Out of Hibernation- Thoughts on the Weather

 

I have been really enjoying this new summer weather. I love the warmth and sunshine- such a welcome relief from the dreary, gray days of winter. Although this seasonal metamorphosis happens every year, I can’t help but be amazed at the changes.


The days are longer and brighter and I can spend time each day outside, watching the flowers grow, or the white clouds move across the swirling blue sky. I feel as though all winter I have been “hibernating” and now that summer has come, I can get out and enjoy the things I have missed.
Unfortunately, much of my pain is effected by the weather and I feel completely different in good weather and bad. In the rain my bones ache, and in the cold I can hardly breath. I can watch the weather report and know which days will be good or bad, based on the weekly forecast. I have learned to plan my amount of “spoons” based on either sun or rain. There are times when I think I live two different lives dependent on the weather. I feel healthier, I get more accomplished, and I am genuinely happier in nicer weather. Something as simple as the effects of weather is something most healthy people take for granted. They will not have to cancel, or change their plans for the day based upon the weather. They do not dread a certain season, due to how it will make them feel.

I used to spend all winter looking forward to spring, and spend all summer dreading the approaching cold season. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Since it is hard to spend most of your time looking forward to the future, or trying to make up for the days past, I often grew resentful of time lost.

I am learning to appreciate the good days and not focus on the bad. I look at summer as a breath of fresh air, instead of the reminder of the healthy woman I was. I love feeling good and I plan on taking advantage of every moment I have, without anticipation of the days I may not feel my best. Summer is a wonderful treat, a glimpse of a day filled with spoons, possibilities, and hope. I want to live each day with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I long for sunny days filled with excitement, instead of cynicism. I don’t want to be hardened by my illness and I will work hard not to be. Those are my summer goals.

I do not want the weather to dictate my demeanor, or my level of enthusiasm and passion. I no longer want to live in a cloud because of the hint of rain. I want to have the sun shining bright in my heart even if it happens not to be in the sky.
Article written by Christine Miserandino, © 2010 butyoudontlooksick.com

©2024butyoudontlooksick.com
  • Wendy

    How did moving turn out? Vasomotor and Raynaud’s better in the NW? You described my problems. August – the shift from 80s to 60s makes my Vasomotor kick into high gear and make me beyond miserable. Reynaud’s and arthritic hands makes Wisconsin winters torture.

  • Emily

    Soooo true, in winter its hard for me to be positive because of the way it affects my body – aches and pains – and the way cloudy skies affect my moods. But I try and see the positive and not let the weather rule my life!!

  • OMG, I “hibernate,” too, in winter. So much so, that THIS year, which was the worst I’ve had overall, the entire year, was the year that I started to chart when I felt bad and what was going on with the weather.

    Years ago, it started simply with, “my neck tells me it’s going to rain (or snow) in 24-48 hours.” Now, I’m affected in multiple, unpredictable ways and not JUST if there’s going to be precipitation, which, BTW, I’d always feel much BETTER when it actually happened. Not so much anymore, so I started trying to find out what exactly it was that REALLY affects it…humidity, or lack there or? Barometric pressure? Both?

    I’ve lived in PA almost my whole life, 6 of which I spent in Philly until I was 9, and then within 50 miles of, or within Allentown PA for most of my adult years until late 2005, when I moved to back to Philly. What I noticed here was that I stopped being able to so accurately predict the precipitation, and some of my neck/headaches didn’t seem connected to any precipitation at all for the first time.

    So, after charting various things for a while, I realized that it was in part, GEOGRAPHICAL location, e.g. being in a flat, “coastal” area, (Philly is only 13 ft. above sea level and only has “mountains” on 2 sides of it, the rest is just as flat to the east and 50 miles from ocean, and no mountain chain of any significance to the south/southeast, either.

    THEN I also realized that our temps here are not the same as most of the rest of the state, where there ARE small mountain chains, it’s broken up by the Appalachians north and west of here. Our temps, partly because it’s a major city and stays warmer and partly because it’s kind of coastal and flat, are overall warmer, even in winter, and we GENERALLY don’t see much snow…THIS year, we did. HOWEVER, even so, the one thing that’s especially different, and moreso now than even 25 years ago, is that there is a more “blurred” line between the seasons, ESPECIALLY here. We can have one day in February that approaches 70, then the next can be below freezing, then the next can be rain or snow or both
    Where we used to have “spring,” -a few months of slow TRANSITION from COLD weather to warm, THEN summer, which was hot, hotter, hottest by August, over the past 25 years, I’ve noticed that August is almost NEVER the hottest month anymore, in fact, it most often is cooler than July was, then it gets hot AGAIN in Sept. and stays warm and gradually gets cooler until November. And aside from that, every day during any of the months of the year could be COMPLETELY out of character for the “season” it’s in…mostly cold in December, then a few record breaking warm days, etc.

    I charted my pain with our humidity and found that HIGH OR LOW, IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE. I charted barometric pressure, and the only thing I found was that it only ever varies, (anywhere,) a few points, and at first I thought maybe I would feel worse when it was high or low, but instead, I found this:

    What causes my pain the MOST is just the ABRUPT changes in the weather, NOT what kind of weather we’re having!!!!

    When I realized this, I knew it would be best to move to a place that doesn’t vary too much.

    That was a tricky choice, too, since I also cannot be in a DRY climate, and I don’t want to live in the south…ick, bugs and stuff…I arrived, finally, at what seems to be the perfect place- the Pacific Northwest- specifically, Portland, OR.
    It’s the second “greenest” city in the world and is in the top 5 places that are best for people with breathing problems, (my husband has tons of allergies, and chemical irritants bother him, too, and I have MULTIPLE chemical irritants that cause my vasomotor rhinitis to act up.)
    Aside from that, it’s moist, humid, during the fall and winter months and NOT very cold- Raynaud’s doesn’t like cold, neither does my skin, and I could care less if the hot, burning sun is damaging my skin every second I spend outside, that just means less sunblock- like, maybe I don’t need to add EXTRA microfine, pharma-grade zinc oxide to all of it!

    My husband recently visited there while on a business trip and said the air even “smelled cleaner.”
    So, that’s where we’re moving at the end of August. 🙂

  • Linda

    Everyday I wake up is a great day. I have lupus so the sun is real bad for me, but I love getting out there with my sunscreen and big hat and taking all that the day has to offer me.
    I keep plenty of spoons on hand because I love life and will live it as full as I can til the day I die. Everyday is a gift no matter what the weather conditions.
    So enjoy as best you can, the day is God’s gift to us.

  • Diane

    Hi Christine! I can SO relate to hibernating when the weather is bad. I don’t have lupus, but I’ve been living with severe fibromyalgia since I was 6, only it was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis until I was 30. I’ve also lived with chronic migraines since I was 15, sometimes they lasted 28-32 days at a time, and by the time I was in my late 20’s to early 30’s I was having them every day. At the time I was living near the coast in California, and reacted with pain and migraines with every weather change. I also react to hormonal changes. The migraine usually starts 3 days before my period begins and continues the 7 days my cycle lasts. That’s 10 days a month just with hormonal migraines, and then the migraines and fibro flares whenever the weather gets bad. I can usually tell when a storm is coming at least 3 days before it arrives. I also have osteoarthritis, which has really gotten bad the past year. I’ve been crocheting for years for relaxation, but have hardly been able to hold a hook all winter. Eight years ago my family moved to Northern Arizona, mostly because I couldn’t imagine living one more year feeling that bad. It has helped quite a bit. Winters are still difficult, but the weather is so much more stable the rest of the year and it gets so warm that it really helps me to feel better. During the summer when it gets hot, I love to stand outside in the sun and let he heat penetrate to my bones. It feels so lovely! But, like you, I tend to hibernate through winter, counting the days until Spring. Though I wouldn’t wish any of these symptoms on anyone else, I have to admit that its comforting to know I’m not alone in all this. Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories. Especially you, Christine. My younger cousin was recently diagnosed with Lupus, and immediately after that her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and her dad with lung cancer, so it’s been a difficult year. But we’re loving each other through it all.
    Take care everyone. I wish for each of you more good days than bad ones, and may you each have spoons in reserve.
    Bright Blessings!

    — Diane —

  • Ok here is how bad I need the sun right now. It’s still some what cold out still but if I can just see the sun like on Sunday. I will lay down next to the window and try and get the sun shin on me. That is how much I love the sun. So I know what you mean. I try and get out more as it gets warmer and every thing.

  • Donna

    I can relate…while it was raining here…I felt like the tin man. Now that the sun is out and it is in the 70’s, I feel like a new woman. It is almost is if someone has played a cruel joke on me..I’m not really sick until I stand up after sitting for too long,
    God bless spring!!!

  • Jen

    What about those of us who are sun sensitive? Spring is the arrival of hot sunny days I can not enjoy. My kids want to spend time in the sun and yet I suffer even in the shade. Give me a good overcast rainy day anytime!!!!

  • Faith Chapman

    This letter reminds me of me. I’m so glad summer is coming so I can have more good days too.

  • I hear you, Christine. When I moved to Arkansas last May, the weather changed in one day and I had three times the spoons. I did things on arriving that I couldn’t manage in Kansas even at the best times of year, it blew me away.

    Now it’s spring and I’m having good days again, after a horrible fall and winter. Fall used to be my good season and spring was unendurable with the frequent pressure changes in Kansas. Here, it’s getting better every month with more good days.

    I’m so glad I moved. I’ve accepted that Nature did not intend me for harsh climates and see no point to pursuing them. I don’t miss heavy snows or extreme cold, I probably never will understand the people who love those conditions or think it’s a great thing to live in a “challenging” climate.

    I was born in the worst possible place in the continental US for my health and the farther South that I live, the more good days I have. It makes a huge difference. Half the time I wonder if I moved to a tropical island whether I’d have good days all the time…

  • I hear ya completlely. Yeah I’m guilty of letting weather dictate my mood. I need to work on that. THe lupus does take a lot away. Trying to live one day at a time.

  • sarah

    i can relate to your liking of the nicer weather i also feel more alive able to move and just happier nice blog

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