Fatigue worse in OZ/NZ?

[lfc5times18]

Hi, I am new to this forum so I do apologise if I have not done this correctly.

 

I was diagnosed with RRMS last August after first getting Optic Neuritis and then bad legs.

 

I am a website designer so thankfully I am able to work from home most days and venturing in the office when I am feeling well.

 

I would say my fatigue is the worst thing, I am sure many of you will agree. I take Amantadine, eat healthy and get lots of sleep but still feel bad. I recently got married in Vegas and it was the first time I felt a lot better, the dry heat I think really helped me.

 

The recent hot/humid weather in the UK has done the opposite, it has made me spend days in bed and being unable to work.

 

My wife and I have been thinking whether it maybe a good idea to go abroad for 4/6 months to see how I am. I can still get a works visa for NZ and I am seriously thinking of going to work there and also travel to see how I am.

 

Has anyone been to Oz/Nz and found that the symptoms have not been as bad?

 

I know heat is a bad thing, but for some reason I felt great the other month in Vegas, It maybe a holiday/wedding high but clinging on to the thought that dry heat may actually help me.

 

Any advice/help would be appreciated.

 

Chris

Edited 10 Jul 2015, 8:30 pm by lfc5times18

[Scully]

Hello Chris, and welcome to the MS Forums and blogs.

 

Ahh, fatigue, yes, it's one of the most debilitating symptoms of MS for most of us.

 

Personally, I don't think the heat is all of the story, rather, as you've experienced its more the humidity that causes the fatigue to go into hyperdrive.

 

I spent a few weeks in Palm Springs and LA, and although the temps were upwards of 26c all the time, my fatigue wasn't so much of an issue. Yes, the dry heat of Califonia seems to be easier on the MS thwt the hot humid conditions experienced during 'summer' in the UK. I'd love to visit Malaysia and Thailand, but feel that I'd struggle with the high humidity.

 

Thankfully the British 'summer' is pretty short lived. I don't know what the conditions are like in Oz or NZ, I'm pretty sure that the north of the area sufferes the same humidity but unsure if further south is the dry type of heat we seem to need.

 

I love the sunshine, but have to be very careful and take each day at a time, depending on the humidity levels.

 

Scully

[Nick]

Hi Chris,

Fatigue seems to be something that you must learn to 'understand' for yourself. There seems to be a common theme but some of the effects seem to vary between different people. For example, like many, the recent burst of hight temperatures has effected me quite badly. My own feeling on all this is that it relates to changing temperature rather than the actual temperature. A bit like the problem of having a hot shower and then losing all your strength, but getting it back a short while later. I used to work all over the place and reckon (as Scully says) that a steady temperature of 26c would be fine. The cumulative effects of hot days and cooler nights acts a bit like a giant fatigue machine and produces a longer lasting effect. When I was first diagnosed with MS I felt that my problem was cold winters, rather than hot summers, as I also get the fatigue in winter. But with central heating this is easily explained. Humidity levels may have an effect but are not high on my list of things to avoid.............that said I really don't fancy saunas, something I used to enjoy but would avoid like the plague these days. A friend of mine lives in Napier NZ and while the variations in temperatures are not as great as the UK, they still get summer temperatures of 30c and winters of 0c. I live on the east coast of the UK and we don't often get really high humidity, but tend to get the best of the sunshine and the least of the rain. Winters can be raw but very rarely severe.

 

Nick

[Mick]

Hi Chris

I live in Oz just nth of Sydney on coast and it seems to be a good temp for MS, plus there's plenty of aussies and we are great

 

Cheers

Mick

[Nindancer]

I believe they call it Uthoff's phenomena, I used to be unable to stand after that lovely soak in the tub.... now I avoid heat

Sonia x