The sky was a smoky grayish-orange and trees a few hundred yards away had turned to ghostly outlines. This July marked the third summer since I’ve lived in Chicago that the city was covered in a suffocating blanket of smoke from Canadian wildfires, and the air quality was breaking records: as high as 753 on the air quality index one afternoon, earning an “extremely hazardous” warning. Even with all our windows closed and two air purifiers running in different rooms, I was still getting headaches, a sore throat, and burning eyes. And my arthritis pain was worsening.
I’ve lived with chronic illnesses for most of my adult life and have racked up six of them at this point (endometriosis, psoriatic arthritis, Celiac disease, Graves and Hashimoto’s diseases, and interstitial cystitis). I know that my joints hurt more in cool, wet weather, that I’m prone to overheating when the temperature spikes above the 90s. I’m not alone: I’ve talked to dozens of people with different chronic conditions about how the weather affects them. Those with lupus need to avoid the sun, while some with psoriasis get relief from it; storms can trigger migraines and joint pain; hot weather worsens postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Everyone’s body has a unique pattern of interacting with the weather, such that it’s difficult for patients to predict what might cause a flare.
