Does the cold affect you too?
I am from Melbourne, Australia and it's winter at the moment, and we are experiencing a very cold one! This winter I am finding that I am experiencing more spasticity in my calf muscles in both of my legs. I am alo experiencing stiffness at times. Thankfully it's not resticting me too much, but does anyone else feel these symptoms in cold weather?
Hi Monique, Although I am still in the process of getting a diagnosis, most signs are pointing toward MS, and I experience the same symptoms when it's cold outside. I live in central Canada, so the winters can get pretty rough (-50 Celsius is a regular occurrence). Anyway, I had what I think was my first "relapse" or exacerbation on christmas night of last year, and my symptoms got way worse when i had to go outside, or even when I was warm and then started cooling off. Many websites around the interwebs say that MS symptoms are worsened with heat, and many mention the hot bath test for "diagnosing" (but that's ages old) but few mention that some people are affected by cold temperatures as well. I actually posted a question on here a while ago asking the same question, and the lovely people on this forum confirmed that cold can have the same effect as heat on symptoms. Simply put: Nerves have an optimal temperature for operation, so temperature changes + or - can have adverse effects
I agree, there seems to be a lot of literature about the effects of heat but very little about cold. I find that in "normal" slightly cool environents eg an air conditioned office my extremities get freezing cold and my legs become stiff. I used to sit in the office wearing fingerless gloves so I could type!