This cold spell is doing a job on me this year. My legs have just gone loopy. Between the pain and the gumby legs I'm afraid to go anywhere without my cane. To many near falls - caught but whatever is near.
My hand is also a mess. The pain and swelling is making it nearly useless.
Any hints on getting through winter would be appreciated.
Robyn,
I'm a BIG fan of hibernation. Seriously. Wake me in April. I have a terrible time of it in winter, too. I'm just now trying to get myself into aqua therapy with the physical therapist so I can exercise in the heated pool and build up strength in my hips again. I had a serious soft tissue injury before Thanksgiving which knocked me well and truly off my exercise regimen. Walking is tough right now because of pain not wobbly legs.
Talk to your doctor. Get some sun when you can. Try Vit. D in massive doses to help with mood and energy. But talk to your doctor. Mine has a different protocol for me in the winter as opposed to the summer. Yours may have suggestions to help, too. Hang in there.
One way I get through it is to keep reminding myself it won't last forever! Then I hope and pray and dream about an early spring. When that doesn't work, I hope for a winter thaw--we had one in December--maybe we'll have another. Once we get into winter here, when we do have days above 40F, people are smiling, a lot of us don't wear coats and everybody is commenting on what wonderful warm weather we're having! It's great!
Weather definitely may be a factor in our symptoms. There surely are more sick people to dodge at this time of year, too. Looking at my past medical records it shows late winter and spring as the times I've seen my rheumy the most.
I fell twice already on icy patches at my daughter's house. The second fall my fist hit her garage wall and braced my fall. The funny thing is that my bent pointer finger which is damaged from PsA got squashed as it hit the wall, and it actually sort of loosened up the joint so I can now bend that finger farther!
The thought of falling and breaking something is constant in cold climates, I agree--or having a car crash on the bad roads. It definitely is a dangerous time of year, for many reasons. The older I get, the more time I spend indoors (at home preferrably) and with the aid of a heating pad on sore spots.