Sunday, June 5, 2011

Weathering

After three years of all these migraines, I was still never quite sure that the weather ever had any affect. I have head pain and weird neurological symptoms pretty much daily, so it can be harder to pinpoint triggers when everything is blending together. Also, the weather in my area is pretty mild; we don't get snow but once every ten years, and our summers can be hot, but we don't spend much time at all in the triple digits. In August, some, but otherwise it's 75 degrees and sunny more often than not.

However, this spring has brought about a few storms, three in the last two weeks. Nothing too extreme, a few isolated thunderstorms which I didn't hear but the weather people were very insistent that that's what those dark, ominous clouds contained. All I really know is that they carried migraines. Big, dark, oppressive, all-consuming migraines that took away all of my faculties for six to twelve hours at a time. I thought it was coincidental, at first. But, right around the time the rain started, my fog broke, the pain eased, I could walk again without hunching over and could once more tolerate the sound of my boyfriend chewing. Then it happened again with the second storm. And the third. Despite my natural state of skepticism, I can't deny the connection.

It seems like it would be helpful to get some kind of digital barometer or weather gauge. Even if it didn't give me any warning, it would still be interesting to see the different measurements and what exactly is setting me off.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yuck! What a rotten development. But at the same time, I'm interested in learning about monitoring your migraines with a barometer. Have you considered making your own like this one? http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Simple-Weather-Barometer

Hm... so where doesn't it rain? And good thing you don't live in Seattle.

steph said...

That barometer is a neat idea, but I think I need something a little more specific, and a little more migraine friendly. Heh, I can just see myself now: one eye closed and hunched over, trying to decipher the meaning of the straw.

I really love the rain, so I'm hoping that this was just a freakishly migrainy storm somehow and that this won't become a regular thing.

Blessings of 5 said...

Hi Steph. My name is Karen and I found you through Diana's "Somebody Heal Me" email. I also suffer from chronic migraines and was diagnosed with them in July 2006 ~ disabled with them since October 2006. The weather has a definite affect on my migraine. I can usually tell when the pressure is changing hours before we get rain. Even if it's sunny and beautiful outside! My neck and shoulder will start hurting and my daily headache will become more 'persistent', as in THROB..THROB...THROB... as opposed to THRob...THRob...!!! If not caught early, I'm down for the count!

Since being diagnosed, I've lived in Northern Ohio and currently live in Central Oregon. Unfortunately, both states have weather patterns which fluctuate a lot during the year!! :)

I look forward to following your blog. Hope the thunderstorms stay at bay for you...

steph said...

Thanks Karen, it's nice to meet you! :)