Winter.
Winter had never been a major issue for me before last year. At the worst, it was cold, gave me bloody noses, and had a tenancy to bring on a fever or cold. Anyone who lives in a climate that snows goes through these normal winter woes. Winter was also fun for me, though. Once upon a time, I loved to sled, build snow forts, have snow ball fights, and make snow angels (I'm in the Guinness Book of World Records with a group of us that all made a snow angel on the Capitol lawn at the same time - we were photographed making the most snow angels at one time in history.) I even went snow boarding a few times and loved it! Living in Idaho, Oregon, and North Dakota always meant access to snow every winter.
So what happened? Well, 2012 was the first time winter brought physical pain and suffering with it. This was the first winter after moving from Idaho to North Dakota. Keep in mind that North Dakota's winters are horrid, whereas winter in Boise, ID (valley in southern Idaho) were fairly mild because it was in a desert. Most of Idaho's famous snow is in the mountains and up north. Boise got some snow, but rarely got below 20º F. Bismarck, ND gets more snow than is manageable and often gets below 0º. I have experienced -46º F here (actual - not windchill!) The year before last, we got 2 feet of snow in one day in April. It was impossible to drive to work, so they were forced to give a snow day (snow days don't normally exist in ND because everyone here is so used to snow.) My point is that North Dakota is a harsh, rough, dangerous place to live in the winter. There is a reason why North Dakotans that receive special honors are called, "Rough Riders," (other than the involvement of Theodore Roosevelt, of course.) If I were to develop inflammation, arthritis, and firbomyalgia problems anywhere in the country, North Dakota is not the best place.
Having winter pain last year made sense. I was just diagnosed with firbomyalgia, and the arthritis in my wrist was reconfirmed. It made sense that winter caused my bones to ache horribly, muscles to cramp harshly, and joints to swell and throb. I always felt the coming storms in my bones, because I would start to get inflamed and ache as the barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity levels changed. I was 25-26 years old, and I was experiencing what "old people" experience. I'm not stereotyping here - most people think that only "old people" get arthritis, which is their sixth sense - the one that predicts the weather.
But... this winter has been pretty similar. I'm a little surprised! Over the past year I've reduced my inflammation substantially. I rid my body of firbomyalgia pain (it's been 8-9 months since experiencing a firbo flare.) Arthritis hasn't been an issue (though in the past two months my wrist has been acting up, but mainly due to a poorly located ganglion as well as too much repetitive motion- I think.) So really, is there any reason why winter would still hurt my body the way it did last year? Evidently, yes. There is some reason, because I can still predict the weather with my bones this winter. The pain is half as bad as it was last year, at least, and the pain generally only affects me in the morning. Most days for the past week and half, since the cold weather settled in and the first snow fall came, I've been waking up very stiff with throbbing, aching, tender bones and muscles. I'm also starting to wake up fatigued again. Not tired, fatigued. I do feel like I've slept enough, but I also feel too little energy to move my aching body out of bed. Once I do get up, move around, take my morning supplements, cook and eat breakfast, drink a hot cup of tea, and move around some more the pain tends to subside. This process tends to take until noon - sometimes 1 or 2 in the afternoon, though. In the past few days, the worst I've felt in the afternoon has been pressure on my muscles. It's as though someone is poking me with their finger as hard as they can in one spot, usually on my shins. The pain goes away on its own after a while, but I'm not sure what's causing it or how to prevent it.
The biggest problem, in my opinion, about winter is the light. This is possibly a S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) or an MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) issue - or both! Thankfully, North Dakota winters are actually pretty sunny. There are no mountains here, so the wind is constantly blowing, which keeps the sky clear when it isn't snowing. The problem, however, is that the days are short. I'm able to light most of my house with only sunlight until about 4-5 pm, and then I need artificial light of some sort. For whatever reason, artificial light really bothers me. A lot! I can put up with it in bathrooms. I can deal with the ceiling light in the bedroom for the short time I need it. I can even put up with the light in the kitchen, as irritating as it is, for the couple hours I usually need it the evenings. What I can't deal with is the light in my home office. All of the lights I'm referring to are incandescent, NOT florescent. They are the "safe" lights that shouldn't affect people with MCS, right? We do have a couple florescent lights in our home, such as in our entry way, but I hardly spend any time there so I don't notice how they affect me. Anyway, the office ceiling light is very grating on me. I hate it. It causes me to feel like I'm in an artificial work place prison, where the fake light is too bright and causes my mood to plummet and my will to work to diminish. It's possible that the problem is that the light bulbs are too high of a wattage. It's also possible that the type of light they emit is poor quality (maybe the kelvins - color temperature - are too low?) It's also possible that I have an aversion to light bulbs and the office lights bother me the most because I spend most of my time in the office with natural sun light, not the ceiling light. Regardless of the problem, I'm about to run an experiment. I ordered full spectrum light bulbs (highest kevlin light) from Amazon, and once they arrive I plan to install them and see if I tolerate the ceiling light in the evening. The thing is... and those of you with MCS may think I'm crazy for this... I ordered a florescent version. Yes, the kind with mercury. The kind that tend to cause MCS reactions. I, personally, have yet to confirm that fluorescent cause problems for me. I believe they're terrible for the planet, and I'm pretty fearful of the mercury content in them, but sometimes I just gotta do what I gotta do, right? The reason I chose these bulbs wasn't because they're fluorescent. It was because they had the highest rating at the most affordable price. ;) If, however, I have an adverse reaction to them, I'll buy the full spectrum incandescent ones, which are way more expensive. (I ordered these ones: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089MIH8I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
I have yet to get a work-out in today. I think shoveling the fresh layer of snow is going to count for it today.
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