How is the freezing weather affect you and how do you deal with it ?

Sorry for your chill - I lived through and in some cold places and glad now to be moved to a tropical country where cold season is a pleasure as a relief from the heat - always something. But I do remember the knife like cold winds mixed with a near freezing rain driving frosty air into my neck...

some pepole would say they loved hte cold which I never could believe - unless you like trying to scrunch your neck into your lungs...

but all I can do is send you warm thoughts - -

I'm so sorry what you're going through. I'm on medication that compromises blood flow, so essentially I have very little circulation to my hands or feet and if it gets anywhere near about 70 degrees Fahrenheit or below, I'm freezing. I live in the Northeast USA so the temperature drops into the teens here. The only suggestion I did want to make to you was about oil heating. We also have oil heat, and at least here on the east coast, there are assistance programs for lower incomes. We use oil for both heat and hot water, so can go through the tanks fairly quickly. We've gotten some inexpensive space heaters that really help and actually make me too warm! I've gotten the kind with automatic shutoff if they get knocked over, with temperature controls and that have a surrounding case that does not get hot, though they still need a lot of caution (keeping away from any drapes, blankets, etc.) and I always just shut them off when I leave the room. But definitely I'd check and see if there is any heating assistance in your area.

Sorry to hear this as I am in the same boat, but lucky to have my hubby and daughter is home some as she is in college. I curl up and moan and groan. It is about 17 degrees from freezing here and I am in a long nightgown with fleece pj's also.I have sheet, three fleece blankets, will add a quilt and a big afghan. I wear socks to bed .I ache like Holy Hell and fell like the tin man on wizard of oz. I can sympathize is all. Do you have an electric blanket? I am thinking about that next. I hate winter with a passion and only leave to see the doctor. I went Christmas shopping last year, but this one I dread the thought of going out and will tell the others to do it. I have had enough .I wish we could hibernate. Sorry I am no help, just a person who can relate! I get a good book or come on the computer and hunker down.

I adapt slowly as the days cool off in the fall I don't turn on the heat till necessary. I keep adding clothing, seems like there is never enough warm clothes. In the summer it can be as high as 100f and in the winter -20f. To cope, I do not go outside any more than absolutely necessary! Hopefully there will not be an ice storm to knock down the power lines and make us without power which is very disruptive since the power runs just about everything...

I take Glucosamine/Chondroitin pills, as I have the same problem. Always wear at least two layers of everything (including socks).Also, wear a cap or scarf on your head, as body heat escapes through the head. I also take potassium and magnesium supplements, as they relieve the pain. Keep yourself hydrated, and do some simple stretching exercises twice a day. Doing them to music will relax you, and it doesn't cost anything. If you don't have money to use the heat all of the time, then cover your windows with something heavy (even if it's hanging up blankets to cover them). make sure there aren't cracks around the door as well. Walk around in your house, agaIn to music. It will help your circulation and reduce the pain. Make some soups, using lots of onions and other vegetables. Those are good for your muscles. I'm sorry you're having a hard time. Do you live in a country where there is help for seniors who have problems paying for their heating in the winter. If so, look into applying for those benefits.

The weather has become much colder this last couple of days in the U.K. We've had the best Summer for years though so I try not to grumble too much.

I have my gas fire on at medium at the moment but will probably turn it off or down in about an hour. I shall put off using central heating for as long as I possibly can. I'm glad I have 2 very nice warm dressing gowns. I think that many people now see these as day wear to use instead of, or as well as, heating; wearing them over their normal day clothes. Last Winter I slept in mine on many occasions.

Your question has just made me realise how wonderfully lucky I am. I am just short of 85 with no physical problems besides myopia and atrial fibrillation. I have just had my house, including the roof in the loft well insulated, double glazing and new radiators put in and a new log burning stove is being put in my living room. I am now in my office which is small enough to be heated by a single raditator. Outside is cold and raining, but when it does begin to freeze I shall try to stay indoors, but bundle up well if I have to go outside, and don the insulated, hob nailed boots that, before I retired, saw me through five Minnesota winters. I am also amazed at how well I am doing financially. I have 7 small pensions from as many employers (including both US and UK social security) which together, now that my children have grown and my wife left me, gives me all I really need, and the largest disposable income after necessities that I have ever had in my life. Sorry to sound so self-satisified, especially as it has all been due to luck rather than effort, and still less, merit. But I do sympathise: you have at least made me realise just how lucky I am..

I live in the Yukon Territory - the Klondike, and we have snow on the ground about 8 months of the year. But, life goes on. When it hits -50C (-60F), life does slow down a bit - it's hard to keep vehicles operating, for example. But, life goes on. We go shopping, we work, we eat, we visit friends, we go out snowmobiling, or dog sledding... It's good in many ways in winter, there are no bugs!

It's a healthy lifestyle. It is dry, so, fewer colds, and flues. From what I understand, it's the dampness that causes much of the symptoms of arthritis, not the cold itself. Many elderly people up here are hearty and hale, and I know people who were still working at 80. It is actually pretty common here.

Get out of that old, cold drafty house and into low-cost housing at whatever small town you are nearest to. You'll be much more comfortable, and will live longer.

I, too, suffer from have severe osteoarthritis, though it is not nearly as bad as yours. Our solution to the problem was to move from our rural Nebraska home to sunny California. It never freezes where we are now, and the osteoarthritis is much less troublesome.

Move to southern California like I did. I used to live in London and the winters were really hard. Now it's only on odd days that I actually wear jeans and a jacket.

A little breezy today, but around 72 or 73!