barometric pressure and flare-ups

Status
Not open for further replies.

Cindy Wood

Active member
Joined
Sep 23, 2021
Messages
45
I have a question, Does anybody else think that the barometric pressure in the air has anything to do with having flareups? I live in the midwest so we have a lot of barometric pressure here. I just started noticing that I am turning into a weather meter. Just food for thought.
 
I have a question, Does anybody else think that the barometric pressure in the air has anything to do with having flareups? I live in the midwest so we have a lot of barometric pressure here. I just started noticing that I am turning into a weather meter. Just food for thought.
I have a friend with fibro who says the exact same thing! I think we all seem to react differently - a lot of people suffer more when it's damp or cold, but I seem to get battered by flares when the weather's really hot! Either way, I suspect there's something going on there.... There's also apparently a form of allodynia (which is also common among fibro sufferers in its various forms) that messes with temperature regulation. Ughh - this thing doesn't give us a break, does it!
 
I think it can affect symptoms. I know that the weather certainly affects me, although I don't think it is the barometric pressure specifically. If I am outside in the cold and damp, though, I can turn into the rusted Tin Man!
 
Yes, it definitely affects me.
 
Omg, YES! I suffer more when this happens here in VA and I find myself checking the weather.
 
I have a question, Does anybody else think that the barometric pressure in the air has anything to do with having flareups? I live in the midwest so we have a lot of barometric pressure here. I just started noticing that I am turning into a weather meter. Just food for thought.
YES! I also live in the Midwest and I've noticed this for years but now I know why. I also feel bad when it's super hot outside. I def have the temperature problem. Albeit, I thought it may be peri-menopause, it seems it's the Fibro. Wondering how many have moved to drier climates to avoid the flares. I would seriously consider it when my kids are grown. Best of luck this fall and winter. I always feel the worst during these months.
 
I am there with you I had a total hysterectomy when I was 35 and I thought it was hot flashes all these years and it wasn't its from my fibro, I kept wondering when they were going to end and now I know never I run hot all the time. Best of luck to you as well.

Thank you for replying 😁
 
Like has been said, weather changes are common FM-triggers, every fibromite will agree to a certain or large extent.
However despite it seeming as if we were at its mercy, I'd encourage first to make sure a flare isn't coming from something else (/too), and then to find ways to alleviate its effects using clothing, heat/cold-antidotes etc. - it may well be the accompanying weather changes like rain, wind or temperature, not the pressure itself.
Personally, I react strongest when exposed to wind or even draught, which I do actually need to avoid/prevent/reduce (but also try to harden myself), but not that much to temperature or pressure changes, at least not every time.
It irritates me when thinking loudly about a trigger for a flare when my brilliant acupressurist of all people starts referring to the weather, full moon or 'something in the atmosphere', using her feeling that "a lot of people are in a flare at the moment". In my experience I can identify, learn and do something the triggers of my flares to >90%. "Blaming the weather" is right for some, maybe unless that stops them from trying to do something about it, but it hems me from thinking about other possible triggers.
We are all different, including in that respect...
 
Last edited:
This and my acupressurist hearing about a study about weather afflictions on TV made me curious enough to search pubmed for "fibromyalgia weather".

My results from 7 articles, 2002-2021 show that it seems:
- it's likely a subgroup and an individual matter ("associated with emotional factors", e.g. stress). Research'll have to distinguish.
- most have more pain and stress as barometric pressure decreases, but some when it increases. Humidity only increased pain when the barometric pressure was higher. Barometric pressure in combination with temperature makes pain more intense, plus more unpleasant esp. when both are lower (less pressure, colder).
- good mood makes you more resistant, depressive or irritable temperament doesn't, whilst changeable or anxious temperament is worst.
- People having FM >10 years seem to be more resistant. But the following seems to partly contradict that:
- "Depression, anxiety, pain duration in years, hours of pain per day, number of pain-related diagnoses, and gender were additional predictors for weather sensitivity." (I couldn't get any deeper what they mean with this...)
- Hot/warm weather tends to trigger distress rather than pain in FM as opposed to CRPS, that and cold causing pain is more prevalent in these two than in other pain condtions. Pain from the cold is more common.
- Animal studies suggest it possibly has to do with cytokine pathways.

So like we experience it:
Barometric pressure in association partly with humidity and temperature seems to influence pain severity & unpleasantness.
And I'm not abnormal that I'm not that influenced by the weather, praps just a different subgroup and with a positive temperament.

Fagerlund et al 2019 (Blame it on the weather?), Oniszczenko, 2020 (Affective Temperaments) Berwick et al 2021 (A systematic review), Ten Brink, 2020 (Sensitivity...) as well as Haghighi et al. 2017 (Twitter), Bossema et al 2013 (Influence of weather), and Fors & Sexton (2002).
 
Last edited:
Great sleuthing, JayCS!
 
Yes, it is a real thing.... for me anyway. I started noticing decades ago (doctor laughed at me when I brought this up) and feel that I would do better if I moved elsewhere. Barometric pressure and lots of precipitation where I live; a huge trigger for me. I've noticed that high winds and extreme temps aggravate my symptoms as well. But mostly precipitation issues. I am contemplating moving to a more arid city. If I could be functional just half the time that would be great.
 
I have a question, Does anybody else think that the barometric pressure in the air has anything to do with having flareups? I live in the midwest so we have a lot of barometric pressure here. I just started noticing that I am turning into a weather meter. Just food for thought.
100% the weather triggers my flare ups. Since being diagnosed with Fibro I have zero tolerance to the cold 🥶
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top