Weather and Barometric Changes Affecting Fibromyalgia Sufferers

Fibromyalgia is a painful chronic condition that affects joints and muscles, particularly those in the neck, spine and hips, but pain can also be located anywhere. This pain ultimately affects the ability of sufferers to get good quality sleep and many times contributes to depression, anxiety, irritable bowel, nausea and a host of other ailments.

Because fibromyalgia has so many varied signs and symptoms, those with this affliction are often treated by medical personnel as if these problems are all in their head, especially when the scientific tests don’t demonstrate exact prescribed pathways.

Even though one victim of this ailment states that a Reuters Health study came to the conclusion that weather has no affect on sufferers, the people who have fibromyalgia report different findings. In 1981, over 90% of participants stated that cold, damp or humid weather seemed to worsen their fibromyalgia symptoms. And some stated that any changes, positive or negative in the weather or barometric pressure, affected their symptoms adversely.

One individual states that she can tell when it’s going to rain or snow at least 24-36 hours in advance of the weather change. Another person states that her friends call her to ask if it’s going to rain because her physiology is more accurate than the reporting weather station.

Unlike snowbirds who leave the northwest for warmer climates to help aching bones and joints, this isn’t always the answer for those with fibromyalgia. Heat and cold, along with changes in atmospheric pressure, can and do affect by varying degrees many if not most with this affliction.

It doesn’t seem to matter geographically on the planet where one lives either. The strange and assorted symptoms are the same and weather is usually reported to be a contributing factor in discomfort.