Weather And Migraines

Isn’t it enough that migraines appear unannounced, whenever they like and wreak havoc on your plans, but to know that additional triggers could be lying in wait and ready to pounce?  The chronic, often disabling pain associated with migraines can leave you canceling plans and staying home in bed, but could it have you postponing or even canceling your dream vacation?  If the weather isn’t right, that dream vacation could be the location of a significant migraine trigger – weather!  In a study performed by the National Headache Foundation, migraine sufferers were given a list of 16 potential migraine triggers and asked to rank them in terms of what most commonly brought about their migraines.  75% of the participants reported that weather brought about migraines.

Why Weather?

Migraines are still a bit of a mystery to medical professionals, because the exact cause of migraines isn’t exactly known.  Many doctors and researchers believe that several different factors are involved including genetics and changes in the brain.  But why weather?  How could a late-afternoon summer rainstorm or the first snowfall of the season be a problem for migraine sufferers?  One theory on why weather negatively affects people with migraines is that the headache itself is actually a protective layer for the drastic environmental changes occurring around you.  The theory continues by adding that the onset of a migraine would obviously lead a person to seek out a more comfortable environment and direct them away from the current conditions they are surrounded by.  If you really think about the reasoning, it makes sense!  People that experience headaches more frequently, tend to have a lower tolerance of environmental changes and a lower threshold for pain.  Weather-related triggers may include:  bright sunlight, extreme hot or cold temperatures, changes in barometric pressure, windy or stormy weather, dry conditions, and high humidity.  Weather changes could cause a migraine caused by other triggers to intensify.  It is believed the sudden or drastic change in the weather causes an imbalance of the chemical serotonin in the brain, which could provoke a migraine attack.

Coping With Weather Migraines

If weather is a constant trigger for your migraine woes, is easy to get frustrated, because the weather isn’t a trigger you can avoid.  The most important step is learning to identify which specific changes in the weather bring about migraine pain and create a plan for slowing their impact.  You might consider keeping a journal to record each migraine, when it happened, how long it lasted and what could have been the possible trigger.  Journaling would help both you and your doctor look for potential trends in your migraine attacks and narrow down the list of triggers.  Be mindful and always aware of weather changes, so you can avoid them if at all possible.  This means, skipping the beach if the temperatures are in the upper 90s and humidity is high, especially if these specific weather patterns are known triggers for you.  Also, don’t let your migraines control your life, follow your treatment plan and take medication at the first sign that a migraine is imminent.  Finally, take some simple steps at home to reduce frequency and intensity of migraine episodes.  Maintaining a well-balanced diet, committing to an exercise program, managing or avoid stress, and getting plenty of sleep will provide significant improvements in your migraine experience without the use of medication.

Cold Vs Hot

Is one form of weather worse than the other?  In a recent study, 66 participants with a long history of migraines recorded their episodes in a journal over several months.  At the end of the study, they reported that one-fifth of the time weather is to blame for migraine attacks.  When looking closer at the date, episodes were twice more likely to occur due to extreme cold weather over hot temperatures.  The reason for difference is that migraines are a result of the constriction or dilation of blood vessels in the brain and the cold, dry wintery weather increases a risk for these changes in the brain.  Regardless of which form of weather might be more problematic, each person will handle this trigger differently, so it is important to monitor your symptoms and document and changes with your attacks.

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