Winded By Migraine

Image via WikipediaHave you been winded by your weather trigger? It's been a rough month for many migraineurs as the weather has attacked so many parts of the country. Tornadoes tearing across the middle states of the country and some have struck southern east coast states as well. All the communities affected by the storms, flooding and the aftermath, deserve our prayers.

I live in Southwest Virginia and very near my home there are two communities that have been completely wiped off the map. Members of my own family were in tremendous danger and had to take refuge as a tornado hit only a mile away. Just devastating, how the weather can turn on us without a moments notice.

Many of us migraineurs already know the dangers of weather changes. Maybe not as drastic as killer tornadoes or thunder storms, but they may sometimes seem just as devastating to our health. The weather can be a migraine trigger. For some of us very small changes in the weather can bring on a migraine without warning. High pressure, or low pressure may sneak up on us if we are not prepared.

A good source for weather changes that may affect or trigger your migraines is Weather.com, but you have to know where to find it. So, I found it for you. Go to http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/achesandpains/ .
You can see the current and future predictions of wind speed, humidity, temperature, barometric pressure and more. There is a pain index, but it doesn't seem to jive with my pain levels at any point in time. We may not be able to change how the weather affects the invisible illness called migraine, but we can be prepared with fore warning and our own preventatives.

By the way, I know that the weather can affect other illnesses as well. But, I hope that you are able to make it through the weather changes and not be winded by your illness.

 

Here Comes The High

High pressure that is!  I could feel the pressure starting to change last night. I eventually had to take some pain medication before I went to bed.

Sure enough, I checked the weather radar this morning and a high pressure area is heading my way. Temperatures are predicted to rise over the next couple of days. This means rain and/or sleet in lieu of snow. But, it also means an increased chance of head pain. I stopped using DHE in November, so all I have (in addition to my daily mexiletine) is loratab and compazine to use at the breach of the pain and normalcy.

Now there is a misnomer. What is normal any more? I can't say that any part of my life and especially health has anything to do with normalcy. But, I guess it really is only business as usual, and my usual is three to four headache days in a week. I should be happy with the last six days in which I had a brief respite. Here's to 'normalcy'.

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Related Articles

• Migraine Headaches (philosophicus.blogspot.com)
• Low Pressure Means Low Chance Of Migraine(againstthegraine.blogspot.com)
• Under The Bubble(againstthegraine.blogspot.com)

Migraine: Under Pressure Not Temperature

So, I've been thinking. There have been several articles about study results that were recently published about an increase in temperature increasing the probability of a migraine sufferer having an attack.

Though the numbers slightly disagree in percent of probability and in the amount of temperature increase, that is not really what I believe is the importance of the study.

I believe that the results demonstrated by this 7000 subject analysis, may show that the increase in temperature affects some migraineurs because they are susceptible to pressure changes.

The ideal gas law states that "in the ideal state of any gas, a given number of its "particles" occupy the same volume, and that volume changes are inverse to pressure changes and linear to temperature changes".

A very simplified example would be to imagine a bag of popcorn in the microwave. When you heat it up, the bag gets bigger because the inside pressure of the heat increase and popping corn in the bag makes it expand. Now, the atmosphere of the earth does not react in the same way, because our atmosphere is not trapped.

But, the volume of our skulls, is in fact a trapped atmosphere. Therefore the effect of the ideal gas law may actually explain a trigger for some people who suffer from migraines. The amount we each are affected differs. Some people experience no problems at all, while others may experience extreme pain due to the change in pressure. Not just the change in temperature.

None of us is the same physically, so it would figure that there are some people that are affected more by some stimuli than others. My biggest trigger is barometric pressure. I haven't been able to document every one of my triggers, but my records show that change in barometric pressure definitely is one, and now there is a possibility that nominal changes in temperature may be a part of that trigger.

It should be noted that the research being cited by the media may have some holes in it.

"Dr Andrew Dowson, the chairman of the medical advisory board of the British charity Migraine Action, said: "The study ... recognizes three main problems: that the doctors did not diagnose as per the International Headache Society guidelines; that the temperature was not that personally experienced by the patient but rather a central reading for the geographical area; and that the timing of the onset of headache was not accurate (the time of hospital contact was recorded). In addition of course we must recognize that most people with headache do not attend casually or even call a doctor but simply self medicate and rest."

These are some of the websites I used in preparation of this article;
http://www.medscape.com
http://somebodyhealme
http://themigrainegirl
http://www.independent.co.uk

Rainy Days and Mondays

Yep, "they always get me down". Mondays are obvious... They're Mondays!

Rainy days are a different matter entirely. I am (blessed?) with being a human barometer. I know in advance of any weather change, by the pressure in my head. I live on the east coast, and I could feel the front coming in last night. So much so, that I had to take a shot in an attempt to downgrade the migraine level.

Barometric pressure is known to be a big trigger to many of us. Terri Robert wrote about it back in 2006, "Migraines Often Triggered By Change In the Weather". I've also seen that many of you mention the weather when you complain of another migraine attack.

I am curious. How many other of you are affected by the weather? And, can you tell from your pain, what kind of change will occur? Please feel free to comment, or use the poll I have created in the right side panel.