Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Anyone been told to move to stop the inflammation?

I have had three Dr.s on my team tell me to move out of this cold damp weather. It is bad for my inflammation from Fibro and A.S. I just saw my Rheumatologist and he said "I thought you were going to be gone a year ago"? Now the inflammation has reached my liver and my eye isn't doing so hot either. I was taken off of my Remicade and MTX for about 5 months. Still high liver enzymes and rapid fusion in my neck. Back on a higher dose of Remicade now.

Dr. said, we have reached a point where medication alone can't help, you have to leave this area. Anyone else? I have been told this for some time now and I realized it myself about 7-8 years ago right after we built our new home. I told my husband then that I could not live here. The weather changes so much that the pressure is unbearable. Denial set in and he dug his feet in. After the market crashed he thought it was safe to put the house on the market. That was 5 years ago and only 4 people have come through. Now, I need to pack and leave. I am told to go to Southern CA or Arizona. I don't know that we can afford that so do I compromise and go live with my mother and family in Kansas? The winters are by far shorter and then there is tornado season where I'm sure I will hurt but still it is better then staying here.

This disease is a beast!! Have any others been faced to make these hard decisions?

Well Pea...if you move to Kansas you will be closer to me but on the hand you are right about the weather. It changes here like crazy and when it does it is hell. The weather is extreme crazy. Yesterday I went to my Rheumy and by the time I got back home (a 30 min drive) the temp had dropped 30 degrees. No kidding. Thank God she gave me some diff muscle relaxers yesterday or I would be spending today in bed. Best of luck on your relocation choice.

Cold. Damp. Can you do anything about the actual atmosphere within your house, and just hole up inside as much as you can in winter? I'm thinking a heating system thats puts a steady level of heat the whole time, and dehumidifying as well? Not sure if thats a slightly cheaper option than moving, or if it would make enough difference for you.

Reason I was thinking that was because I actually survive the winters in Scotland a whole lot better than I did in Auckland, New Zealand when I went there for six months over winter a couple of years ago, and I think its because my house here is geared up for cold and keeping wind out, as well as it being nowhere near as humid or damp feeling here (don't get those incessant winter rains).

Hi, Pea:



When I read the word "move," I thought it meant exercise!

But this is just so richly revealing and wonderful! Your doctors certainly have a unique way of getting out of actually knowing what to do for You! AMAZING...

Reminds me of the old Kentucky joke about the country cousins who learned that most accidents happen within five miles of home..."...so we moved."

So, if You hurt sitting down, then sit somewhere else? Just move away and leave the AS behind--what a great idea.

Beam me away from my stupid AS, Scotty.

LOL,
John

It's not that John,

The barometric pressure really affects my Fibro. I have known this for a long time. The Fibro affects the A.S. and then I have a bear and a cougar fighting in my back. Today the rains came and I am in pain. The weather here is not good for anyone with arthritis. I have talked to many people out here who are now snowbirds due to the weather. 10 month's of rain, and no sunshine are a bad combo. We barely got a month and a half of summer which is like spring elsewhere. We have constant storms coming in from sea. I live in a rainforest.

We keep the house warm by gas, and a wood stove so it is constant. It is the outside pressure that hurts. I am not saying that there is not more they can do for me but I certainly don't know what it would be if I am in this subset. I would have to live in a Hyperbaric chamber to not feel like this. I have tested this by staying in warmer climes for awhile. The A.S. I could feel but not the Fibro. I can't handle both anymore. I just can't. It is hard enough to have both disease and syndrome and no support from my husbands family.

I have the same problem here in N. CA. Any change in the barometric pressure causes inflammation and pain. I was doing really well until last week when we had a storm come through, The rains have stopped, but the wind keeps shifting and I am in a lot of pain. My back has been doing well since I had the SI joints injected, but my neck, shoulders and elbows are really bad.

Years ago, we moved about 300 miles away from the Bay Area to the Sac Vally. All my allergies and arthritis pains went away for over 2 years before they came back. The same thing happened to our little dog who was on a NSAID.

Well Pea, if I could move I would. I know the 8 weeks we spend in Florida during the winter sure help me get through our 9 months of winter. Changes in barometric pressures effect me also. When Frankenstorm moves in next week, I will be in hybernation.

HUGS
Cindy

For me, it doesn't really seem to matter. I was as bad living in Virginia as I am living up here in upstate NY.

But for you, you say it does matter, so I guess here we are just different, thus no real advice for you.

I haven't had anyone tell me to move, but I've been in western Colorado now for 20 months and I'm SO MUCH BETTER. It could be the desert, the altitude, or the high natural radon in the area... whatever it is, I'm getting more mobile by the day. It's weird, because I never thought I'd be well again. The heat in the summer is hard to handle, but that's the worst of it.

My Rheumy also told me that warmer is better - he told me I'd be fine travelling in Europe in summer due to the warmth. I think that old fashioned saying "it gets into my bones", referring to cold/damp, really is true. My partner's mother has Fibro and moved from Holland to New Zealand. Her condition is far, far better here than it ever was over there.

Change is scary but I know a lot of people who have moved to warmer weather for health reasons and never regretted it.

So I'd say go for it - if you can make it work

All the best.
xo Emily