Friday, June 26, 2009

Migraines & Weather

It seems lately that the weather forecast has been the same for at least the past week or two. Rain. Chance of rain. Mostly cloudy. Chance for thunderstorms. Light rain. Heavy rain. More rain. Blah blah blah blah BLAH. The only difference is the rising temperatures over the past couple of days; otherwise the temp has been hovering around 75ºF. We've hit about 84ºF the past few days, or were supposed to. If the sun ever manages to come out then there's some definite heat but as soon as the clouds roll in it's noticeably cooler.

This weather pattern we're stuck in sucks for two reasons. The changes in barometric pressure are not good for my migraines. Major changes or quick changes send me into migraines. Slow major changes means I'll have a gradual onset migraine while quick changes bring on sudden onset migraines. Then there's the mood shifts thanks to something called SAD;

My doctor says that the increases in migraines and my inability to control them lately could also be partially due to having recently gone on Wellbutrin SR (slow release) which is taken only once a day. That should diminish soon, or so she says, but I still have the weather to contend with.

Of course I have the usual triggers for migraines as well. Strobe lights; lights that are too bright; extremes in heat; dehydration; too much sodium; too much artificial sweeteners; low blood sugar from hypoglycemia; sudden loud piercing sounds, especially directly into my ears; over-doing physical exertion; etc. Those I can control. The weather, not so much.

I've been relying on minimizing the typical triggers, which helps. I've also been relying on Advil liqui-gels for management, and Imitrex to try to minimize and/or get rid of the migraines. Since they've been so frequent in the past two months, I'll be seeing a neurologist mid-July. I'm thinking it might be time to try a preventative migraine medication. It's just getting to be too much and my ability to control them lately hasn't been very good either. I have to be able to function, especially now with the kids all home for summer vacation. Especially when during July, Grace will have to attend summer session prep for first grade which we'll be calling "first grade camp." I'm going have to have her ready for her van-pickup to be dropped off at school for 9:00 AM sessions.

Although I'm now wondering if the Imitrex simply isn't working any more as it has been for the past couple of years. Especially since my prescription for Imitrex has changed to the generic version. In any case, it seems more and more like it's just not working as well as it did. So I guess we'll be talking about that with the neurologist as well. I just hope something positive comes from it. I'm dreading the likelihood of an MRI being scheduled. It was hard enough getting my shoulder and knee done, what with the claustrophobia.

Well, that's enough whining for now I suppose. Any suggestions for migraine control are welcome. Maybe you can suggest something I haven't thought of yet.

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