Question about cold weather.
 

For those of us that live north of the equator, and are heading into winter and cold weather.

Does the cold affect your stiffness? Does it make you more stiff then usual?

Today it is bitter cold, and I feel stiffer than normal that's why I'm asking.

John

Definitely
 

The cold makes me much stiffer and increases the dystonia. As the cold weather continues though I get accustomed to it and the affects are much less.

It was 3 and 4 degrees F the last two mornings, the coldest it has been so far this year, and I have felt good. Don't know how I would survive in the interior of the state as it has been -40 to -48 the last few nights.

Also pre DBS my tremors were increased by the cold temps too.

Temperature stressors
 

Too hot or too cold stresses our system and worsens our symptoms. In a way it is the "Goldilocks" disease. We don't adapt very quickly.

For me, life begins at about 30 degrees F and lasts until about 70 degrees F. Colder and I stiffen. Hotter and I have ne energy.

b

Thank you very much for the feedback. This affirms exactly what I was thinking so I'll have to hibernate until spring! ;)

John

Hey, John, you just have to have the right clothes! I have a down parka that supposedly is good to minus 50. (I know it's warm to minus 40 from experience!) Put the hood on over a good fleece hat, pull on snow pants, down mitts with a little chemical heat pack meant for hands in it, good boots and I'm good for anything our weather can do. If the wind comes up, I need a scarf to keep my face from freezing as the wind chill can go way down past minus 40.

(I don't know what's so magical about tthe number 40, but the school buses stop running then so all the kids get to stay home and minus 40 is just woven into our language)

And yes, if I get cold my whole body seizes up so I can hardly walk, my jaw clenches and my back especially goes rigid. You can see why I love my down parka so much.

The cold not only makes me stiffen up it also causes depression. Our winters in Canada are long and cold. I agree that if you dress up warm and get outside it does help. It wouldn't be so bad if it only lasted a couple of months but when the temperature gets below 0 Celsius my feet go numb and I don't attempt to stay out for more than 20 or 30 minutes. I can handle the heat much more than the cold.

Thank you for the ideas about dressing warmly, which I do when I go outside. I wear the under layers plus my down parker, gloves and boots. My house unfortunately is in the low to mid 60s (F) during the day in some of my rooms. We keep the thermostat down a bit to save on fuel costs. At work is no picnic either. The building is either too hot or too cold depending upon which part I'm in. It gets worse when I have to go into the computer room, which is kept about 64-66F year round. The warehouse is downright cold and damp this time of year. Gotta love New England!

I bundle up with flannel shirts and sweaters, but I'm still very rigid, and my dystonia kicks in more often than not. My back and my shoulders hurt awful too. It looks like I'll have to give in and turn up the thermostat duriing the day when I'm home; there's nothing I can do about work except deal with it.

On another question about temperature... Do any of you suffer from night sweats? As cold as I am during the day, I end up waking up around 3 or 4 am dripping wet like I've been sitting in the sun on a hot July day!

John

Hi John,
Regarding the night sweats, I too get that as well as just being generally a much sweatier person in the daytime regardless of the climate.
I hear it's our autonomic nervous system that's sort of stuffed causing this problem.
Lee

Some medications can cause night sweats. I can't remember for sure, but I think benzodiazapines can have that effect.

Cold makes me much stiffer, slower and greatly increases my fatigue, but like DaleD, I gradually adjust once it stays cold for a while. Where I live, south Texas, the winter temperatures go up and down so much, though, that you never know what season to expect from one day to the next :-) I also have a hard time with the hot summers...very exhausting!