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Today, we'll explore the intriguing connection between weather changes and migraine episodes.
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Migraine Heroes is a podcast for chronic migraine sufferers who've seen countless
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doctors with no results. Learn how to reduce your migraine attacks without endless medications
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or constant sacrifices. Hello, I'm Diane Ducarme. I've helped over 500 people break free from
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migraine, even after suffering for up to 60 years. My mission in life? To bring this relief
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to a million people using a unique blend of Eastern medicine and Western science.
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In this episode, you'll learn the scientific evidence linking four types of weather changes
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to migraine attacks. Traditional Chinese medicine's perspective on weather-induced migraines.
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And what is the West missing? Why is this type of migraine completely overlooked in treatments
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and practical strategies to anticipate and manage weather-related migraines?
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From a Western perspective first, what is the science behind weather and migraines?
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Many migraine sufferers report that certain weather change conditions trigger their migraines.
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Scientific studies have investigated this connection, focusing on four meteorological
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variables. The first one is barometric pressure changes. Fluctuations in atmospheric pressure,
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such as those occurring before storms, have been associated with an increased prevalence and
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intensity in migraine attacks. A study published in the Journal of Headache and Pain found that
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low barometric pressure and its changes were linked to a higher number of headache occurrences.
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Some researchers suggest that changes in pressure affect oxygen level in the brain,
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potentially leading to vasodilation and to subsequent pain. Another study in Cephalgia
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examined migraine patients over several years and found that those sensitive to weather changes
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experienced more severe and longer-lasting migraine episodes when pressure dropped
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significantly. The second factor is temperature extremes. Both hot and cold temperatures can act
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as migraine triggers. Research indicates that high temperatures, especially when combined with
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high humidity, can increase the likelihood of migraine onset. In a study published in Neurology,
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researchers found that every 9 °F or 5 °C increase in temperature correlated with a
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rise in emergency room visits for migraine sufferers. Conversely, cold weather can lead
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to muscle tension and constricted blood vessels exacerbating migraine symptoms. Some people
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experience cold-induced headaches when exposed to frigid conditions, possibly due to the rapid
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constriction of blood vessels in response to the cold. The third weather variable are humidity
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levels. High humidity can intensify heat, limiting the body's ability to cool down through sweating,
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potentially leading to dehydration, a known migraine trigger. Studies indicate that individuals
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prone to migraines may be more sensitive to fluctuations in humidity because changes in
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air moisture can influence sinus pressure and alter brain chemistry. The fourth variable are
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storms and lightning. Some studies suggest that electrical activity from storms, including lightning,
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could contribute to migraine occurrence. A study in Cephalgia noted that migraine incidence increased
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by 24% on days when lightning activity was detected within 25 miles of patients' homes,
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possibly due to changes in electromagnetic field or the release of airborne polluants
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before storms. While these studies highlight potential correlations, it's important to note
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that individual responses to weather changes can vary. Some people may find that weather alone
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isn't a sole trigger, but rather exacerbates other factors like stress, lack of sleep,
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or dietary habits. One of my clients, Emma, noticed an uncanny pattern. Every time the weather
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was perfect for her husband to go surfing, she would get a debilitating migraine. Her husband,
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initially skeptical, believed it was psychosomatic, convinced that her migraines conveniently appeared
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whenever he wanted a break to enjoy the waves. He grew frustrated, feeling that instead of catching
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the best waves, he was stuck taking care of their lovely toddler. But the reality was of course far
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more complex. Instead of viewing it as a mere coincidence or emotional reaction, we examined
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how barometric pressure shifts, ocean winds, and seasonal weather patterns affected her nervous
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system. More importantly, we turned to traditional Chinese medicine to understand how her body reacted
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to these external influences. By doing so, we could start addressing the root causes rather than simply
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reacting to each attack. Let's take an eastern perspective now and look at traditional Chinese
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medicine insights. Traditional Chinese medicine offers a holistic view of health and of the human
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body and its environment, considering both internal and external factors. In traditional Chinese
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medicine, weather conditions are believed to influence the body's balance, potentially leading
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to ailments like a cold, a sunstroke, and also migraines. Essentially, if the internal body has an
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imbalance and that the external factor exacerbates it, then a migraine is likely to occur. Let's look
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at that in more detail. Traditional Chinese medicine looks at four types of weather patterns as well.
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They're not exactly the same that will influence migraines. While western science looks at correlation
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factors and post-hypothesis, for thousands of years eastern medicine has been acting on repairing
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such factors and comes nicely to complement western medicine's hypothesis. Variable is actually wind.
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Sudden changes in weather, especially windy conditions, are thought to disrupt the body's
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equilibrium, leading to symptoms like migraines. When traditional Chinese medicine talks about
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physical wind, it refers to wind from the outside, but equally so wind from inside, such as provoked
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by a fan or air conditioning. It does not make a distinction. In traditional Chinese medicine,
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external wind is believed to invade the body through the head, specifically via the back of
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the neck, causing disturbances in circulation and leading to head pain. That head pain is very
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characteristic and will make the object of another podcast. But it's a pain that is characterized by
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the pain changing location from one day to the next or within the same day. For example, being
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on the right side at a moment and then on the other side at another moment. It can also be going from
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the back to the front of the brain alongside the trigeminal nerve. Those are called wind migraines
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that can be caused by external wind as well as internal wind that traditional Chinese medicine
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is referring to. The second variable is heat. Exposure to external heat, particularly during
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summer, can exacerbate internal heat, what is called in the West inflammation in the liver
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system, for example, and that is going to trigger migraines. According to traditional Chinese medicine
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theory, excess yang energy from hot weather can overstimulate the liver, leading to irritability,
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tension headaches and pulsating migraines. Exacerbated individuals that have had decades
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of medications for their migraines, like chronic migraine sufferers, your liver has more toxicity
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and therefore your migraines are more likely to be triggered by heat waves. Have you ever
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wondered why some summer months are more intense migraine-wise? If that's you, external heat might
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be the cause, mimicking and latching on your own internal heat and inflammation. The third variable
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that traditional Chinese medicine looks at is dampness. Humidity is another very important
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factor when it comes to migraines in traditional Chinese medicine. High humidity levels can lead to
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a sensation of heaviness and fullness, which according to traditional Chinese medicine, may contribute
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to more migraine symptoms. Traditional Chinese medicine describes dampness as a condition that
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can obstruct the flow of qi, a vital energy, leading to sluggish circulation and pressure-related
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headaches or a sense of fogginess. One way to think of it is that if your body is more humid, a change
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in humidity will impact your migraine patterns. How to know if your body is humid? If you have a bit
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of excess weight around the waist in particular, a bit of cellulitis, estrogen dominance or lose
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tools at times, those can be signs of dampness inside the body. That might in turn make your brain
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more foggy through the vagus nerve and make what is called the migraine hangover last longer. The
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fourth variable that the East looks at is cold and stagnation. In winter months, exposure to extreme
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cold is thought to cause qi and blood stagnation, leading to migraines characterized by sharp,
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stabbing pain. That will of course be stronger if your body is cold itself. If you have a strong
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tendency to have your extremities cold. Now, this comes with more nuances. If you can feel cold at
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times while having hot flushes at other times. And so when we look at the East and the Western
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picture, I want to ask the question, what is the West missing? Well, honestly, about everything.
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And let me explain, and this is important. It's super important if you're a chronic migraine
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sufferer. This is what I do every single day. In the West, people are analyzing the facts as they
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have occurred. We do that exposed, when the migraine has happened already. But even then,
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we're struggling. While there are some studies that I mentioned above, they're conclusive,
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some of them are not. And we struggle to anticipate the individuals for which these types
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of migraines occur. The explanations for these observations are also mere hypothesis of what
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might be happening in the brain. And even if we do somewhat understand that, for example,
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high increase in temperature can lead to some form of dehydration. We're not very clear on what
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to do about that information, aside of the standard unsolicited advice, drink more water.
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I would like to push this even further. The West's practical answer is going to be medication.
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And medication can completely exacerbate these types of weather-induced migraines. Let me explain
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why this is happening to you, possibly, in your home. When you take medications, you increase the
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toxicity inside your body. This is going to have an implication that your liver is more charged
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with toxins. Over time, these toxins will overflow in your gallbladder. And the gallbladder is going
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to start to overflow bile in your stomach, in your stomach spleen, called p-way in Chinese,
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destroying your gastric juices and digestive enzymes. That will in turn make the food that
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goes down in your small and large intestine untriaged. It's going to lead to a biome that
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starts to be mushy and mucousy, a very poor biome. That mucus might start to permeate through the
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lining of your large intestine and either wrap around your uterus and form the start of an
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endometriosis, end up as phlegm on your lungs and make you snore, or just go around your belly
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and make it look a bit overweight and distended, even though you are eating really well.
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That means that through the medications, over time, the buildup of that toxicity,
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your body starts to become damp. Your body is accumulating humidity. Think of it a little bit
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like climate change, like how pollution would lead to heat that would lead to melting of ice
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that would lead to more water. The humidity is going to start to invade your body and put it
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out of balance. It will also, as a side note, alter your vaginal discharge and potentially make you
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more prone to urinary tract infections and vaginal itchiness. And the antibiotics that you're going
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to be receiving for this are going to make your body even more damp. More about that in another
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podcast. We can correct that and explain exactly how. More importantly, the new weather inside of
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your body is now damp and the vagus nerve, imagine that massive tree inside your body,
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tramping its roots, namely in your small and large intestine, all the way to its trunk,
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which is your neck, and to the leaves which are on your brain, is going to be a lot more mushy,
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leading to feeling foggy in your brain and leading to longer migraine hangover
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and with more pain in between migraine attacks and in absence of pain, feeling meh. The West
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is missing all of that, every single aspect of that. The right way to observe it is to treat your
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body like it has a climate, its own climate, and more than that, zones of climates. Some parts of
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your body might be damp and parts might be dry as well. That will make things alter and go from
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bowel movements that alter between being dry and being wet. That will make it that when the
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climate outside varies, its barometric pressure changes, those changes will invade your system
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as well. You need to tackle the root cause and in this case, the climate inside of your body
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is the root cause. Your genetics are only there to give you the possibility of migraine attacks,
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but they are not the migraine attack itself. It is the confluence of the changing weather
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on top of a poor weather inside of your body and potentially other triggers that will trigger the
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actual attack. That's what we do every single day at Migraine Heroes. So how to change it? This is
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the crux of the challenge. Needless to say, no supplement will tackle that specific type of
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migraine, that specific family. What needs to be done is to go back to balance. If your body is
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too damp, you need to make it more dry and if it's too dry, you need to give it more moisture.
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If it's too cold, you need to add warmth and if it's too hot, you need to cool it and if it has
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too much inflammation, you need to extinguish it. Until there, that makes sense and seems easy
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enough to understand and to do. The further challenge is that almost always, you will have
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contradictory imbalances inside of you. You will have cold but also have inflammation. It will
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look like you're hot, but actually it's cold coupled with inflammation and not true heat.
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Again, you will have zones of dampness and zones of dryness. What's more is that if you have had
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a c-section and some form of surgery, it may have created two closed cycles of weather.
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One in your upper body that may feel hot, for example, and one in your lower body that may be
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stagnant and cold. That is what it makes it so complex. Now when I started Migraine Heroes app,
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I never expected ever to come across so much complexity in the family body, in particular
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as hormones will be influenced by these patterns. But as we started to rebalance that for people,
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we started to see that there are other symptoms were disappearing as well and that was worth
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all of the effort. So what does it mean for you in your home today? You have two options. Number
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one, you can control your exposure to weather around you. Number two, you can change the
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climate inside of you. Number one, to control the weather inside of you, you have three possibilities.
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You can monitor the weather. You can start tracking weather changes to understand your
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body's response and anticipate from potential migraine triggers. You can aim to identify what
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sort of weather changes impact you. You can protect your core brain axis, your neck. Wear a scarf or
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a hoodie. That's a massive hack. I'll just repeat it. It's so simple and yet it's so powerful. Wear
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a scarf or a hoodie. This simple action can be crucial in preventing wind-induced migraines in particular
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that the West completely misses. It does seem simplistic. However, I can think of the story
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of Laurence, for example, a nutritionist we helped. Believe it or not, we worked with doctors,
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nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists. She had moved from, I can't remember the geography, to Dubai.
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And in Dubai, she had started to have a lot of wind migraines. And by making that simple choice,
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she made a lot of progress and she started to have a lot of rest until we were able to
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restore her internal balance and the balance that was coming from within. And still in this
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category, dress appropriately. Try to layer. Dress in layers so you can layer down or layer up based
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on how you feel inside your body. Now, the second big idea is to change the weather inside of you
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from your home today. I want you to avoid what is called, again, a big gift here, slow triggers.
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Slow triggers are foods that will make the climate inside of your body more out of balance.
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I'll repeat it. Slow triggers are not triggers that are going to give you immediate
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migraines. They're a lot more nasty than that. They're foods that will make the climate inside
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of your body more out of balance and that will make you even more prone to migraine attacks
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faster. Let me give you very concrete hints here. If you have a tendency to be overweight,
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have a bit of a brain that is often foggy, have bowel movements that are loose,
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have estrogen dominance, then chances are you are damp inside and you can avoid kombucha,
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sweetened dairy, beer, fermented foods and ice cream. If you are in perimenopause
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and you have hot flushes, avoid ginger at all costs, more in another podcast,
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and avoid dry nuts. If you want to have the nuts, you need to re-soak them overnight.
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If you are feeling hot all the time, avoid wine, cheese, greasy foods that will stimulate your
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liver. Limit medications with your doctor to the ones that are truly efficient. If they do not work
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for you, advocate for yourself. You should not be on them. If you have dryness inside of your body
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and you have evening migraines, dizziness, vertigo, avoid ginger, nuts and intermittent fasting,
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especially skipping breakfast. If you're feeling cold all the time and your fingers are white and
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numb, avoid cold and raw foods, even raw vegetables. Try to eat cooked instead.
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Then the last advice in this category is use our app. The Migraine Healers app considers weather
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and its algorithms and your specific medications when recommending foods to support your migraine
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prevention plan. If you would like to go one step further on this topic and discover hacks
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and foods to avoid that can help rebalance your body type and anticipate for weather changes,
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you can go on MigraineHeroes.com slash weather.
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