the many other natural health
remedies & if after 2-4 months of
taking the glucosamine & chondriotin
there's no real inprovement i'd try
something else - one I haven't tried is
sharks cartilege.
Sydney doesn't get all that cold (0c ish
at night to 20c during the day)but as
we've all said we acclimatize - so
therefore we suffer much the same - within
erason of course - my body hates being
outside in really cold weather & I
nearly always wear a scarf -winter &
summer to keep my neck warm (as I get
headaches & neck pain if I leave my
neck uncovered).
.
