Can anyone explain how/why/if changes in the weather affect migraine please?

[Isaidheyhoney]

Ds is shortly to take his GCSEs and yet again is off school with abdominal migraine. I think it may be to do with the weather - it was muggy at the weekend, and changed from sunny to rainy.

Does anyone know anything about this connection please?

No migraineurs around?

I've just booked a Bowen Technique session for him in the hope that that might help...

I assume it is air pressure. Good stable, dry weather = high pressure. Cold, rainy usually = low pressure.

I would expect people to get migraines in high pressure so my theory doesn't really help at all - sorry!

Could it be stress about exams? Stress affects me in a physical sense terribly

Could it be the effect it has on indoor environment? I get more headaches in the warmer weather because our office is hot and stuffy. What is his classroom like? Does he keep well hydrated?

It could be to do with being hot and stuffy. God knows I try to get him to drink water but it ain't easy.

Stress - that's why I'm trying to minimise all other triggers. I can't see how he can avoid stress during exams really.

Humidity causes my migraines. Years of tests, drugs, x-rays.... doctors couldn't figure out what caused them when I was a child. Then we moved away from the humid South African coast, and amazingly, they stopped! We went back to visit, and voila! Migraines! So I'd definitely say the weather could be affecting your DS. And stress with GCSEs can't be helping.

The weather affects dh's migraines, it's the humidity usually and quick changes of humidity. We were both sitting on the sofa today chatting and we simultaneously started rubbing our heads. Almost at the same time we both said 'does the air pressure feel weird to you?' Within a minute it changed from hot and humid to hailing/raining very hard indeed.

Oh, thank you, Annie - you see, that is my most unscientific theory. Because I feel sh*te when it's humid, and that's often when ds gets a migraine too. The forecast for last weekend was "very humid".

But apart from moving to somewhere unhumid, is there no mitigation?

And ShowofHands...

Migraineur here, weather is one of my triggers. Most migraines brought on by weather are brought on by the actual change in the barometric pressure (not the pressure itself, but the shift in pressure systems as/before the weather changes). As a child, my neurologist had me stretch a balloon over the to of a glass jar and seal it with an elastic. The balloon would puff up or get sucked down based on the barometric pressure - it really helped me to understand why I was getting them. A migraine diary or journal that tracks weather will help you see, for example, if DS gets them 12 hours before it rains, etc. Many sufferers are also affected by humidity as well as extreme change in temperature.

There is very little you can do about weather triggers, but it can help for the DC's to understand why they are coming.

hth

Sorry, over the top of a glass jar....

Thanks, Realfreedom. I was wondering if he could take Migraleve as a precaution if the forecast was for very humid weather, as this weekend. What do you think?

I have never had any success personally with "preventative" medicating, but have heard of people who do....maybe it will work for him? Fwiw, most people who have success with medication generally do best taking meds at the first sign of migraine. Don't know if he gets an aura at the start or not that gives you a warning that it is coming?

The best recommendation, imo, is to keep a migraine diary for six months. When he gets one, you want to look at the weather changes, changes in sleep pattern, diet, activity levels, etc., in the preceeding 24-48 hours; as well as how you treated it and what worked or didn't. It is the best way to identify his specific triggers, which you can then address. Then, if he was being triggered by the change in barometric pressure, etc., you could start to look at what coping mechanisms could be put in place. That's just my approach though.

Thinking of your DS, that was one of the most difficult ages with my migraines.

hth

Thanks; good advice. There are no warning signs - he just wakes up with a terrible headache or stomachache.

Sadly I can't control the weather!