By Caitlyn on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:21 am:

Has anyone looked into the effects of climactic changes and the pain felt due to HMS? I have recently been tentatively diagnosed with HMS that has cause osteoarthritis in several of my joints. They thought it was RA but have since ruled it out after many blood tests. I am 26 years old and have 2 kids. My husband has a job opportunity in Tucson, AZ and was wondering if it might help my intense pain. I cannot afford to be idle with my little girls lives ahead of them. They need their mommy!

By Lin on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 09:29 pm:

yea, i am 16, i have been diagnosed with HMS and EDS type 3. and i am in a LOT less pain during the summer than during the winter. cold makes my joints stiff and painful. I have had physical therapists and doctors tell me to ice painful joints, and even that makes them worse. when something hurts and is swollen a heating pad relieves the pain better than ice.
Lin

By Bridget on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 09:57 pm:

Hi Caitlyn,

We live in Tucson, and my husband has continual pain in many areas, my daughter also. I don't see how the hot weather has helped him any. :( I guess you never know if it would be worse living in a cooler climate, though, hard to say. Feel free to e-mail if you have any questions about Tucson. I'm not sure if it would help the health problems, but we love it here!

Bridget, Tucson

By Caitlyn on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 11:55 am:

Thanks for responding.

Here is my reason for thinking that a warmer climate might help my pain: I was raised and now live in the Philadelphia area, but went to North Carolina for college and for the first time in my life I don't remember feeling any pain.

Here's my history: I was bed-ridden twice in highschool with back problems and diagnosed with tendonitis of the elbow, wrists and ankles while trying to play sports. I also popped my knees out of place daily and injured my rotator cuff twice in my four years of highschool.

In college I remained physically active and experienced plenty of stress (Wake Forest wasn't easy) but didn't hurt ever. I can only attribute this to the sun and warmth and much more constant weather.

Any ideas?

By Gwen on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 11:26 pm:

I know I've written about this somewhere under a
different heading so I apologise for repeating
myself if you've read it before. Some time ago I
read an article by a medical person..... a long
time ago and No I don't have the reference so
you'll just have to take my word for it. :-))

It said something to the effect that people with
chronic pain disorders, especially of the
arthritic variety, often feel an improvement when
they move to a warmer climate but it doesn't last
because their bodies become adjusted to the
warm/dry and after a while they will feel an
increase in pain with any seasonal variation in
that climate too. In other words it's not the
actual climate that causes the problem, but the
variations within it.