Weather As A Migraine Trigger
I had heard all common migraine triggers, and tried to avoid this, without effect. Then I heard about a surprising one, I had never thought before. But it seemed to bind with my migraine diary. Well, I was here, sitting area, where the doctor, wondering what his reaction would be.
The doctor looked at me with something of interest for the first time.
Imagine my surprise and relief when he said: “Yes, I heard that at a medical conference recently.” Changes in barometric pressure, is not it? We could do something. ”
Well, he was the only doctor I would ever have said that I thought. Things suddenly looked brighter. No, he did not say, sure, he could fix me, but hey, he did not look at me like I was crazy, either …
~ (Anonymous migraine patients)
Many migraine sufferers have tried for years the doctors say that they do not seem to have a migraine trigger for the list, but their vicious headaches seemed linked to weather patterns. This usually leads to skepticism, if not flatly as disbelief and dismissal of claims migraine.
The frequently asked question is “OK, what kind of weather supposedly solves these migraine from you?”
Problem with this issue, they do not like the answer: “Well, different kinds, really …”
It is not the weather, more accurately, you see. It is the change in the weather. If it is hot, but takes the wind and the sky turns a funny color. If it is cold and clear and it may yet, but the weekend forecast calls for snow. If it is so humid you can hardly breathe, and the resentment of thunder but only keeps the rain will not be started.
Some people get headaches when it is too hot or too cold when it storms, when the sun is bright when the wind blows too hard. Most, however, migraine, if the weather shifts from one extreme to another, whether the change in temperature and humidity or barometric pressure.
A 2000 study at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada has 75 migraine patients for two years. (* 1) A specific weather pattern known as the “Chinook” is particular to the region; warm westerly winds flowing into the area from late autumn to early spring can lead to extreme changes in temperature and barometric pressure. It is a recorded instance of a temperature shift of more than 100 degrees F in a single day, and winds exceeding 100 miles per hour were also documented. (* 2)
Migraine patients aged 16 to 65, were asked to create a detailed log of the dates that they suffered from migraines, the time the headaches began and ended, and the severity of pain. The subjects did not know that the effect of changes in the barometric pressure was investigated. A team of neurologists and investigated these records with the dates in the logs with weather records for the area that showed the Chinook had been blowing.
32 of 75 patients suffered migraines immediately before or during the Chinook. This is a very high percentage for a condition most doctors until then brushed aside as “all in the patient’s head.” Doctors finally begun to patients more seriously.
The majority of migraine, the medications can actually be prevented if the dosage is at the first warning that a migraine is about occur. There is hope that sufferers from weather-related migraine can stave of an attack simply by monitoring the weather reports and take medication when the conditions are preparing to undergo drastic change.
So far, several other studies have been conducted seem to confirm the results of the Canadian university. Several other medical facilities, the Mayo Clinic among them, ran their own study and said the results were not conclusive. (* 3)
Many migraine sufferers are now with their symptoms recognized and treated, however, and can take measures to prevent or reduce the impact of weather triggered migraines. Medication is an option, with propranolol is the most popular preventive medicine for weather-related migraine. Other ways are relaxation techniques, massage, aromatherapy and even acupuncture and acupressure therapy.
Logging a diary of migraine attacks is a useful way to verify whether they can weather changes. Chart as much as you can as often as you can, if your headaches become clear that not be triggered by weather changes, could be another reason to uncover the data you collect when you include nutrition, sleep patterns and stress as well.
Find out by several case studies and research on various medications and techniques for prevention and treatment of migraine. You know your own body better than anyone else, try to see it as healthy as possible, find out about ways to reduce stress in your life. Any migraine, whether the trigger be weather, food or related hormone, may be stress.
If you find that your headaches are indeed on the way through the climatic conditions, please log in with you to your doctor’s appointment. This will help you make your case if your doctor is a skeptic. Together you and your doctor should be able to make a plan to reduce your chances of migraine and minimize the severity of any headache you are suffering. I hope that it is validated in your suspicions about your migraine is related to weather will be a comfort to know your enemy is half the battle won!