I seem to be the weather woman here. I react to change of barometric pressure high or low . I predict rain to hubby who plays golf every day against the weather channel and am right quite often but you might know, it never rain on the golf course.....his buddies are quite impress with my knowledge.
I placed the fixed needle on the barometer to a setting where I feel fine and if I have more pain I check, that way I know if I am imagining thimgs, over the years the difference is narrower. I heard that it has nothing to do with weather but one has to experience pain to know it.
I have been dealing with the ups and downs of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Migraines for 30 plus years.
There is no doubt in my mind that the weather has a very definite affect.
I believe the air pressure is the worst culprit. As the pressure builds before a thunderstorm I will feel many different sensations throughout my body and the closer it gets the more my joints, head and neck feel like they are in a slowly closing vise. It is funny because one of my cats Gizmo also is very sensitive and will be walking very close to the floor and staying close to me. I always say I know Gizmo it's coming. Sure enough the thunder will boom and the lightening will crack and the storm throughout my body plays right along.
Humidity causes problems. Temperature swings also trigger.
When you think about what goes on in the body and the cells and fluid throughout then it makes perfect sense that these changes should have an affect on the body. I believe it affects everyone but it's just that those with sensitive areas and pain are much more aware of it.
I have been dealing with FM for 20 years. I would strongly disagree with anyone, or any study that says that symptoms are not made worse with changes in the weather, and as you stated, it doesn't matter what kind of changes. My husband (before he passed away), who considered himself an amateur meterologist, used to say he could predict the weather by looking at me.
I agree that weather does make a difference in how I feel. I will also say this...when I fly I feel so much better...I get a tingy feel good feeling....why? I have no idea...a few years back I went to Las Vegas and I was dreading the trip...as soon as I got up in the air...I was shocked at how different I felt...
I have also found that taking Vitamin D every day also helps my pain level...I encourage everyone to be sure and talk to your doctor about getting your Vitamin D level checked...mine was almost non existence when I got it checked a few years ago...so I do know that low Vitamin D cause additional pain for me...
This is a simple blood test...but you must ask the doctor to check it as it is NOT included in the normal bloodwork that the doctors do. It is a cheap fix also...
Hello....you should have your Vitamin D level checked...this is only a simple blood test...but you HAVE TO ASK THE DOCTOR to run it...as it is not included in the normal bloodwork that they doctors do....why? I do not know...especially since they are aware of the BIG problems of low Vitamin D...
Do your research on this....as it can take quite a while to even get your level within the normal range....it took me over a year just to get mine in the *low range*....
You doctor should provide you with whatever they think is the proper amount to take.
I do encourage everyone to keep tabs on this...have it checked at least once a year while it is low...
Hi Keren4L – MiMi is right – it's important to get your vitamin D levels checked. If you're really low, doctors generally want you to take 50,000 IU once a week to get it up, then they drop you down to a maintenence level. In my case, I took the 50,000 IU/week for five or six months, then dropped down to 3,000 IU/day. The last time my vitamin D level was checked, it was well within normal range. – Karen
I found I could not get my vitamin D level up by taking it once a week in a big dose. I then tried 5,000 iu per day and still did not have good results. Then I went to 10,000 iu. I can only use Xymogen to get it to work. When I've tried other brands I relapsed. However new tests are showing that for older post-menopausal women, as Vit D goes up so does the CPR test (not good). Levels recommended by my Hospital lab are much higher than the normal levels recommended by NIH. There are two measures for Vit D. So I am now at 60 ng and retreating to 5,000 iu per day.
Also you need some fat in your meal to absorb D, so I eat a handful of cashews in the morning. You can get toxic from D as it is stored in the fat cells and unused is not eliminated from the body. Nancy K
I also experience a flare in both pain and fatigue when the weather changes. We have had a particularly wet spring and I have had so many days of heightened pain this year that at times it feels like there is no break from the pain. I also have osteo and some kind of inflammatory (the drs haven't yet pinpointed which kind) arthritis and they are affected by the weather as well. Fortunately, my rheumatologist acknowledges that fibro pain increases when the weather changes - he has noted that many of his patients suffer more during rainy days and seasonal changes. I hope that studies continue to be done around this issue.
Thanks so much, Mimi - and Karen! I ordered the Fibro Response and will let you know how it goes. I take Omega and I've tried the joint supplements but they don't seem to do much for me. I had a right hip and knee replacement this last winter and will probably have to have the left side done this winter.
I'm curious about the Vit D - I'm going to ask my dr to do the test but I spend a great deal of time outside in the sun - a sun bunny rather than a snow bunny - and I use the tanning bed during fall and winter (I've found the heat from the beds gives me substantial relief from the fibro and arthritis pain), so I don't know if mine will be too far off what it should be. I also suffer from SAD, so am inten on getting the test.
Thanks again for your helpful suggestions!!
~K
my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms have always been related to changes in the weather. Now that I'm on a medication that seems to be working for me (knock wood), my primary problem in this respect is fibro. I can go from being fine to being very much not in a few minutes. When sudden unexplained changes happens, I'll call my mother - who also has fibromyalgia and lives down the street from me - and ask if things got really bad 20/45/60/whatever minutes ago. Most of the time, she's had the same change in symptoms at the same time. It's a little freaky. 
The only weather related symptoms I have noticed are related to temperature and air flow. Cold air, regardless of whether it is outside or inside (air blowing on me) triggers my migraines. My chiropractor says it is because the cold air cools the muscles in my head and neck too rapidly, then the muscles spasm and somehow that triggers my migraines. I thought he was wrong at first but I started getting migraines one winter just minutes after going to bed. Our bed was under a window and I could feel cold air so we moved the bed and no more migraines after going to bed. I can't walk the dogs in the winter either and limit my time outside to going from the car to buildings and vice versa.
Hi, I have been suffering from Fibro and an undiagnosed connective tissue disorder and PBC for the past 15 yrs now and I can definately say that I expierence more pain when the weathers are extreme (too hot or too cold) also when the barometric pressure changes. Also my legs are the worst and they fill up with fluid badly
My pain and stiffness waxes and wanes with the weather for sure! My husband even said "no way" when I read to him that the reasearchers found only a few people were affected by weather. I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and Fibro along with some osteo-arthritis. I can tell about 3 days out when a weather system is coming our way, most of the time I'm right! I certainly hope that those who did the research read these comments to see that their reasearch is somehow skewed...Good Luck and Hang in there to all of you! Pain Sucks!
I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia six years ago and also have osteoarthritis in most joints in my body (neck, shoulders, wrists, sacro-iliac area, ankles & big toes). When the weather changes - it doesn't matter if barometric or otherwise - it triggers pain in my whole body, including joints and muscles. The pain gets so bad that the bone pain radiates to the "core" in my brain. This, of course, gives me a headache. It is a definite "Yes" for me: changes in the weather affects pain caused by fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. I live in Canada. Perhaps they should do a study of patients living in Canada and United States. They may come up with a correlation different than in the Netherlands. :)
I have had FM for around 30 years. (It was called Fibrositis back in the day.) My husband would beg to differ with the study. I experience the an increase in pain and fatigue when the storm is coming or going. If it sits for a while overhead then my pain and fatigue will ease some until it decides to move out. I don't check the weather report because I don't want to influence my pain with the dread that comes when I know a storm is coming. Honestly, I can feel a storm coming or a big change in temperature when it hits Illinois. I live in Ohio. My husband will forget and argue with me when I warn of rain. He will state that the weather reports says, "No rain." Then, when it rains, he will apologize for ever doubting me. :-)
I do have a question for those of you that have had FM for a long time. My pain and fatigue has increased in intensity after every major bodily event like surgery. I have also had a gradual increase in my pain level the older I get. In the beginning years it was painful but I could keep going. Now, at 58, it is debilitating. I suppose I could be the only person that has experienced this. I was just wondering.
Also, Karen, after reading these comments have you ever dealt with the problem of various groups of people trying to get you to try this or that supplement or latest "cure" for FM. Then when you've spent the money and nothing happens they whisper to others that you just don't want to get well? I have spent a fortune over the years on everyone's new "cure" for me. I no longer try. I figure if it really was a miraculous cure then the word would spread like wildfire among the FM community. I only tried everyone's "cure" because I didn't want to disappoint others but in the end I disappointed them and myself anyway by not being "healed."
I also have people insist I try different treatments that they heard works for Fibro. I have learned they do this out of care and concern, but it feels like they think maybe I am not trying hard enough to get well.
I now explain to people that I have a list of things I am trying one by one that people have suggested that might work and since I can't try them all, that I appreciate their concern for me, and I will add there suggestions to my list of things to try.
It is not possible to try everything but the one thing I have noticed that has helped me with the fatigue is taking Vitamin D and B-12. I have had Fibro for 15 years and this is the only thing that has without a doubt made a difference for me. That doesn't mean it will work for you or that it will continue to work for me. I use the sun theraputically a great deal and do not use sunblock. I use the sun in moderation and it feels so good to my muscles, so I never thought I could have a low Vitamin D level but it turns out it was very low.
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Hi Karen,
Well as you might remember I have mild fibro along with ME but some structural issues from degenerative disc disease.
I generally feel worse during the time of a major change but mostly when the baromentric pressure suddenly drops. But I often can predict that the weather is about to change without consulting the weather forecast.
I recall many years ago just prior to being diagnosed with ME/CFS and Fibro we had tornados go thru our area in upstate NY. That is a real oddity in that part of the country. It was so close to our house that I heard it.
Anyway, the day of the evening that the tornados ripped thru I had that sinking feeling that became so prevalent with ME/CFS. It was a very strange feeling since I'd never experienced it before. I was 44 and in excellent health.
But now, changes in weather do definitely make me feel worse both with pain and in mood. The two seem to go together. If the weather change is mild then I may not have many symptoms but if its a bad storm, I definitely feel it and often before it goes thru. I guess that might be because some sort of invisible (to us) front goes thru before the action starts.
I'm curious to see what others experience.
I read your post about the barometric changes making the pain of Fibromyalgia so much worse..also the building of a storm hurts me so bad it's almost unbearable...it is actually a relief when it does rain.We live in East Tennessee and the weather changes so much here it's ridculous!
I know exactly the feeling you felt...when my husband and I had to go to Ohio almost on the Michigan border..it came a tornado...I was at the hospital when the doors blew off..that was the strangest feeling and the worst of the pain I have ever felt.
Best of luck to you.All of us whom deal with Fibro on a daily basis...the Dr.s can't say we are crazy since people from all over the world..every color..or other similarities we all have.I wish for one day they caould feel the total encompassing pain we have every day!
Hello, I am not competely sure about the weather, although I do think it plays a part, but one thing I am very sure of for me is the Fibro is much more intense daily during PMS, and during my mestral cycle...
Here's hoping you all feel better!
Joan S.
South Jersey.
My primary health issues are degenerative disk disease, ME/CFS, mild fibromyalgia, and arthritis. I know weather plays a part in how I feel. I've had all of these nearly 30 years so I'm very certaiin actually.
I'm part of a support group and we all agree.
That's really interesting, Joan - re Fibro and PMS. I take HRT and find that even without a period (about 8 years now) I get all the PMS symptoms every month and my fibro is much more painful at that time.
Thanks so much for sharing,
~Keren