Whenever my feet or hands get chilled, if it’s rain or snow or cold floors or whatever, my symptoms get very bad with more cramps and tingling, fiery pain. I have learned the hard way that I have to be very careful to keep warm. So I dress in loose warm clothing all the time; lots of layers, insoles in my shoes and boots, carpet or floor mats under my feet while sitting in the house, thick boots in winter and ankle shoes in summer. I simply cannot stand to be chilled now. I wear 1 pair of gloves inside 1 pair of suede, sheepskin-lined mittens in the winter time, 2 hats (one inside the other), wind pants, a fur-lined hooded parka, sweaters with extra-long sleeves that extend over my hands.
And it’s all helped so much.
Sometimes when my hands get cold, I just soak them in warm water till they warm up, and that minimizes the tingling, cramps and burning pain. And when it feels cold in the house, I turn up the heat, otherwise my entire body starts chilling and cramping and tingling with fiery pain.

I experience quite a lot of pain with dampness and cold. I too need to dress in layers. It’s not often I feel overheated. I’m frequently chilled. People often comment to say they are warm when I am chilled or feeling cold.

I grew up in Athens, Ohio and I understand damp, cold icky springs. One big reason I am now in Southern Arizona – today it was high 70’s, light breeze, and sunny. And here I sit in my house in long pants, layered tops, a sweater and a blanket wrapped around the ice blocks I call feet. Sometimes when it is bad my darling husband turns a little space heater on my feet and that helps a bit. I love the idea of warm water on my hands – doing dishes might have positive rewards yet! 🙂

Like DU, layers are the best. Sitting in the warm sunshine is really good, too.

I am sorry we suffer like this, but I am also relived that I am not the only one woth clod, crampy hands and feet – now I don’t feel so alone.

Maybe a cup of warm tea, and your dog curled up on your feet would help?

Thank You for sharing on this. I too have noticed that my feet are always cold and I have been wearing 2 pairs of socks since this started. The weather does effect how I feel too. Today is rainy and cold in Seattle and when I got up today my body is more stiff than normal. I did some stretching excercises that I learned in PT, it helps loosen the muscles. I find it amazing when I go sit in the hot tub I can’t tell how hot it is until my knees are in the water. I really have to watch what I step into because I don’t have the feeling back in my feet or legs yet. I am positive though this too will pass. :0) Have a great day everyone!

Be really careful with hot and cold things; you can burn yourself and do damage that you’re not even aware of. Or end up with frostbite on parts of your toes, ears, nose, fingers.
Watch out when you drink hot liquids (coffee); it’s hard to tell that it’s hot, and you could scald your lips and innards without feeling the reaction as you would have before.

My personal nemesis is hot water taps; it’s so hard to tell when the water is hot, too hot or scalding; I have to judge by the steam coming off the water.
So I’ve learned not to trust my sense of feeling, and just to judge by the amount of time the water has been running, and it’s always safer to use the cold taps than the hot ones.

I like to warm my hands on my hot coffee cup; even after it’s empty it gives off heat for a long time. If I had a dog or cat on my feet, it would give me unbearable pain, just can’t stand the pressure and the burning tingling.
But of course, cuddling a devolted pet is a great psychological advantage during GBS. 🙂

Emily has similar issues. She has pain when the weather changes drastically.

I think it’s probably similar to people with arthritis getting stiff when the weather changes. I was told it was due to the change in barometric pressure.

Kelly

Hello,
I too experience more pain and difficulties with strength and dexterity issues when the barometric pressure drops below 30 psi. It is my belief that the drop in pressure surrounding our bodies allows for further inflamation of our nerves, in turn causing the pain and motor functions to run off the scale until after the front has moved through the area to the point the barometric pressure rises once more to, at or above 30 psi. I can usually tell when the weather is going to change without looking at the forecast, but have confirmed the phenomena by keeping an eye on the detailed local weather conditions and forecast on my computer. It’s something that has an effect on everyone to some extent. Those with inflamatory issues notice it more sincce the effect has much more profound influence on how we/they feel.

Just another immediate environmental condition that has much to to with how we feel due to our bodies reaction. Just like extreme temperatures sapping our strength more profoundly than someone without our issues.

Living in the northeast and dealing with the ever changing weather patterns here certainly has it’s pro’s and con’s with the change of seasons are like no other place I know of.

Hoping that you’re doing well.

Best,
– M