Barometric pressure changes and RA | Arthritis Information

 

OK now here's the thing I know there is a lot of controversy about weather changes and how they affect or do not affect a person with RA. I've heard some say there is absolutely no coralation but I in my humble opinion beg to differ. Last night we were at the beginning of a cold front coming through, lower temp., windy, rain supposedly coming today (hasn't yet but the sky looks dark in the west). Anyways from the time it took me to go pick up  my son from a friends house til I got home 10 min. later my knees which hadn't bothered me  all day  were in such pain. I was amazed at quickly they had started to hurt and swell up. They are still  swollen and painful today.
Has anyone else experienced rapid changes, pain and swelling with changes in barometric pressure?

Edited to correct spelling
mom2threeinaz2009-04-15 08:58:52there may not be any medical or scientific data to correlate those two things.... barometric pressure changes and RA pain...

Ditto for me. Chart your pain and swelling issues for a few weeks.  Then go to a site with historical meteorology data (for instance weather.gov) and plot the barometric pressure readings alongside your pain/swelling data and see if there's any correlation.   Two different doctors have told me that barometric pressure definitely has an  effect on arthritic joints. RA and OA. I'll have to agree with your doctor, Nini - for years my husband as called me "The Human Barometer"!!!   As the pressure drops, my fingers swell, big-time, until they're like shiny little sausages.  Who needs Doppler 4000 or whatever it is that the weathermen use - just ask a person with RA what the weather is doing - they'd probably be more accurate than the weathermen!!!!

Dogmom
Weather for has allot to do with all the pain your in. Thats for me anyway. I have really bad pain when weather changes. So yes I do think it has allot to do with it. JoanI've never found a connection with my RA and weather changes.I didn't think mine was messed with by the weather, but now I'm noticing the lows that come through bother me. "Under pressure"  I can hear that song in my head now. LOL My vacation in AZ recently, with gorgeous weather, was the last time I felt really good. Back to Michigan winter and have had problems ever since. It will be very interesting to see what happens when it gets warm, will I feel good again?

I have a buddy who gets enormous sinus headaches every time the weather changes and a front goes through. If the weather affects one condition, why not another completely different one?

I always thought it was fantasy when people could tell what the weather was doing through their "rheumatiz" pain. That theory has been around for many, many years though, and I don't pretend to understand the world. It's too mysterious. And RA is so variable that it is very difficult to pin down cause and effect. For those of you with a recognizable reaction to the barometer, trying JasmineRain's suggestion with an attempt at scientific charting would certainly be of interest to me.I agree completely. Bad weather makes me hurt a lot worse than low humidity and sunshine.
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