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Migraine usually lasts for hours to days and the pain can be severe that it interferes with your daily activities. Frequently, a very hot environment or a change of weather, or barometric pressure can prompt a migraine. Everyone’s headache and migraine triggers are different, and weather may play a role for some. Remember that other triggers may include lack of sleep, stress, and diet.
What Is A Migraine?
Migraine is a neurologic disorder that often causes a strong headache. The headache comes in episodes and sometimes also comes with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light. Migraine is a common health condition, affecting around 1 in every 5 women and around 1 in every 15 men. They usually begin in early adulthood.
There are several types of migraine, including:
- Migraine with aura – where there are specific warning signs just before the migraine begins, such as seeing flashing lights.
- Migraine without aura – the most common type, where the migraine happens without specific warning signs.
- A migraine aura without headache, also known as silent migraine – is where an aura or other migraine symptoms are experienced, but a headache does not develop.
Migraine treatment is aimed at stopping symptoms and preventing future attacks. Many medications have been designed to treat migraines. Medications used to combat migraines fall into two broad categories:
- Pain-relieving medications also known as an acute or abortive treatment, these types of drugs are taken during migraine attacks and are designed to stop symptoms.
- Preventive medications. These types of drugs are taken regularly, often daily, to reduce the severity or frequency of migraines.
Your treatment choices depend on the frequency and severity of your headaches, whether you have nausea and vomiting with your headaches, how disabling your headaches are, and other medical conditions you have.
Recommended medication:
- Rizatriptan – this drug is a serotonin receptor agonist that works by narrowing the blood vessels in the brain. It stops the signal of pain from sending into the brain.
Keeping track of your head pain and your potential triggers in a headache diary might help you better understand your specific situation. Be sure to consult your doctor to find the best treatment for you.
What Are The Causes Of Migraines?
Migraine causes aren’t fully understood, genetics and environmental factors appear to play a role. Changes in the brainstem and its interactions with the trigeminal nerve, a major pain pathway, might be involved. So might imbalances in brain chemicals including serotonin, which helps regulate pain in your nervous system.
Researchers are studying the role of serotonin in migraines. Other neurotransmitters play a role in the pain of migraine, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).
How Do Heat Waves Cause Migraines?
Many people believe that weather changes, such as hot and sunny days, can trigger a headache or worsen symptoms. Because of this common belief, many studies have examined this connection, but the findings haven’t been so clear. Some research studies have shown that warm weather can trigger headaches in some people, while others found no significant connection.
For some people, weather changes may cause imbalances in brain chemicals, including serotonin, which can prompt a migraine. Weather-related triggers also may worsen a headache caused by other triggers.
If you feel your migraines are triggered by the weather, you may be understandably frustrated. After all, you can’t change the weather. However, you can learn which weather changes start a migraine and take steps to lessen their effects by:
- Keeping a headache diary, listing each migraine, when it happened, how long it lasted, and what could have caused it. This can help you determine if you have specific weather triggers.
- Monitoring weather changes and avoiding triggers if at all possible. For example, stay indoors during very cold or windy weather if these factors appear to trigger your migraines.
- Taking your migraine medication at the first sign of a migraine.
- Make healthy lifestyle choices, eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, drink enough water, get enough sleep and keep your stress under control. These factors can help reduce the number and severity of your migraines.
