How does the cold weather affect you?
 

I'm glad I did a search on cold weather and RSD because, 2 weeks ago, it led me back to this site.

QUESTION:
I was wondering if the cold weather affects you does it affect you at home or does it start after you go out into the cold weather?

It's been a nightmare for me. 2 Morphine doesn't even help. The pain never goes away. I don't know how I can do this for another 4 months.

It starts with my very very cold feet. It feels like they've been out in the snow for a while. (My RSD is in my right foot/leg/butt). When my right foot gets cold the RSD pain goes straight up my leg and into my butt. The pain is triggered by my cold right foot.

Oxymoron: My foot is cold but I can't wear socks. If I can't wear socks then my cold foot triggers the pain to go up up up. Because of it I use a heating pad. It's weird that a heating pad would help when you have a condition that makes it feel like your skin is burning.

I'm just wondering how the cold weather affects you.
Thanks for replying!
Heather

Hi Heather! Yes, the cold weather affects me, so does the heat and damp weather! It bothers me indoors and when I go out. If I get too cold, the pain definitely increases, especially in my face, hands and feet. I have RSD/CRPS in my face, hands, feet, shoulders, left leg, left arm, trunk...I have had it for almost 23 years :(

I have a hard time with socks too, but I can wear the real soft fuzzy socks. Any sock where you can feel the seam kills me. For shoes, I wear Uggs and Easy Spirit slip on mules. I can't stand to have gloves on for very long. I can't tolerate a heating pad at all. My body temp changes so much so I layer :)

Hi Heather. I definitely feel more pain when it's extremely cold or hot. I can't put socks on my feet when they burn because it hurts, but a heating pad does help. I don't get it either, but it helps. As for my hands, they get very cold and I can put gloves on them. I just need to keep the gloves off my wrists because they burn and it hurts. I put volatren gel on them when this happens. I hope you feel better soon and take care.

I've been wearing my Uggs most of the time. My feet still feel like there is frostbite, even if they are warm. I can still wear socks if I need to, but avoid it if I have to.

I have been having a really hard time shaking off the cold if it gets to me, it gets down to my bones. Nothing helps at all, except getting under a ton of blankets and waiting until my body heats up on it's own.

I have a mat for under my desk at work that can help warm my feet. It's good, but I kind of wish I could bring in a heated blanket instead.

Personally
 

Cold weather is so naff!! I hate it! Im miserable an dont wanna walk out the door. Roll on summer:)

I understand the "oxymoron", but it's the same for me my wrist feels
like it's burning from the inside out. Sometimes like hot sauce in my veins and sometimes like fire, when actually it's a few degrees colder than my good arm.
Yes, heat helps and cold hurts ironically.

I live in NM and the cold gets to me in or out. I just deal as much as I can and have a really nice heated throw on my couch. My feet get cold so fast its not funny. My socks and shoes hurt. The only ones I can wear consistently are my slippers. I'm hurting now too.

Sometimes I struggle to tell whether my foot is intensely cold or hot...the burn feels so similar at its extremes....:rolleyes:

I tend to find that if my foot gets icy cold and I don't deal with it (heating pad, warm blanket etc) to get the temperature fairly normal quickly, then later it will suddenly fire up and I get the petrol on fire feeling like my foot is roasting in my sock/shoe. It's normally an evening thing. Saying that, sometimes it will just fire up anyway!! Generally, very cold ends up being very hot later. The burn lasts a good 1-3 hours depending, sometimes more. That's when a warm Epsom foot soak helps...

I hate cold. If I get chilled, my whole body hurts now and then all my cripsy symptoms get worse. I dress like the Michelin Man at the moment to go out, and in the house I wear hill-walking trousers and about five layers with a fleece!! Mental.

Good luck guys :)

Bram.

Yup! This all sounds familiar! My symptoms are significantly worse in the cold weather, and sometimes when it rains. My calf and foot get very cold and I use warm bath and heating pad. I am lucky I don't have allodynia so warm socks work well too. When I wake in the morning my foot is red and hot and it gets pale and cold when I weight bear on it. Does anyone have numbness? It feels like my foot has been in a bucket of ice water - painfully cold numb.

I did a poll on weather affecting CRPS symptoms....new members, if you can please take part - the numbers were getting interesting to say the least, and it makes you feel a tiny bit better to know you're not alone!!

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...t=Weather+CRPS

Thanks, Bram.

The cold really kicks my behind. Flares galore.

I'm affected both inside and outside...but only because the outside being cold makes the inside cold. At home I have a space heater in front of the couch where I sit ALL the time (when I'm not working or doing other life necessities). This at least ensures this one room in the house is bearable. I even sleep there during this time of year so that I can stay toasty warm.

The space heater means I don't have to wear socks or a heating pad when I am at home (or scarf or gloves or bulky clothes)...and that is when I am happiest where my RSD is concerned. I am extremely sensitive to touch and wearing those extra layers does hurt. I do it when I am outside my little heat bubble...because the pain caused by the cold is so much worse than the pain caused by the extra layers of clothes...but I am in the best shape when I am warm and have as little touching my skin as possible.

To help combat the pain I do use the following when I am not able to be in front of my space heater: heating patches, lidocaine cream, TENS unit, hot baths with Epsom salts, and ultrasound heat therapy. I do also wear socks, gloves, and a scarf to protect my RSD areas when I am outside of the house (even when I am at work).

Wow
 

you know this is exactly why I visited to day..

last night .. in my house my feet and hands and legs turned bright red, and the burn was unbearable , and the areas that are purple or brown turned BLACK. .. and today I went outside dressed like an eskimo.(yes socks gloves and cloths hurt but I bundle to avoid the cold effect) it didn't matter . this was at 9 this morning and I still have increasing pain levels and that cold burn is keeping those tear in my eyes.. i am finding it hard to escape any reaction at this time.. I also use a heating blanket.. has any-one found a way around this ??

Today my leg is arctic. It really feels as though I've got it stuck in a snowdrift... That cold burning pain is just the worst thing at the moment because it just doesn't stop, although every now and then the CRPS sticks in a stabbing pain somewhere to make me yelp. Nice.

I've been wrapped in a blanket all the time today when I've not been moving around, but I'm still arctic. It just will not warm up. The problem is that I know that at some random point, within a few minutes it will turn from ice to fire, and then I'll have a whole new set of problems...

I just feel so crappy today and it's wearing me out. I hate hate hate the pain.

I swear it's because the weather here is on the change, we are going from cold dry settled weather to wet rainy horrible milder weather. And I feel it in every cell of my body.

Bram.

My wrists and feet and right hip are killing me today. Partly because of Christmas shopping yesterday, partly because I'm trying to cut back on my pain meds a little, and partly because of the cold weather. It's frigid out here today and we're expecting a lot of snow this Saturday. The burning pain is relentless. I'm so tired of it. It never goes away.
I'm sorry your having such a bad day Bram. I hope you and everyone else suffering from this cold and rsd feel better soon.

I don't know which is worse; the worrying about getting even colder weather or the extra stress and pain that always comes in the wintertime.

rsd and weather.
 

RSD affects us all differntly. The one we all have in common with rsd is, we are all in pain. Heat affects me more than cold weather. In march of 2012 I moved from CA to IL. In CA I was pretty much bed ridden. The move from a warmer place to a colder place helped my RSD very much. Also another thing that helped me is I am not under so much stress.