best weather for fibromyalgia pain. (sinuses, restless leg syndrome, tooth, migraines)

[bluedevilz]

Originally Posted by jaminhealth

Sounds like a little overdoing it. I was told in 1999 I have the FM but I think it's so much to be addressed, thyroid for a big one.

I've always gone to the gym but gave it up in my mid 60's, joints just got too stressed so WHY push it. Do easy work at home and light at gym, I got to the point at the gym where I was doing floor work stretching.

Just caught up with an old friend recently and he was doing major gym work and had to STOP, he was destroying his joints. Ended up with disaster of knee replacement and now considering shoulder replacement next month. Says all the gym work did him in.

The explosion of gyms have probably been negative for many.

In a country where over 1/3 of the population is now considered "obese" the proliferation of "gyms" has hardly been a "negative for many" if anything its too little too late...

Working out in a gym doesn't "destroy joints" neither does walking, running, ellipticals, swimming etc...

Being obese DOES destroy joints....

Injuries can lead to bad joints but for the overwhelming majority of folks who are working out regularly lifting, running, walking, biking etc they are PROTECTING their joints by maintaining and building muscle mass, increasing bone density, keeping joints lubricated...

I defy you to find a scientific study or research that backs your negative opinion of exercise...

On the topic at hand, one of the best things a patient can do that has fibromyalgia is work on strength training...

[in_newengland]

I haven't read the other comments but as a former fibromyalgia sufferer, there was no best weather for it. If you have true fibromyalgia (muscle weakness and pain) weather doesn't affect it.

The answer was to find a dr who specialized in fibromyalgia. The doctor was a fibromyalgia specialist based in Boston and he really knew his stuff. He told all his patients to get 20 minutes of aerobic exercise EVERY DAY. Most of us had muscles that were too weak to do real exercise in a gym. Anyway, real exercise on weak muscles could cause OA, we were told--probably because most of the weight would be borne by the joints.

So the treatment was light aerobic exercise. Some of us were so weakened by the fibro that our aerobic exercise took place in a swimming pool. Twenty minutes every day. There were aerobic exercises to do at home on the days the pool was closed.

When you have fibro you are usually too weak to go to a gym or to exercise or run. I wore braces on my knees so that I wouldn't put too much stress on my joints. Fibro can develop into OA if you aren't careful.

It took maybe six weeks of aerobic exercise--and I have no idea of why it works. It did work though. I was lucky enough to find an instructor at the Y who specialized in arthritis and fibro. I participated in her arthritis class in the warm therapy pool and she respected the dr's orders and kept me moving constantly for the twenty minutes--even while her arthritis patients rested. She drew up a list of easy aerobic exercises that I could do at home. It worked. NOT strength exercise; AEROBIC exercise.

As many of us could barely walk, telling us to go walking or running, would have been absolutely useless. But IF you can walk, start out gently and gradually. Then build up. If you are so weak that you can barely walk, start out in the heated physical therapy pool--and whatever kind of exercise you do, make it twenty minutes every day.

This article kind of explains it, especially that the amount of physical exertion should be carefully tailored to the individual.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/827054

The aerobic exercise will make the fibro go away and there will be no need to be concerned about weather affecting you.

[kagicre]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

When I had fibromyalgia the climate made no difference. I got rid of it once with physical therapy in a heated pool and the second time I had fibro I was getting rid of it in a heated pool with PT but tried L-Glycine. It was gone within a few days! BTW, if this is any help, the fibro specialist recommended the same thing for all of us: 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. It worked, even though for me, I was too weak to exercise so I had to use the therapy pool.

But with our cold dry winters and hot humid summers, the weather made no difference at all when I had fibro.

You don't have fibromyalgia and you can be thankful for it, but don't tell us you have "cured" it with a bit of exercise.

[kagicre]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

I've never been in a dry area (AZ) but I do find that I'm much better when it is warmer (miserable in the cold of winter).

(Not understanding the "when I had fibro.) - you got over it?? Never heard of that.

That's because he is telling us BS here. A dry climate might help, but not necessarily. We moved from Oregon (not because of the weather, but because it isn't affordable for us anymore, we are renters and the rents where just getting to high for us) to Colorado, because I thought the dry heat with lots of sunshine in the summer and dry cold with lots of sunshine would help, but not for me. I have never felt so crappy in my life. Not only the pain is so much worse, but my depressions were getting so much worse too. In the winter, even when it was pretty cold here in Pueblo, it wasn't to bad, but than spring arrived and the weather in the afternoon changes all the time, because thunderstorm are rolling in. I even get far more headaches here, a symptom I hardly ever had before.
It might be the altitude together with the changing weather in spring and summer that is so bad for me - it is September now and I am still waiting that the weather will be more stable, but no luck yet.
If it is possible for you, take a vacation in AZ in monsoon time and see how that makes you feel. Good luck to you.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by kagicre

You don't have fibromyalgia and you can be thankful for it, but don't tell us you have "cured" it with a bit of exercise.

I no longer suffer from the pain but I endured it for many years. Once, in 2000 and again about 2009. I have the more general version, that the drs call chronic fatigue syndrome and the muscle pain and weakness is considered a part of it.

I am very thankful to be rid of the debilitating muscle pain. You can read my other posts where I speak about it. I am also extremely sorry that you still have it. It ruins your life totally.

I endured visits to probably 50-100 doctors over the years and no one offered any help at all for the CFS. Finally, in the mid 90s one dr who had the illness herself, did help me with diet and allergy shots. I had become allergic to almost everything. Obviously I was unable to work. The pain component had been so bad for this dr that her husband used to carry her to the bathroom. She was able to get rid of the pain and also to control the rest of the symptoms (brain fog, fatigue, weakness, headaches, feeling like you have the flu, etc.) because, being a dr, she had access to the best knowledge available.

At that time I had not developed the pain of fibro yet. That came after moving out of my house and straining my muscles moving boxes and furniture. It was accompanied by chills, fever, and dizziness which took many months to subside. I took anti virals which helped, I think. Then I was able to see a fibro specialist in Boston. His advice to all of us (there were so many of us, that he held group appointments) was aerobic exercise. Many protested that they were too weak and in too much pain to exercise. I was one who complained that there was no way I could exercise. Everything I had read said to exercise but how do you do that when you are so weak and in pain every time you exercise?

His advice to me was twenty minutes a day of aerobic exercise in a heated PT pool. This consists of stretching, moving in the water, gentle exercise. I went to the Y and joined an arthritis class that was held in the heated pool. Luckily the instructor knew about fibromyalgia and cooperated with the dr in setting up the right kind of non strenuous exercises for me. I went several times a week to the pool and did the easy floor exercises she gave me at home. It took many weeks but the pain did eventually go away.

I continued to suffer from the other symptoms but at least the pain was gone--until I came down with a virus abt 2009. I tried the gentle aerobic exercises in the warm water pool again. Once I went to a rheumatologist and he was absolutely clueless and unhelpful--they will put you on medicine that doesn't work and they often advise exercise--but the wrong kind of exercise, such as strengthening exercise, will only make you worse. You should not be putting extra weight on the joints or you will end up with osteoarthritis as the muscles are too weak to do the work and the joints will take all the stress.

Yes, it is terribly frustrating to have this illness and get absolutely ZERO help from doctors. I am not telling you I cured it "with a bit of exercise." I am telling people that this is what a highly respected fibromyalgia specialist recommended and that it took quite a while but it did work for me. For those of us who suffer and have suffered from this debilitating illness, we need to stick together, not attack each other.

If you are not familiar with this site, you might give it a try. Fibromyalgia | Phoenix Rising ME / CFS Forums I sincerely wish you the very best of luck.

[jaminhealth]

So many doctors today are using the computer and Dr. Google to look up info for them to help their patients. We can do that on our own. Just listening to the radio and they are talking about this.

[Mikala43]

I like warm and dry. I'm not sure if weather affects my FM, but it tends to affect my RA.

I'm actually good down to the 30s as long as it is not raining.

[in_newengland]

On the topic at hand, one of the best things a patient can do that has fibromyalgia is work on strength training...

This is not true, as anyone with fibro will attest. If they were in the kind of all over body pain that a fibro sufferer is in, they would know it is impossible. The more you exercise, the more you hurt. Extreme pain is your reward for even moving.

When my fibro was at its worst, all I could do was sit. A mere walk into the kitchen would later bring on pain in my legs from just walking. Lifting a few dishes would bring on pain in my arms. Even the mattress in the bed hurt me. I remember when I couldn't lift a cup of tea.

Everything I read at the time suggested exercise. So I tried to stand, holding onto my desk and exercise a tiny bit but the resulting pain was too great and it would last about 24 hours before subsiding into the "ordinary" level of pain. If I walked around the house, I had to hold onto the walls to support me. I wore braces on my knees and elbows for support. That's how weak you get and how painful it is.

Go for a walk? That's impossible. What are they thinking? Weather had no effect for me at all. It was pain in hot weather, pain in cold weather, pain all the time. I think there are many causes of fibro--from what I've read, it's neurological or metabolic or ?? Something is out of balance, often many things are out of balance. Somebody needs to research this condition so sufferers can be really helped.

[Mikala43]

I exercised through it.

I found the most pain I had was after sitting or lying down and once I got moving the pain would decline with continued movement.

Even now, sometimes when I wake in the morning I limp, or if I get up after watching a movie.

I exercise around what hurts, if my feet hurt I elliptical, I life weights till I feel muscle fatigue. I can tell if I push when I will get FM in return, and which will just be pushing my muscle in a work out kinda way.

Activity really helped me. I just started with yoga and pushed from there. I admit, I wanted to (and did) cry a lot in the beginning. It sucked.

[tinytrump]

Any taking vita D50k and magnesium?