Question:

Hi everyone, I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this problem. Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. Larina

Response:

Warnock wrote: > Hi everyone, > I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in > my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. > She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus > worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I > already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this > problem. > Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. > Larina

Hi Larina, I don’t have Lupus, was dxed with UCTD, which has a lot of the same symptoms of Lupus, and I find that I can’t live without my A/C during the summertime.  Helps me immensly, or I get really ill in the heat. HTH! -Sharon

Response:

Warnock wrote: > I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in > my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. > She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus > worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I > already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this > problem.

I guess it depends on the A/C and how cold it’s kept. Most A/C’s are kept way too cold and/or the air blowing on people, or cold air sinking to the floor of the room. They’re supposed to take out the humidity (more than make the rooms cold). If a person has poor circulation and/or Raynaud’s the wrong unit/install can be horrendous The correct install (and use) of central A/C should be comfy in all layers of a room and just nip the humidity out of the air and provide slight cooling effect. I don’t like A/C personally but I have fibro, and Raynaud’s so cool is not "happy" for me. I imagine if a person has low grade fevers with Lupus, that too cool could even make people sick (chills, colds etc). Used to in offices I worked in. if you can borrow one, maybe you could try one. They’d sized differently 5000 – approx 12,000 BTU JMO J

Response:

"Warnock" <lmw…@cableone.net> wrote in message <news:[email protected]>… > Hi everyone, > I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in > my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. > She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus > worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I > already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this > problem. > Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. > Larina

Larina .. I think it depends where you are in the disease.  I felt like I was on fire at first and the air was indespensible to my sanity.  5 years later and after taking plaquenil I am now both warm and cold BUT I can’t take the cold on my rt arm which has the most pain.  The ambient temp has to stay cool or cold at night.  You can adjust the temp on the AC.  Hope this helps.  Sandy

Response:

I don’t know what to tell you, really. I have a Lupus-like disease & maybe it does make me hurt more, but I’ll take the pain over the heat any day.  I guess it comes down to that; the lesser of the two evils. : ) You can probably pick one up just to try at an auction, swap meet, garage sale or second hand store.  Your taking a chance on getting a dud, of course, but I got a 12,000 BTU for 20 bucks!  That booger’s awesome too!  Good luck to you! Maggie

Response:

I don’t know about central air (all I’ve ever had are window units) but if you get one, you can turn it off if it gets to bothering you. I have to have an A/C because of a bad tendency to heat exhaustion and having asthma. It’s not great on the scleroderma/CREST/MCTD. I can’t seem to win for losing. Nell Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.  Anonymous

Response:

Thanks everyone.  I appreciate all of your great input!  We’re taking the kids to a cabin for the week, so I won’t be posting, but I will catch up as soon as I get back.  We’re hoping that some R & R and time away from everyone and everything will boost me up a little.  I’m just hoping I don’t find myself in more pain for trying to have a little fun!  Wish me luck.  :) "Warnock" <lmw…@cableone.net> wrote in message

news:[email protected]… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi everyone, > I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in > my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. > She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus > worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I > already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this > problem. > Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. > Larina

Response:

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 15:34:40 -0600, "Warnock" <lmw…@cableone.net> wrote: >Hi everyone, >I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in >my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. >She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus >worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I >already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this >problem. >Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. >Larina

i suspect this falls under the category of "someone complained about feeling worse and therefore all lupus patients will feel worse." I’ve never heard of AC being a problem for lupus pain. It might be a problem if you have Raynaud’s if the room tends to go hot-cold-hot.  Changes in temperature seem to set off attacks to some degree rather than just cold or just hot. But it seems to me as long as the temperature is kept fairly steady than it shouldn’t be  a big deal.

Response:

Hi Larina, We got cental air put in late last summer. The heat makes me feel very ill. I have a real problem with cold though. My solution is to keep that AC set at a temp that is not too cold. I am comfortable at around 72-74F, so I leave the thermostat set there. It hasn’t bothered my lupus at all. In fact, I think it helps me to feel better. BJ-Sk. Canada "Warnock" <lmw…@cableone.net> wrote in message

news:[email protected]… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi everyone, > I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in > my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. > She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus > worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I > already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this > problem. > Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. > Larina

Response:

Hi BJ, You’ve got the right idea. If set to a reasonable temperature and sized correctly (J is right about this) AC should not bother anyone. If the unit is oversized the humidity will be too high and the temperature swings will be large and rapid. If undersized humidity will be too low and the unit won’t be able to maintain the desired temperature as the load goes up as on a hot!! day. Window type AC units tend to run with a very cold coil and tend to dry the air more than a central system. Timothy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:16:31 -0600, BJ wrote: > Hi Larina, > We got cental air put in late last summer. The heat makes me feel very ill. > I have a real problem with cold though. My solution is to keep that AC set > at a temp that is not too cold. I am comfortable at around 72-74F, so I > leave the thermostat set there. It hasn’t bothered my lupus at all. In fact, > I think it helps me to feel better. > BJ-Sk. Canada > "Warnock" <lmw…@cableone.net> wrote in message > news:[email protected]… >> Hi everyone, >> I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner > in >> my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. >> She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from > lupus >> worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I >> already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this >> problem. >> Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. >> Larina

Response:

Hi, Larina Air conditioning does not bother me but a cold draft does. What does get to me is a "swamp cooler" – within an hour my joints will be screaming!  We have central air which we keep at 78F.  Any cooler and I can’t handle it.  Also I am very careful where I sit or stand.  I’m often wearing a light sweater when it is on.  Hubby would like it to be cooler but my b**ching and moaning is more than it is worth. How do you react to air conditioning in cars, stores, doctor’s office etc.?  Are you running a low grade fever?  When I have a fever of only 99F, I will get bad chills from the air conditioner. Are you bothered by humidity?  If so, and air conditioner will help.  Do you know anyone who could lend you one for a couple of days?  Can you go to a hotel/motel nearby for a night – one that has window air conditioners – to see how you feel with that? Sorry I can’t say Yes or NO to air cond.  As with so much about lupus, tolerance of heat and cold tends to vary from person to person and also from day to day in each one of us. I hope there’s something here to help you make a decision.  Good Luck!  Let us know what you decide and how it works out. Jackie "Warnock" <lmw…@cableone.net> wrote in message

news:[email protected]… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi everyone, > I was just talking with my mother-in-law about putting an air conditioner in > my bedroom because we have been sleeping in the living room with the heat. > She mentioned that she had heard that air conditioners make pain from lupus > worse.  Before I make a huge mistake and make myself feel worse than I > already do, I wanted to ask around and see if anyone else has had this > problem. > Thanks for all of the great information you’ve all given me. > Larina

Response:

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