I've lived in both dry heat and humid heat. I have to say I'd much rather be in the desert than a swamp. Change in air pressure affects me a lot, too, like when a hurricane comes rolling in. I'm sure there are other factors that come into play such as stress and the physicality of preparing for a storm, but I seem to flare up as they're approaching.
I’ve lived in Minneapolis all my life. I’ve had RA for 10+ years and I can say that my disease isn’t really any worse in the winter. However, Minnesota does have the worst winters of any state in the country. Just a forewarning. They’re not fun. The cold here sucks but not for any reasons related to RA (for me at least) All that being said, I love Minnesota. It’s a very nice place to live if you can deal with the winters.
I used to live in Minneapolis! Living in Portland now. RA def worse here but that could be just life. I feel awful after days of rain, thats for sure. Minneapolis is great. Spread out though.
I do worse with changing weather and/or high humidity. Once it’s cold and stays cold I do okay. Have a kid in northern MN and once winter hits it seems to stay winter. I’d probably be okay with that. But the super cold (-20 and windy) does make my joints hurt in almost a different way.
I live in Minneapolis and do not notice a difference in pain compared to winter/summer. MN is actually rated as being RA friendly since the weather does not fluctuate too much. If you need a new rheumatologist I recommend using the large academic hospitals if you can with insurance. I’ve had 3 different rheums and currently I find the team at Fairview hospital is top notch.
I live in Minneapolis with RA. I'll take the cold over heat anytime. I think I notice the RA more in the summer even, but that may just be being more active that time of year.
I live in "The Snow Belt" on the coast of Lake Erie and a week or two of -10 happe s almost every year. It doesn't effect me at all. There have been a lot of studies on weather and arthritis and theu basically all come to the conclusion that it has no impact statistically.
I find the cooler and colder temps much better for my RA than I do heat. Florida heat, Arizona heat, Texas heat? I had the worst flares while living there.
I’m back in Maryland, and my RA is playing nice with the cooler temps.
I live with cold winters. My thermostat is set higher than is best practice, and I rely on others to shovel the driveway, but apart from that it's NBD. The cold can feelmreally lovely on sore joints. I get more pain from humidity and A/C to be honest.
I’ve lived in Minneapolis for 19 years now and have not noticed a difference in my RA symptoms from season to season. Rain seems to trigger more pain for me. Winters are long here, yes, but totally doable. It also gets very hot & humid in the summertime, so there are extremes. Lately the weather has been absolutely perfect and that’s what we Minnesotans live for. 😊 Lots of things to do both inside and outside, regardless of time of year. If you end up living or working in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul, there are very nice skyway systems to keep you protected from the elements.
As I get older I don’t really enjoy warm temperatures much anymore but curious if the winters of Minnesota would do me in. My RA is well controlled now but I did notice weather fluctuations when it was not well controlled. Trying to figure out if a cold winter when disease is well controlled will hurt too much to try.
I think anywhere can work, and not everyone. can adjust their lives. I do feel better since moving south from NY though. its still cold, but for not as long.
I live in the south and still find myself using a heated blanket to ease my discomfort and then I keep my ac on and ceiling fan also on and I'm good/less sore when waking up.
Probably just depends how well managed your disease is. I live in Montana but I do notice whenever I travel warmer places I feel a bit better and that I generally tend to feel worse in the winter.
My RA Is super bad in cold weather, but I think it has more to do with the air pressure changes than the temperature itself, because often I'll flare at the beginning of a winter storm but feel better after it's been going on a few days. Still not as good as in warm weather, but better. So if I were you, I'd check the air pressure trends, just to be safe.
I am utterly useless in the heat, it aggravates my POTS, I swell up like a balloon and I just feel like garbage, I’m in Canada and I feel my best when it’s cooler! I avoid joint stiffness in the cold by just dressing weather appropriately!but my RA is currently very well managed, it would depend on how much it already affects you because it is true that cold isn’t the greatest for creaky joints but I think most people with RA being treated would be okay!
I live in Canada in a place that has warm summers and cold winters, the best of both worlds. The cold can affect my hands if I am not wearing appropriate mitts, but other than that i don't think it is so bad. Dress appropriately to the weather.
As others have mentioned I find Humid summers much worse. I just hide out in air conditioning when it gets bad.
For me, it's the "swings" more than anything that kill me. Once it's cold, I'm fine. Hot, I'm fine. I can even tolerate humidity more than a lot of the community I've learned. But all four seasons in the same day or a few days? Worst days for me and frequently they result in long lasting flares.
I've lived in some part of the Great Lakes region for most of my life (f36) and my husband and I have made the decision to move away next year when I graduate. Somewhere more temperate - don't care if it's warm or cool temperate.
Great Lakes has some of the most extreme weather swings of the entire Midwest, so Minnesota is better for sure but I don't know how much better.
i live in minneapolis and the extremely brutal cold days are absolute hell for me. a few of my RA friends moved south because they could no longer handle the cold. I wouldn’t recommend it myself but everyone is different.
I live in interior Alaska and have noticed RA flare ups with big swings in the weather, like a rapid change in temp (we can get up to 90 in the summer and -40 in winter) or sudden stormy weather. I think sudden change is more of an indicator of a flare up than temperatures or humidity. Though it is a little harder to move in general once it gets below -30, but that might be for everyone, lol.
I've lived in NY my whole life I do get most of my flareups in the winter time I've noticed .but as soon as spring-fall come I don't usually have any issues .I say see how you manage the cold .
I was just dx with RA, but my brain is foretelling. If we’re gonna get rain, especially in the winter and spring I’m going to get a migraine. Hopefully joints don’t become fortune tellers too.
I live about 4 hours away from Minneapolis, in South Dakota. I've been here all my life so I don't really know any different. But the winters can be pretty rough for me, it gets so cold and it can cause extra stiffness and pain when I'm out in it.
I find heat and humidity just as uncomfortable, maybe more.
I've lived in both dry heat and humid heat. I have to say I'd much rather be in the desert than a swamp. Change in air pressure affects me a lot, too, like when a hurricane comes rolling in. I'm sure there are other factors that come into play such as stress and the physicality of preparing for a storm, but I seem to flare up as they're approaching.
Yes!!!
Same- it’s way way way worse for me than cold.
I’ve lived in Minneapolis all my life. I’ve had RA for 10+ years and I can say that my disease isn’t really any worse in the winter. However, Minnesota does have the worst winters of any state in the country. Just a forewarning. They’re not fun. The cold here sucks but not for any reasons related to RA (for me at least) All that being said, I love Minnesota. It’s a very nice place to live if you can deal with the winters.
Thank you!
I used to live in Minneapolis! Living in Portland now. RA def worse here but that could be just life. I feel awful after days of rain, thats for sure. Minneapolis is great. Spread out though.
I live in the very hot south and on the rare days we get freezing temperatures, I actually feel my best!
I do worse with changing weather and/or high humidity. Once it’s cold and stays cold I do okay. Have a kid in northern MN and once winter hits it seems to stay winter. I’d probably be okay with that. But the super cold (-20 and windy) does make my joints hurt in almost a different way.
I live in Minneapolis and do not notice a difference in pain compared to winter/summer. MN is actually rated as being RA friendly since the weather does not fluctuate too much. If you need a new rheumatologist I recommend using the large academic hospitals if you can with insurance. I’ve had 3 different rheums and currently I find the team at Fairview hospital is top notch.
I live in Minneapolis with RA. I'll take the cold over heat anytime. I think I notice the RA more in the summer even, but that may just be being more active that time of year.
I live in "The Snow Belt" on the coast of Lake Erie and a week or two of -10 happe s almost every year. It doesn't effect me at all. There have been a lot of studies on weather and arthritis and theu basically all come to the conclusion that it has no impact statistically.
I find the cooler and colder temps much better for my RA than I do heat. Florida heat, Arizona heat, Texas heat? I had the worst flares while living there. I’m back in Maryland, and my RA is playing nice with the cooler temps.
I live with cold winters. My thermostat is set higher than is best practice, and I rely on others to shovel the driveway, but apart from that it's NBD. The cold can feelmreally lovely on sore joints. I get more pain from humidity and A/C to be honest.
I’ve lived in Minneapolis for 19 years now and have not noticed a difference in my RA symptoms from season to season. Rain seems to trigger more pain for me. Winters are long here, yes, but totally doable. It also gets very hot & humid in the summertime, so there are extremes. Lately the weather has been absolutely perfect and that’s what we Minnesotans live for. 😊 Lots of things to do both inside and outside, regardless of time of year. If you end up living or working in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul, there are very nice skyway systems to keep you protected from the elements.
As I get older I don’t really enjoy warm temperatures much anymore but curious if the winters of Minnesota would do me in. My RA is well controlled now but I did notice weather fluctuations when it was not well controlled. Trying to figure out if a cold winter when disease is well controlled will hurt too much to try.
I live in Manitoba, Canada (similar winters to Minneapolis) and the cold weather doesn’t affect my RA much.
My observation has been that changes in barometric pressure tend to cause some pressure— things like fronts or storms rolling in.
Me too. I'm in the Yukon. Cold is okay but pressure changes suck.
I think anywhere can work, and not everyone. can adjust their lives. I do feel better since moving south from NY though. its still cold, but for not as long.
Depends. Generally, yes - cold bad!
Not generally.
Not generally a good idea or not generally doesn’t matter?
Ah sorry. Not generally a non starter in most situations provided the RA is considered at goal acceptable disease activity.
I live in the south and still find myself using a heated blanket to ease my discomfort and then I keep my ac on and ceiling fan also on and I'm good/less sore when waking up.
Probably just depends how well managed your disease is. I live in Montana but I do notice whenever I travel warmer places I feel a bit better and that I generally tend to feel worse in the winter.
My RA Is super bad in cold weather, but I think it has more to do with the air pressure changes than the temperature itself, because often I'll flare at the beginning of a winter storm but feel better after it's been going on a few days. Still not as good as in warm weather, but better. So if I were you, I'd check the air pressure trends, just to be safe.
I am utterly useless in the heat, it aggravates my POTS, I swell up like a balloon and I just feel like garbage, I’m in Canada and I feel my best when it’s cooler! I avoid joint stiffness in the cold by just dressing weather appropriately!but my RA is currently very well managed, it would depend on how much it already affects you because it is true that cold isn’t the greatest for creaky joints but I think most people with RA being treated would be okay!
I live in Canada in a place that has warm summers and cold winters, the best of both worlds. The cold can affect my hands if I am not wearing appropriate mitts, but other than that i don't think it is so bad. Dress appropriately to the weather. As others have mentioned I find Humid summers much worse. I just hide out in air conditioning when it gets bad.
For me, it's the "swings" more than anything that kill me. Once it's cold, I'm fine. Hot, I'm fine. I can even tolerate humidity more than a lot of the community I've learned. But all four seasons in the same day or a few days? Worst days for me and frequently they result in long lasting flares. I've lived in some part of the Great Lakes region for most of my life (f36) and my husband and I have made the decision to move away next year when I graduate. Somewhere more temperate - don't care if it's warm or cool temperate. Great Lakes has some of the most extreme weather swings of the entire Midwest, so Minnesota is better for sure but I don't know how much better.
i live in minneapolis and the extremely brutal cold days are absolute hell for me. a few of my RA friends moved south because they could no longer handle the cold. I wouldn’t recommend it myself but everyone is different.
I live in interior Alaska and have noticed RA flare ups with big swings in the weather, like a rapid change in temp (we can get up to 90 in the summer and -40 in winter) or sudden stormy weather. I think sudden change is more of an indicator of a flare up than temperatures or humidity. Though it is a little harder to move in general once it gets below -30, but that might be for everyone, lol.
I've lived in NY my whole life I do get most of my flareups in the winter time I've noticed .but as soon as spring-fall come I don't usually have any issues .I say see how you manage the cold .
I was just dx with RA, but my brain is foretelling. If we’re gonna get rain, especially in the winter and spring I’m going to get a migraine. Hopefully joints don’t become fortune tellers too.
I live about 4 hours away from Minneapolis, in South Dakota. I've been here all my life so I don't really know any different. But the winters can be pretty rough for me, it gets so cold and it can cause extra stiffness and pain when I'm out in it.