Ive had RA for no less then 3 yrs now probably mild ra alot longer but it got real bad 3 yrs ago and finally the right blood test was taken about 4 months ago..... so back in jan/feb. I went to cozumel for vacation and i was excited to go but on another level it was bittersweet because i couldnt walk 20-30 steps without terrible pain. knees hip ankles u know ... and i used to go there to dive and i walked everywhere so i was envious of my own past! lol   Here's the wierd part.  day one im limping here and there, hobbeling and clutching things to walk the first day.  by the second and 3rd day im walking several blocks up to ten blocks by the end of 1st week! ive purchased alot of volteren thinking dang this stuff is great im stocking up on it cuz it is like a miracle. I felt so good!!!  (at this time i did not know i had RA)  my whole family was so exited it was like the old me was back! i really wanted to push the envelope and try running a sprint but i didnt dare. i had the greatest 2 weeks ive had in quite a few yrs.

When we flew home there was a nasty snow storm going on in the south where i live. we were hustleling threw atlanta to catch our connecting flight when a stabbing pain ripped threw one knee and the hobbling was back and by the time i was through customs and to my connecting flight i was near tears thinking WHYYYYYY! both knees were screaming by then i wanted to go back so bad. Everyone has there opinion as to why i felt better.... some say your diet was more gluten free, some say it was the weather. closer to equater/gravitational pull etc. I even had some say YOUR MIND WAS OFF YOUR PAIN!!!    I dont know how you all feel but i find that kinda insulting. the kind of pain RA deals you isnt pain you can just ignore i dont care if there is a beautiful ocean and sunset to look at ! Im telling you i was pain free! it was 2 awesome weeks of the old me. and im going back the end of this week for 3 weeks and if that miracle happens again i may not be back!  lol  Has anyone else experienced this?

RA is quite the trickster. I have found that sometimes it sleeps and sometimes it ravages war. In between it may fleetingly appear then disappear making you feel almost crazy. There has never seemed to be a rhyme or reason for it with me.

It's probably a number of things. I've personally noticed that my pain fluctuates pretty significantly with the weather. I joke around with my friends saying that I can probably be a better meteorologist than the guys on TV because of my joints.

I had a similar experience when I went on vacation to Washington, DC. My disease has been somewhat aggressive before that point, I was barely able to walk in my own home. Yet in DC, I found myself walking miles upon miles - I was outpacing some of my more fit company who've always been better walkers than me since even before I got RA. My mom (who has lupus) had a similar experience when we went to Boston the one year. She already had the early stages of Avasuclar Necrosis of the hip and was barely able to walk. Yet when we were in Boston, she was practically running throughout the city, I could barely keep up with her!

I think a lot of is psychology (mind over matter really is true), but some of it probably has to do with a change in atmospheric conditions and whatnot. As the other poster said, RA is a tricky beast - and all autoimmune diseases tend to be. I would just take the better days as blessings.