What effect does the weather have on your Multiple Sclerosis symptoms?
I’ve been marveling at how good I’ve felt during the last couple weeks, where Seattle temperatures, even when it was raining, hovered in the upper 50s to low 70s.
My symptoms had been so mild that I’ve felt almost normal–my legs weren’t heavy or slow, my arms and hands weren’t stiff or tingly and my body wasn’t suffering from crushing fatigue or achiness. I thought I’d found my temperature sweet-spot.
And then today, the temperature took a dive of about 20 degrees. It’s windy and damp and gray. Typical lame Seattle mood-swing weather. Sometime this afternoon, I crashed. Now I feel like crap. Sore body, extreme fatigue, clumsy hands.
Sure, there could be a number of factors involved in this sudden change in wellness, like what I ate today (super-dense chocolate cake) or how I slept last night (not well). Still, this morning, when I walked to my bus stop, I did a mental roll-call of my usual symptoms and found no signs of trouble. But even when I feel good, it makes me kind of anxious because I don’t know how long it’s going to last. The weather could get too warm or take a dip, causing my symptoms to get worse.
And here we are in Crudsville.
So what about you? Does the weather seem to swing your symptoms from good to bad to worse? Do you have a temperature sweet-spot? Or does it not affect you at all?
