Weather-Related Neuropathic Pain

Many neuropathy patients seem to be affected by changes in the weather. This has long been accepted for patients with joint and rheumatic/arthritic problems but it now seems to be an issue for us too. This post relates some personal experiences found on the NeuroTalk site and suggests that if you weren't already aware of this, it might be an idea to look at your own pain patterns in relation to the weather. It would be interesting to know if this is an almost universal problem. We live and learn!

(As usual with using personal experiences from non-HIV sites, the names are not shown here, to take into account sensitivities regarding association with HIV)

Weather change and neuropathy pain

Lady from WNY
Hello,

My neuropathy is moderately severe numbness in my toes, feet, and lingers to my knees, I have had it for approx 4 to 5 years, with occasional flairs, it appears to be slow progressing, with no known cause. I am on no medication at this point for my neuropathy.

I live in WNY, I find in summer in the very hot weather, the condition stays stable.

However in August when the temperature starts to change, for example, rapidly from from 90 to 60 or 70's my feet get VERY cold, almost like they might get on a cold winter day.

I also appear to have more noticeable numbness. Once winter is here to stay for a bit, my neuropathy sort of levels out again.

Also, I find my feet very uncomfortable in air conditioning. including the car, if I have sandals on. This is a big problem, causing my feet to get so uncomfortably cold, which I am thinking must have something to do with my neuropathy.

Lately, this has been the case with the temperature, and I have been really having a time of it with significantly cold feet, also including a noticeable amount of new numbness in my feet. DARN! Just when I sort of put my neuropathy on the back burner too.

I have been wearing warmer socks at night, sneaker and socks in the day, when I realize it got cooler all of a sudden.

I try to remember to wear socks and sneakers if I am going to be in the car long with the air on, but still in the evening my feet are so uncomfortably cold, I am tempted to place my feet in warm water, or put a heating pad on them.

I also suffer from occasional migraines, so the past week with weather, in addition to many barometer changes, I have been in much discomfort. To night that includes a bad migraine, and cold numb feet.

So I hurt from top to bottom! I took aspirin, it did not help, so then a foricet for my head pain. That pill has caffiene in it, so now I am wide awake, I still don't feel good, and feel depressed on top of it all.

At any rate, does anyone else experience a difference in their neuropathy with rapid temperature changes.

Reply 1
in the western great lakes and yep, it is definitely a phenomenon. There is even a pain index map.
__________________
Some days are not so good

Others not so bad

Reply 2
My feet are always cold, even though I live in the South. I don't wear sandals ever, always those low sox with closed toe shoes, and I wear sox to bed at night, often taking them off during the night when my feet finally warm up. At the same time, if I've been on my feet too much during the day, I find my feet burning when I finally sit down--it's strange how they can be hot and cold at the same time!

Reply 3
We had such an unusually cold, for Fl, winter last year i'm going to check into getting an electric throw. Similar to the blanket, but smaller. My feet got so cold they hurt, and I don't have central heat. I did put a heating pad on my bed, not a great option for me. I am diabetic, and have a puppy who still likes to chew stuff!

Reply 4
I miss my heating pad.

I live in South Dakota and we have days where it is -25, feels like -45 with windchill. Even this summer has been horrible for my feet with the air on--this is going to be a LONG winter. My heating pad can no longer warm my feet because I can't feel the warmth and the doctor has said it could easily burn me.. plus I can't stand to have anything touching the majority of my feet. I can no longer use the heating pad on my back, though.. and that is disappointing. It's the only thing that helps the pain in my back. I was recently put on the fentanyl patch, and you can't use heating pads, hot tubs, or electric blankets (in addition to things like saunas--basically anything hot) while on the patch. The heat, even if it is far away from the patch (on your body--if the patch is on your front side and the heat on your back), it still makes the patch release more of the medicine than it is supposed to at one time and can cause an overdose. I really miss my heating pad!

Reply 5
I've had one lap robe for about 5 years, and it works when needed! Like a charm. Since it's smaller than an electric blanket..., it's easier to use when in a chair, and while attached to a cord. I almost use it as an 'area' heater? in that my spouse likes room temps a bit cooler than I need? Ergo this blanket has gotten a workout, and is still working.
Be careful and take super cautious care of Electric blankies tho... don't wash too often or too hard? and it's best to air dry them to boot. Some new throws have timers on them that turnoff after x while. For us? That's really a good safety feature. We can burn easily and not know it until too late with unpleasant consequences. SAFETY must be our ultimate factor in seeking comfort.
Can I ask? Are your hands/fingers cold? Wait until fall and seek out Target's finger tip-less gloves! I love them and have a stock of them! At times, when I'm coolish all over? I'll put on the gloves? And, I'm a happy camper again.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread130804.html