Does a change in weather cause your PMR to flare?

Posted by jsteck @jsteck, Jun 5, 2025

I woke up in the middle of last night because our dog is afraid of storms and was whining. Well, now I think I am too. This is the third time in as many weeks that I have had a difficult day when it has been storming. Is it in my head or do others here experience the same thing?

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Profile picture for jsteck @jsteck

@aussiedogmom I am going to have to start checking the weather against my hip and shoulder pain in particular. Do you feel “down” mentally when you are trying to taper? The doldrums?

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@jsteck Yes, have noticed that along with fatigue.

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No, it’s not in your head at all many people with Polymyalgia Rheumatica notice that their symptoms flare during storms because drops in barometric pressure can increase tissue sensitivity and inflammation, while changes in temperature and humidity can make muscles feel stiffer and more painful, and on top of that disrupted sleep or stress from the storm (like being woken up during the night) can further lower your pain tolerance, so the pattern you’re seeing worse days lining up with stormy weather is a real and commonly reported experience rather than coincidence.

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Profile picture for mackerman2026 @mackerman2026

I like lets all move to Aruba!

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@mackerman2026 hate to share bad news but I regularly travel to Florida and am affected there the same way Im affected in upstate South Carolina.

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Profile picture for jsteck @jsteck

@aussiedogmom I am going to have to start checking the weather against my hip and shoulder pain in particular. Do you feel “down” mentally when you are trying to taper? The doldrums?

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@jsteck Im over tapering for a while. Got to 2.5 mg/day after months of working on it (the Dead Slow Drop protocol helped me get to 2.5). Im really stuck here and Rheumatologist thinks my adrenals aren't kicking in. So Im stable on Kevzara biweekly and 2.5 mg Prednisone daily for the foreseeable future. Im also as active as I can tolerate, and gradually very gradually doing more and more - Rheumatologist credits this is my amazingly improved Tscore on my latest DEXA scan.

So thats me. Ive had brain fog and fatigue for a while. Finally got a home sleep test and tonight is my big sleep study and titration for CPAP. The home sleep study found "significant and severe sleep disorder consistent with apnea." So that explains a whole lot. Ask me again in 6 months LOL!

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Profile picture for aussiedogmom @aussiedogmom

@mackerman2026 hate to share bad news but I regularly travel to Florida and am affected there the same way Im affected in upstate South Carolina.

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@aussiedogmom

Sorry for the bad news.
Thank you for sharing.

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Profile picture for mackerman2026 @mackerman2026

I like lets all move to Aruba!

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Sounds good to me!

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Profile picture for mackerman2026 @mackerman2026

I like lets all move to Aruba!

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Hi May,

I hope all is well.

I know I am House Managing for the final show....
can you please remind me if I am on Tickets this Friday.opening night,
May 15th?

Thank you so much
Marian

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