Since I'm soon going to be "opiate-free", I am having to dial up all sorts of my non-medical tools. Stretches. Ridiculously long and deep foot massages. Soaks. Yesterday we bought a portable air conditioner for the bedroom. In reality there are probably 10 days/nights a summer when it becomes hot. I'm thinking of trying to pin my doctor down on whether she thinks air conditioning would be helpful. I just cannot imagine piling heat misery on top of a bad pain day. It is appearing more and more that weather changes can push up the pain a point or 2.

The point of this piece is they had 2 models. One 10K BTU and the other (14K BTU). The first one bragged 38 db sound. The second one had no information on the box and the women at customer service couldn't locate some. I wanted the higher capacity because our bedroom is on the second floor and is hit full0on with sun from the south, but would take less because of the noise issue. She told me to buy it and if it is too loud, simply bring it back.

"What's the deadline, 30 days", I asked.

She smiled and nodded.

"60 days?"

Another smile and nod.

"Christmas"

A slightly bigger smile.


So this is just a heads-up out there. Costco may let you buy and later return it (but I would probably not be able to keep the $50.00 discount instant-rebate customer incentive).

Hubby bought ours based on Consumer reports I think. Ours is an Alen brand. I use it when it is very humid and hot only in the bedroom.

You know I had a stressful week, with a very ill old old cat and vet and bills and worry about putting her to sleep, etc etc...and my feet just flamed up. They have been pretty quiet before.
It just reminded me of how bad stress can be for PN.

Also I had one serving of some ribs hubby made with the sauce he likes...It is made for chicken and called Lea & Perrins marinade for Chicken. THAT really went to my feet...man o' man!

Got to really watch the spicy foods combined with summer IMO.
I typically don't season my food much anymore because I react that way. MSG too!
Ours looks like this:
http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CC8Q8wIwAg#

It has a hose that goes to a bucket, and it sometimes recycles the water it removes and at other times it just dumps it into the bucket.
When it is really hot (over 85 all day) the bucket needs to be emptied regularly. But at lower temps it is not so often.
I keep it at 72. I think it was a bit noisey, but then I am sensitive to noise...when the compressor kicks in that is the worst. But you get used to it. We've had ours for 4 yrs now and it has worked well. It did blow a fuse once. They had good telephone and email tech advice too. But we haven't needed it once we got the hang of the bucket and electrical hook up etc.

My PN doesn't bother me too much in summer any more, but only at night. Warmer temps seem better all around for me lately. (just not over 85 please!)

I don't know off hand the BTUs... hubby isn't home. But for our small room I don't think it is the higher one. It has a hose like a dryer vent hose, that we put out the window.

Years ago we had window air conditioners in the house - one on each end. Then we put in central air conditioning and we wouldn't be without it. We set it on 76 or so and that way it is never cold like some people like. It is just right for us and it is not noisy.

There have been summers where it has run a lot and summers where it has only run a few times.

Our house was built in 1902 and we have restored rather than re-habbed.
That means no central A/C- it wasn't practical from a construction point of view.
So we have window A/C units in every room of the house. We just don't turn them on if we aren't going to be in that room. All of the 2nd & 3rd floor rooms have doors that we close off to save electricity. The 1st fl kitchen & LR are working most of the time.
I can't exist without them.

It is nearly impossible not to have A.C. in the mid-Atlantic. Very hot but the humidity is even worse...

Mere

We bought a portable Maytag 5yrs ago, and it lasted 5yrs (the warranty was for that). Now we have an Edgestar 14,000btu and love it. We use it in a backroom we have, 400sq ft. That way I don't run the central AC 3 ton unit. Saves us about $60 a month in the summer time. BTW I'm in the South, the hot South. Yeah, AC works if you have neuro problems. In this heat I can definetely tell a change in my neuro functions, but they improve when I cool down.

In Queensland, Australia where I live our summer seems to go from September through to about May so an Air Conditioning Unit is a must over here. Some days I would have the Air Con on and a fan facing my feet just to get relief. I think Air Con is a must when you have PN.

It's starting to get hot and muggy in my region.
I was trying to delay using the A/C for as long as I could.

I had awakened this AM, feeling as though I had been hit by a truck.
I was very weak, limbs were tingling, muscles were jumping, I was aching all over. My ribcage was constricted with tight muscle spasms. I was so weak I could barely walk even a short distance to the kitchen. I could not stand for long at all. I have had to be very supported by furniture/pillows all day. It had taken several hours to get the heat and the humidity to drop. My body (nerves) had needed to cool off, too. I could not stay awake for the life of me. Wow!

About 6 hours later, when all had cooled and had been dehumidified, I could start functioning. The weather changes can knock me flat out and can render me totally dysfunctional. Muscles are weak and cognition slows terribly.

I am extremely noise sensitive. We keep trying to find a semi-quiet conditioning unit. It seems impossible to find one quiet enough. Eventually, the noise starts causing problems, too.

I just keep trying to get through each day, each week, each season.
I know many of us do this.

Stay cool!

~DejaVu

I am finding myself constantly turning it up and my family turning it down. I like the A.C. but I can't stand the coldest of it, it just aches my legs something horrible. I keep a heating blanket by me when my family is home.