Weather

[Dave]

Has anyone noticed their neuropathic pain cyclng with weather like arthritis pain... getting worse as wet weather is about to arrive and better when the sun comes out?

[Karyn]

I don't have that particular symptom, but I've heard of that happening to others. Not sure if it's neuropathic pain or joint pain.
Does this happen to you?
Best,
Karyn

[HerMajesty]

Yes, it is due to barometric pressure - I also experience it with altitude changes or in a pressurized airplane cabin. High pressure is more neuropathy friendly than low pressure, and aside from the artificial high pressure of an airplane cabin, you get to higher pressures at lower altitudes (that is, by going down a mountain, not up), or by having lower humidity, such as on a clear sunny day vs. an overcast or rainy day.
To those of us that are pressure sensitive, what actually matters is change in pressure. That is, I went to Death Valley which is the lowest point in the USA and extremely dry, and i felt wonderful...but if I moved to Death Valley I wouldn't feel wonderful forever; I would start to feel like I had in my old home but then if I went anywhere else I would feel worse, since anywhere else has lower pressure.
Hyperbaric chambers are used in health care sometimes - spending time in one puts you into a high pressure environment. Someone had suggested to me once that paying for hourly sessions in a hyperbaric chamber might over time have a therapeutic effect; but i don't know if there is any validity to that claim at all: I mean, yes I know from other experiences in high pressure that I would feel better in the chamber, but I do not know that I would feel any better in between sessions.

[Dave]

I experience this too. Does anyone know why this effect occurs? Why does barometric pressure affect neuropathic pain? And is there a way to take advantage of this?

[janetm2]

I am all in on this one. I of course already had the effects to my chronic and arthritic foot pain and now the new pelvic pain. I just stayed home yesterday to avoid or at least hope to keep the pain down from the rain all day with some buckets worth. Today is dry and sunny as well as cooler (the 90 degree weather is finally broken). The summer was many humid days and so glad that ended!
Janet

[Dave]

...but if I moved to Death Valley I wouldn't feel wonderful forever; I would start to feel like I had in my old home but then if I went anywhere else I would feel worse, since anywhere else has lower pressure.

HM, I believe you, but how do you know all this about the effects of barometric pressure on neuropathic pain? Where did you learn about it?

Dave

[HerMajesty]

here is an abstract on an actual study on the subject: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21888946 , but in general if you google "barometric pressure neuropathy", you will get a ton of hits, it is a pretty well known phenomenon. I am not sure where I heard about it at 1st, but I did a lot of internet research, both on how barometric pressure effects neuropathy and on how to predict whether barometric pressure will be higher or lower under various conditions. I think I might have left some of the most interesting stuff in "favorites" on my other computer, so if I never erased them I will pop back up and post some links, and if I don't it's because I did erase it.
I heard about the hyperbaric chamber therapy from a clinical hypnotherapist who was totally sold on the idea that it has long term therapeutic value. She knows a Doctor in my city who owns a chamber and does hyperbaric therapy: It is one of those things they claim helps a multitude of ailments, so basically anyone who coughs up the $$ can have some sessions in the chamber and see if it helps. I didn't do it, which should give you some idea of my skepticism. But I guess it comes down to finances and whether one is willing to pay to try out something unproven. I think it was about $100 per session, not sure how long the sessions were.
edit: I did look, sorry no good barometric pressure stuff left in favorites But the info is very accessible online if you want to confirm anything I posted.

[Dave]

It looks like this research group at Nagoya University has done a lot of work on this subject.  They were able to show that the way the inner ear senses barometric pressure affects how the nervous system senses or modulates pain.

Definitely gets you thinking...

[Dave]

I went to Death Valley which is the lowest point in the USA and extremely dry, and i felt wonderful...but if I moved to Death Valley I wouldn't feel wonderful forever; I would start to feel like I had in my old home but then if I went anywhere else I would feel worse, since anywhere else has lower pressure.

Hi HM, how do you know that you would eventually adjust to the high barometric pressure of Death Valley rather than feel better all the time?

[Jackson]

Hi,

If you do a search for Fibromyalgia you'll come across numerous discussions on the effects of weather, including barometric pressure. Some of it is contradictory though. Can be a very disabling and painful condition.

Cheers, Jackson.