Multiple Sclerosis and California

Made my uncle much worse. He said the care there wasn't as progressive as the care for MS here in Washington. They didn't have the doctors or medicines/treatments there that they did here, and yes the temps were too much for him, much different than Alaska! He lived in the bay area.

Not sure where you're moving to in CA - it's a huge state, but I googled and found this link. Perhaps they can help :)

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/cal/programs-se...

I am not from California but you really need to look at the temperature variations. I have heard it is fairly level.

We have a lady in our office that has MS, with the 100+ weather we have been having she has been living 20 levels of hell. :( I had no idea that heat effects your muscles like that but she has hardly been able to move the past few weeks.

Two of my aunts have MS and they both live in northern california, cooler than southern california. They are both doing great, both are in their late 50's.

As others have said, it depends! I have family in Sacramento, where it rains all winter and then is 100+ all summer and very dry. In the winter, they go an hour east to Tahoe where there is snow & skiing. An hour or so west is San Francisco with more moderate temps, but it's still too cold to swim in the ocean. Another relative is in San Diego, which is much warmer with lots of beaches and warm water. Inland is dry with a lot of deserts, but there are a lot of mountains too (Sierra Nevada and more). So it completely totally depends on where, and when.

There's a lot you can do nutritionally to help with the MS. Not sure how compromised you are, but I work with a nurse who is now out of her wheelchair with a lot less neuropathy - she has her life back. I work with another woman whose daughter was unable to work and was virtually housebound with MS and now is mobile and has a part time job, and is hoping for even greater recovery. So there is a lot that food science can do for you!

I have a lot of friends in California who I work with as well, helping with autoimmune diseases like MS as well as kids' nutrition, so that might be a good combination if you are interested in more!

Is there some particular reason you have chosen California? It can be expensive and where you would live would depend on what you all would plan to do for a living.

It depends a LOT on where you are talking about moving to.
Anywhere along the coast is fairly mild, so cal is warmer, bay area medium, nor cal cooler.
Most of the rest state gets very hot during the summer as you head inland, especially the central valley.
I live in the east bay, about 15 miles from San Francisco, just on the other side of the hills. On any given day there can be as much as a 15 to 20 degree difference in temperature between here and the city! We are very adept at dressing in layers :)
I would go to weather.com and pull up the weather facts for the areas you are thinking about.

It truly just depends...

My uncle had MS, he and his family moved to the desert where he did great for a few years, then the MS progressed so much it didn't matter and they moved back to OC because it was easier for him to get to his doctors.

A good friend has MS, she lived in OC and did fine for years. When they moved to AZ she did better.

I have fibromyalgia, also an auto-immune disorder and live in North OC. The heat truly bothers me, and when it's humid I'm toast, beyond lousy, truly miserable, whether it's hot or cold (rainy.) I've found this true with most everyone I know with fibro all across the US.

I'd say you need to come to CA when it's hot and humid if you're not used to it, which it might be in November, you never know. Only you could say how you feel, as everyone is different : )

My daughter's best friend was diagnosed with MS at 11 and they live in Northern California, what's considered part of the "North Bay" of San Francisco, Sonoma county.

I've lived or driven through a vast majority of California (except the very northern part) and the temps can vary DRASTICALLY depending on where you're at at any given moment.

The central valley (where redding, chico and red bluff are) is EXTREMELY hot during the summer. Temperatures in the 105 to 120 range are the norm, not the exception, although it is very dry. It does tend to rain a lot during the winters too.

The mountain communities are just that mountain communities. It tends not to get too hot, but gets cold and snowy in the winter, depending on how high you are. Although no where NEAR what you're used to in Alaska LOL Would probably seem balmy to you LOL Donner Pass (after the Donner party) is in the mountains of CA ... so there ya go :)

Along the beaches in southern ca it's almost perfect most of the time but can get chilly, foggy and damp during the winter. the beaches in northern ca it's chilly and damp a lot of the time. When we lived in Sonoma county our kids had field trips to Bodega Bay on a yearly basis it felt like. There was more than one year where a nice warm coat, gloves and ear muffs would have been a joy to have at the beach ..,. IN MAY. And yeah you can swim in the ocean in southern ca and not so much in northern ca.

My favorite place to live temperature wise has been Sonoma county. It's pretty temperate most of the year. With temps getting up over 100 only occasionally. You have tons of stuff to do, you're an hour from San Francisco, a couple of hours from the mountains and skiing. Winter time daytime highs in sonoma county hover around the 70 degree mark (give or take 5 degrees or so) and does get lots of rain during the winter. Summer time highs hover around the 85 degree mark (with some spikes now and then), in fact a lot of houses in Sonoma county don't have A/C, although most newer ones do, because it doesn't get too hot most of the time. And even when it does get hot during the day the temps drop DRASTICALLY at night so sleeping is easy and comfortable without A/C. I slept with a relatively heavy comforter at night a good portion of the time I lived in Sonoma County :)

My second favorite place in California is San Diego. The temperatures are relatively stable most of the year and it's just plain BEAUTIFUL down there. And the water can be swum in a good portion of the year. I've never lived in San diego tho, just been there several times. I did live in Orange county (think disneyland area) and it was pleasant weather wise but had more 90-100 degree days.

I can say of all the places I've lived in Ca that except for San Francisco (I actually lived IN the city) ... I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt at least 80% of the year and be completely comfortable. During the winters sometimes I had to go to Jeans and a t-shirt, and very occasionally I had to put on a jacket, sweater or sweatshirt :)

Ok this has gotten REALLY long LOL If I can be of anymore help please let me know.

Here we go! Haha I should ask a question on how to ask questions! Hahahaa
Thanks for the insights ladies! We are planning on N. California (I have family there) like in the Redding/Red Bluff/Chico area
My bro is moving to SoCal and I say "no way!" Haha