Cold weather and fatigue
 

I have got a question that I don’t know if it has anything to do with neuropathy, but maybe someone here might have any idea…

During the last couple of years usually when the weather gets colder I am feeling more tired, and when it starts warming up my energy returns.

This is the second time this month that we got here a hot weather, and the effect it has on my energy became pretty extreme. The difference can be between having to rest after taking a shower and being able to walk for more than an hour.

I've noticed I was less energy and more muscle and bone pain in the cold. Also, my neuropathy is worse in general. This is my first winter with this and the last few days have been very cold and I couldn't take it. Part of it is that I can't really retain heat anymore, given the neuropathy.

Could it in any way be related to sun exposure and greater warmth and vitamin D production? Was it, for example, cloudy on the colder days and sunny on the warmer days? Just a thought.

Thanks, I am sorry to hear about your pain in the cold now.

The fatigue I am talking about isn't related to sun exposure or to pain.
I hardly got any pain now, just numbness and reduced sensation. My SFN stinging and burning improved greatly with supplementation, and anyway they are usually worse during the summer.

Thank you. :)

I see. Well, perhaps others can speak to what you're experiencing. For what it's worth, even with the same vitamin D supplementation, I do feel more fatigued, and now that you mention it the last few days were bad actually and I experienced some of the older fatigue before D supplementation. The two things that were different were that I started taking R-Lipoic Acid and it was intensely cold for the first time this winter, about -20 to -30. I thought it was the former, but perhaps it was the latter? Yesterday it was much warmer and I didn't experience the fatigue. I thought it was because I had upped my vitamin D yesterday in response to the fatigue of the last few days, but perhaps it was because the cold left us.

Hmm...

I'm a weirdo
 

I guess I'm the odd ball on the cold temps. I actually fare better when it is cold. When I get over heated, things go bad. I have noticed that I even get flares if the heat is on in the car. My face will start hurting and I get so exhausted. When I cool back down, I'm fine. This is especially true when running/exercising. My legs do not function when I get over heated. A few weeks ago, it snowed and I had to use the treadmill. I ended up sitting outside in my shorts in the snow bawling like a baby because I was so frustrated that my legs would not move right. After cooling off, I was able to go back in and finish up. My husband thought I was losing my mind. Poor guy. He sees a lot of mood swings.

-20 to -30?
 

David I just saw this. That is ridiculously cold and I'm sorry you have to deal with this. It would be hard to figure out what is causing symptoms with these variables. :hug:

Thanks, Pinky :)

It was thankfully short lived. The final day of the cold snap I just stayed in, since it was too painful. My body, in particular my limbs, can't retain its warmth anymore, not as it used to, and my hands and feet just go very cold and don't come back from it at easily.

Definitely not easy to tell. But since it's now warm and I'm feeling it again (last night), I think I need to up the vitamin D. I think I just need more and that my body is more stressed these days. I've upped it today, though that always means more trouble sleeping at night. After I do the blood test to see how effective D3 has been, I'll likely switch to D2 and see if it works and if it avoids the D3 side effect of keeping me up at night.

Super cold here too for a couple weeks, now it bounced back forty degrees. I dislike the fluctuations, though that bitter cold was no fun.

I've had a head cold that brought an intense increase in my pain levels yesterday, enough I shut down for the day. Thankfully it is a bit better today. I was miserable and semifascinated at how a head cold had amplified my symptoms, and not by a small fraction either.

In an attempt to be more on topic in closing last year I found my fatigue to be worse in the summer and humidity than the winter though frankly both are challenging... its all challenging, though besides this cold I have had my boots pointed in a workable direction of late.

Thanks and sorry to hear about the cold. That sucks.

That sounds awful Jon!
 

I feel for all you folks that have to deal with extreme cold. I do think extreme in either direction is a problem.

Where I live it never gets that cold. Instead I have extreme heat and humidity to deal with. Last summer was my first neuropathy experience with this climate and it zapped all my energy. I can usually walk a good distance but I couldn't make it a block without having to go inside and rest. Although I can't separate the heat from the humidity I do think it's the humidity that fatigued me more than the heat. I am dreading summer (which starts around April here.)

Humidity is terrible. Extreme dry heat can be bad too, but I think the humidity kills you. I've never met anyone who says they prefer humidity to dry heat, so I think that's right. ;)

But yes, extremes are not good. Perhaps we should all move to San Diego. It's pretty nice and mild all year round, with lots of vitamin D. :)

Our own little neuropathy community
 

Wouldn't it be loverly :)