I know it's an odd question but today it's been around 90F 30c something here in Indiana and I feel soooooooo sluggish and uncoordinated. The humidity makes it feel 10 times worse for some reason back in England I felt fine when it was warm and mildly humid but here that humidity is AWFUL can't move without feeling a bit drunk and mentally sluggish. I've noticed here the higher the humidity the more my wrists and hands ache here it's wierd how a different countries weather has induced some very different symptoms for me. However I know in dry heat I never had problems with feeling this way. I've had to install two fans in the bedroom to try keep my body on the cooler side. I am wondering as I have to exert alot of control over my co-ordination whether it's causing me to feel worse due to being a hotter and moist environment therefore my body is feeling the effects of the heat more than it usually would. Even trying to put this from thought to the pc is a bit of struggle today and i'm usually very clear in my thought pattern and ability to describe things but today i've been struggling on finding the right words and even stuttering sometimes.
My husband saw me pull out the chicken to defrost for dinner tonight and he went no way are you cooking in this, i'll get us dinner in it's too hot and knowing you you'll end up feeling 10 times worse after it's just way too hot to cook. I was crestfallen as I had planned to do my homemade chicken strips in breadcrumbs for the family as a belated fathers day meal due to him working. I know he was right and he saw I was a bit upset he knows I dislike admitting that i'm having an off day. I want to do all the normal housewife things but I just feel so pooped this week to even do the usual laundry and cooking.I think with the busy week with the wedding, reception the tidying before and after it caught up on me fast. We have now devided usual household chores up between the four of us so that I don't burn myself out I was so ashamed I usually have a spotless house and then yesterday my Husbands Biological mum dropped by for her very first here in a year of us being here due to having to drive me and the kids home from their great grandparents father's day meal. First thing I thought was OMG should've tidied the house the kitchen was a mess our bedroom looked like a bomb went off in it. I'm sat at the pc boiling trying to find the energy and ignore my achy hands to tidy and just moving my head makes me want to dive into an ice cold bath to cool my achy muscles and hands. I think I sound self pitying and I hate griping about it but ARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH I hate the humidity when will it end?
I have now learnt the high heat and humidity induces aches in my hands and wrists that have me going ouch and gripping a cup like I have claw hands and spilling water ALL over the units and myself just trying to keep hydrated that I am stealing my husbands water bottles to avoid looking like a spaz more than usual any tips? I have some splints for my wrists for if I have a REALLY bad day but the thought of them making me feel hot around wrists is a bit eww at the moment. If I could have some icey cool rub that i could place on my hands and I'd be om 7th heaven right now. Sorry for the vent too just one of those days.
Hi Evil Emmy. The heat and humidity are just as bad for me as a overcast, rainy day no matter what time of year. I get a brain fog and my activities are at a standstill. I hope you have air conditioning!
Hi suzi rainy days i'm ok with I love rainy days and thunderstorms out here I'll stand on balcony all summer long watching the storms most nights when they hit, We do have air con but it is a huge standing one you attach to the windows via a hose. It works great for 1 room only and due to it being in 70s till today we never pulled it out, Problem is those things are chunky and you have to move bedroom furniture to squidge it in and then last summer my husband decides *this makes me laugh* he's making our bedroom the ice cave =0P
Anything that raises my blood pressure, heat, stress, sleep and going to long without food affect ataxia. I always use cold water at the end of my shower to help it. I sometimes carry a wet facecloth to stay cool or go swimming or have a cool bath to lessen my symptoms. I haven’t researched anything regarding why heat and blood pressure affect on ataxia but this works for me and I hope it helps others to know. : )
Yes, extreme heat alone makes it a very difficult day for me. Add in humidity and it's terrible. Which is "part| of the reason we moved from a place with lots of humidity to a place with much less.
It's not an odd question, and the answer is YES, but it goes further. ANY extreme temperature will affect your ataxia. If it is very cold, your body freezes and stiffens, and yo walk like Frankenstein. IF it is very hot and humid, you feel like you have on concrete shoes, and you move very slowly. It also takes a while to recuperate from activity.
Definitely any extremes make it worse. I have the type of air conditioner you described, in fact just got it off craigslist, it definitely helps. Extreme activity also makes it worse. " extreme" , for me, now means something like going to a family outing ( not doing anything at it, just going) , when I get back I’ll be exhausted for days. Anything outside in the heat will completely wipe me out.
I could be wrong, but any extreme temperature will affect anyone at different levels, Ataxia or not. In the case of an illness, condition, disease, call it what you wish, our bodies are more sensitive to anything other than average, and make our symptoms worst.
Healthy people will recuperate fast, it will take us longer… I think it is normal and logical.
They work wonder. There are little beads inside, ( don’t know what they are made of) which, when put in water, become very cold and stay cool for a long time. Keeping your neck cool helps your body stay cool. They have different colors and can be stylish. Hikers wear them a lot. You can find them either on line or at camping /outdoors/sports stores.
If you have air conditioning only in one room, crank it up, get a fan and direct it towards the open room door to get the cool air flow in the other rooms.
Hope your heat wave is not too long. We lived in Indianba and Michigan for several years and it does get hot and humid there. So does Georgia where we are now…
Best wishes to you. Rest when the temps are at the highest in the afternoon. Stay cool and do not worry about tidying your house. Your health comes first.
I could be wrong, but any extreme temperature will affect anyone at different levels, Ataxia or not. In the case of an illness, condition, disease, call it what you wish, our bodies are more sensitive to anything other than average, and make our symptoms worst. Healthy people will recuperate fast, it will take us longer... I think it is normal and logical.
Heat of any kind affects me. Be it hot water from a shower, too hot in the house or outside. I live in AZ although in the high country. I avoid the Phoenix area in the summer months. I have immune ataxia and thus sun is no longer a friend. Love overcast days. Its monsoon season here so humidity higher. Its the humidly and hotter days that is the problem. Any time its hotter is problematic.
I ride my street trike in the summer after the sun goes down and always with wet cold compresses around my neck. What occurs with me is the nerves in my shoulder become active, I call it prickling, and I become like a crazy person and just want it to stop. The wet cold compresses help.
I prefer cold to hot temps all times. Yes cold does affect me as well but compared to hot will deal thank you very much. It seems easier to layer than to deal with "prickling" sensation.
Thank you everyone for your replies I took a break and stayed in my ice cave when hubbys at work i lay with whole fan pointed at me.I love the bandanna idea sounds wonderful. Now after week of high humidity I just rest don't do a THING and wait for evenings to hit or do bits in morning when its far cooler! I make a habit of taking a very cool shower during hottest part of the day and sitting in-front of the fan to cool myself down this has helped HUGELY and stops the whole jittery claw hand stuff the tips have been wonderful it's just relearning that heat and humidity is very different here in Indiana vs the UK our humidity is high but not in the same way.
I will cook but have now made it later than the usual 5pm round it's now 8pm to accommodate the heat index, I refrain from any Frisbee golfing on hubs days off I love to do that even though I suck at it but can only do one round the course and i'm paying for it so I shall wait till summers nearing autumn again to take it back up, Sorry I havn't replied sooner i've just been avoiding pc due to sitting near a patio door and kitchen area. Glad to know it isn't just me I used to laugh when hubby sad all I do is mooch when it's hot he wasn't kidding on that one i've taken to the siesta life of noon to 6pm no chores unless urgently required i.e work clothes or to find something.
