How Changes in Weather Affect My Ankylosing Spondylitis Symptoms

As I lay in bed, I heard the wind howling. With every gust, I felt the house shaking just a little bit. The cold, almost icy drops of rain pounded hard against the window. The previously crisp and colorful fall leaves, now soggy and dead, disintegrated as they fluttered to the ground. Autumn had officially arrived.

As I twisted and turned between my soft flannel sheets, I racked my brain to figure out what I’d done to make that familiar throbbing and gnawing nighttime pain in my lower back return. The pain was not as severe as it once was, but enough to wake me at 3 a.m. I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that the night would no longer offer me sleep because of the pain related to my ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

The day before, I’d gone geocaching in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, with my three young boys. We had decided to indulge in the last double-digit (Celsius) day that was forecasted for the season, preparing ourselves for a winter of hunkering down.

Hiking in the mountains was not something I thought I’d be able to do again when I was in the throes of AS. I no longer take these outings for granted. The hike and the company refreshed my soul.

Ever since making drastic modifications to my diet, I have experienced a life-changing improvement in how I feel. These days, I rarely experience the dreadful symptoms associated with ankylosing spondylitis. In fact, I often forget I have an incurable and, for many, debilitating illness.

As such, I was surprised to be in pain. I hike regularly and know that hiking is no longer beyond the scope of my physical ability. Was it possible that this simple outing with my kids could have triggered a minor flare? I was humbled by the realization that, despite my improvement, I was still not 100% in control of my disease.

Going through the list

As I lay there, feeling the throbbing in my sacroiliac joints, I started reminding myself of a few things that can trigger ankylosing spondylitis and worsen my symptoms:

• A sedentary lifestyle
• Diet
• Overexertion
• Stress
• Lack of sleep
• Poor posture
• Smoking
• Weather

Of course: the weather! How ironic that I’d been focusing on the harsh and blustery storm outside, yet I’d forgotten how I regularly claim that my body is more accurate at predicting the weather than a meteorologist. AS, a form of arthritis, can be notorious for acting up with weather changes, especially with cold weather in the shoulder seasons. After a long, dry, and warm summer, I was caught off guard by this weather-induced flare.

Thankfully, the flare was minor and affected me for only two nights. It was a reminder of how far I’ve come and how grateful I am to be able to live a lifestyle I thought was no longer possible when I was diagnosed with AS.

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This blog post was originally published on November 9, 2022 on my Just Keep Swimming column @ Ankylosing Spondylitis News.

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