Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Arthritis and Humidity where to live?

Hello everyone. I was guided to this post via my daughter's grandpa. My children and I are looking to relocate and I fell in love with the Ozarks while visiting during the summer. I have RA and he wanted me to put more thought into relocating to a very green environment. I've read all of the posts and I'm sure my input will help.
I was diagnosed with JRA as toddler in the early 70's. We lived in Yorba Linda at the time which is the eastern part of Oange County in southern Ca. During my elementary years in Orange County my JRA was very active. During assemblies at school I was the kid sitting in the back in a chair because if I sat Indian style on the floor with the rest of my classmates I would be too stiff to uncross my legs and get up when the program was over. At night I slept with a brace on my right leg because I would curls up when I slept and it would take a hot washcloth and too much time to straighten my leg in the morning. Back then my treatment was two Bufferine every 4-6 hours for about two weeks until the swelling went down.
In 1979 my family made the move to Palm Desert, Ca in Eastern Riverside County. I can't remember how long it took but my JRA was in remission. My range of motion was limited due to the active RA in my younger years and occasionally I would still hurt but the people I grew up with didn't even know about my condition.
I remember hurting some in high school because of the cold AC.
I moved back to Orange County in my early 20's. I was there for about 3 years without any signs of my RA returning. I did continue to spend every weekend in Palm Desert because that is where a majority of my family was.
In 1993 I moved with my sister to Laughlin, NV. This area is also the desert but I'm sure the humidity is higher than Palm Desert because it's located right on the Colorado River. I lived and worked in Laughlin for a year so that I could finish my education at the University of Nevada in Reno, NV.. for in state tuition? The next year I worked full time on my feet.....all day and danced my little heart out in the clubs all night. No signs of my RA which has now been in remission for about 14 years.
After living and working in the southern tip of Nevada for a year I left for my chosen university in Reno, Nv. I would still consider Reno a desert but it sits at about 5400' elev on the north eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mntn. Range. It was awesome in the summer, cold and dry in the winter, and the wind seemed to blow a lot. After nearly 3 years in Reno, and nearly 14 years in remission, my RA returned with a vengeance. I am RF positive so I always knew it would come back but thought it would be when I was old. I found myself living in the dorms, 27 years old, and unable to brush my own hair. My father paid for me to see the best rheumatologist in Reno, Dr. Theresa Bachman, because the university health center couldn't help me. After a period of trial and error on different NSAIDS we found one that helped....but it wasn't enough. I refused steroids and narcotics. I knew I would need them later in life and did not want to build a tolerance at 27 years old. I also didn't want the steroids to alter my beautiful face and bone structure so young. The Dr. supplied me with 6 months of samples of the Volteren and a written RX and I left school in early 1998 only 7 classes short of finishing my BS and teaching credentials. I went back to Palm Desert, Ca.
When I finished the 6 month supply of samples I took the prescription Dr. Bachman gave me to the pharmacy. The clerk told me it would be $100 for a months supply which I couldn't afford. I stopped taking the meds. HA! Wouldn't you know it....I was back in remission! This could be the result of the climate change. It happened in 1979-80 when I moved there from Orange County. Sometime I think that maybe it was the stress of school and being away from my family and friends that brought the dreaded disease back but I'll never know. Aside from an increased loss of range of motion, I was fine for the next 15 years I stayed in Palm Desert, CA.
After I gave birth to my second child in late 2009 I felt it coming back. I remember telling my friend Melinda while walking out of church that I thought it was returning because of the pain I felt in my left jaw joint. When the RA returned in Reno, my jaw was the first joint affected. I was right. It has come back and despite being in the desert it hasn't shown any signs of remission. Now there is one slight difference. I did leave Palm Desert and moved just on the other side of the mountain. I'm still in riverside county just north of Temecula and about 40 miles north of San Diego. The weather here is comparable but we do get more rain than the desert. Also, in the summer here it cools off enough at night to open your windows and the summers in Palm Desert you can't. The temp is still in the 90's at 2AM.
After reading these posts I am now starting to wonder if this 'comparable' location to Palm Desert isn't comparable enough. My house is just south of two large reservoirs. Perhaps even though I do not feel an increased amount of humidity doesn't mean it isn't there. Maybe that is why my RA seems like it is here to stay.
My children and I have been given a wonderful gift of $150k to buy our 'forever' home wherever we choose. Unfortunately property is too expensive in the Palm Desert/Palm Springs area to purchase outright and I want some land to leave my girls when I am gone. I have considered parts of AZ because I have family just NE of PHX but most I can afford there with property is a manufactured home and AZ schools I think ranked at second to worst in the NaTION!
My condition has progressed to the point that I am now taking the pain meds....but not as many a prescribed for fear of dependence...or worse, addiction. I also am on the biologic Humira. The remnants of a tropical storm has moved over southern CA and it is raining. I can't tell that I had my injection just yesterday because of the moisture in the air. I hurt all over. I've stayed in the desert most of my life because that seemed to be where my body demanded that I be to keep my condition at bay. Now that it is back and has been for 5 years I thought why limit the geographical area in which I can live? I might as well live where I want and not where my RA wants me to be because the Humira has helped a lot. Today...with the rain and my recent dose of Humira...I see now that the beautiful Ozarks in AR might not be what I need. I might just have to consider purchasing a condo, in Palm Deser, next to a thousand neighbors. ��
If someone out there has any alternatives I will follow the lead. I hope my testimony has helped you Ang or anyone else that might be looking for some relief.