Sunny or cool climate best for someone with MS?

[Michael9807]

I now reside in Florida. The heat this summer has brought the return of some frightening MS symptoms.

Does hot weather merely cause or increase MS symptioms, or does it actually cause the progression of permanent damage?

Does lack of sunlight (via vitamin D or other mechanisms) merelyl cause or increase MS symptoms, or does it actually cause the progression of permanent damage.

My only goal is the avoidance of permanent damage.

Should i stay in Florida, because of its greater amount of sunlight, or should i move to where it's cooler, but much less sunny?

this question is urgent, because I must make the decision soon, about whether to move.

I hope that someone can help with this question

[wkikta]

The greater Sunlight in Florida won't do much for you, just take a D3 supplement for the D you would get from the Sun. The Florida heat is unbearable for me, can only be there late Fall through early Spring. Even Northern Florida is too hot, and the bugs!

The heat will just make existing symptoms worse, it will not cause damage or progression. It's effect is temporary, once you cool off you are better.

[SNOOPY]

Does hot weather merely cause or increase MS symptioms, or does it actually cause the progression of permanent damage?

Heat slows down nerve transmission and can cause Pseudo-exacerbations (not a true relapse), a temporary increase of symptoms. Once you cool down symptoms will usually go back to what is normal for you. Pseudo-exacerbations do not cause more damage.

Unfortunately, heat can cause a true relapse...for some.

This URL has information about pseudo-exacerbations on the right hand side:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/abo...ons/index.aspx

[Spydre]

I've had my pseudorelapses this summer, unfortunately, last 24+ hours after being out in the heat. But no, it doesn't cause permanent damage. As for being in the sun, yes, you absorb vitamin D that way - generally in about 15 minutes out in the sun in the US, but once you are tanned, the absorption stops.

[cosake]

My first real relapse was due in part to an extremely quick change in temperature - from about 50 degrees to 90 degrees in 24 hours. And we live in New Hampshire . . .

[onlyairfare]

Heat makes my symptoms temporarily worse, but my doctor assures me it does not cause permanent damage. Still, I do not like more symptoms as I have enough already, so no hot & humid places for me!

I find that sunshine markedly improves my mood, so I have chosen to live (at least for now) where it is cool and sunny - at 7,000 feet elevation in Flagstaff, Arizona. It's one of the 10 sunniest cities in the US, at about 320 days per year, but at such high altitude, it does not get really hot, and since we are in the desert, there is no significant humidity. It does snow a lot in the winter, as it is one of the 10 snowiest cities too, but the snowplows and the sunshine melt it pretty quick.

I have recently (past 10 years) tried living in various locations. Western Washington is very nice, usually cool though not cold, but I got tired of the darkness and cloudy/drizzly days. Western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains is beautiful, not too hot & humid, and I feel at home in the South but there are no jobs; West Virginia was the same way only hotter and even fewer jobs. Pittsburgh, PA is a wonderful city but too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, nowhere near enough sunshine. Maine is beautiful in the summer but the winters are too brutal. Colorado - lots of sun but too cold in the winter, and unless you are in the mountains, too hot in the summer.

I have not found that where I live makes any difference in my MS, so I might as well live where I feel best.

For the OP, take Vitamin D supplements if you are worried about it, but after that, pick the kind of place you want to live, where you will be happiest.