I've been searching the internet for answers, but there aren't many. I live in the PNW in the US and it rarely snows here, if it does, it's not a lot and goes away within a day or so.
This last week we had a decent amount of snow for our area. For me it's my joints, they suddenly swell up and ache. The first time it happened was about 14 years ago on a family vacation, my hands were so swollen, I couldn't close them and every joint was red, swollen and itchy. My mom gave me benadryl and ibuprofen, thinking it was some unknown allergy. The swelling went down within a day or so, but my joints hurt a bit for a few days after.
I didn't think about it much because it went away, but it came back a few years later when we got a lot of snow. I went to the doctor and they thought it could be RA, which scares the hell out of me. But whatever test they ran for that was negative. It happened again last Saturday, and I don't know what to think about it. I know if I tell my doctor she'll want to run a bunch of tests my insurance won't cover.
I guess I'm just looking for someone who has experienced the symptoms I have. I guess I should add, I get very light headed on airplanes, sometimes have vertigo, and I also get headaches when the pressure changes, but the joint thing freaks me out. And that only has happened 3 times over the last 15 years, but it's the same each time, and each time there has been a lot of snow...that can't be a coincidence, right?
