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Question: How does the weather impact migraines?
The migraine brain is very sensitive in that any time the brain becomes excitable, this can trigger a migraine. There are many types of known triggers, such as red wine, missing a meal, getting a poor night’s sleep, and weather changes. In fact, migraine attacks triggered by weather changes have been reported in up to 75% of sufferers. Some migraine sufferers say they can predict with reasonable certainty when certain weather patterns occur because these will seem to trigger an attack.
The most common weather change that patients report as a cause is rapidly falling atmospheric pressure which is typically seen when a storm is coming. However, other patients state that the bright sun, hot weather, cold weather, strong winds and seasonal changes. Interestingly, many undiagnosed migraineurs feel they have sinus headaches or sinus infections during these seasonal changes when actually they have migraine attacks. A 2004 study examined the sinus headaches of almost 3000 patients and approximately 90% of them met criteria for migraine!
Even more interesting, while many patients swear that their attacks can be triggered by weather changes, studies on the relationship between migraine and weather have never shown consistency. A recent study conducted in Austria examined over 20,000 days recorded by over 200 patients with migraine. Weather factors examined included temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed, sunshine duration, and humidity. There was no single significant influence of weather on migraine attack frequency. Also, the patient’s perception of the weather did not correlate with the frequency either.
So, while there does not seem to be an overall influence of weather patterns in migraine, it is still important for individuals to keep track of their attacks via diaries and calendars. There are other triggers and influential patterns, i.e. menstruation, that have a more profound effect on migraine frequency than weather and these can be targets of treatment.
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Discuss
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Perry L. Davis (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:57:38 +0000): I used to have doctors tell me it was all in my head. I told them to hold my hand when I had a migraine and feel the pain with me.
Carol Tilley Williams Crossposter (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:15:13 +0000): My first memory of a migraine was at age 9, I am now 51 and they've been a consistent part of my life. The most prominent trigger is, and always has been, approaching storms when the pressure drops. My husband was an FAA weather specialist and I could predict weather more accurately that he could.
Sherri Cross-Eberhard (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:17:16 +0000): This is all so true. I get migraines ver frequently with weather changes. I tell people that and they think I am crazy. Thank you so much for this article.
Ashley Dixon Goff (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:14:34 +0000): me too
Laurie DeHilster Shepard (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:31:16 +0000): It's very true! A drop in barometric pressure can trigger a migraine as quick as stress or lack of sleep!
Kathy Nierman-Humphrey (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:32:46 +0000): Absolutely true!
Robin Van Allen (Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:48:54 +0000): I can also predict a weather change due to some change in the barometric pressure and a migraine coming on a couple of days before the weather change. I have suffered with what the neurologists classify as "severe classical migraines" for 43 yrs now....I am 57. My grandmother, mother and all 4 siblings also have suffered with migraine plus now also my son, daughter and two tiny grandsons ...I have prayed that they would all be bypassed but no such luck......(:
Barbara Gronstrom Harrison (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:33:30 +0000): I've not yet made the changing weather pattern connection to migraine attacks, BUT changing seasons is an absolute trigger, especially summer into fall and winter into spring.
Tonia Mcintosh (Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:53:59 +0000): My migraines only came in the summertime, I've never got one in the winter before now, in febuary i had a six week migraine which was so bad i thought i was gonna die. when it was humid, i got a migraine when it was sunny i got a migraine, when the temp. was high i got a migraine, but never in the winter. So I do know the seasons do play a part.
Julie Cramer Avenick (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:42:43 +0000): I'm a great match with my husband. He gets attacks before the approaching storm and mine come after!
Kathy Spinks Shevlin (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:28:42 +0000): My deepest sympathies. I'm up in Loudoun County and my migraines are usually triggered by weather... even a rising barometer. The weather the last 4 months around here has been crazy - it feels like I'm riding a migraine yo-yo! 
Linda Bettes (Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:20:47 +0000): Alot of people suffer from these headaches I know I do They say they stop after you go throuth the change of life Not true I still get them.
Davida Wagner Black (Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:37:45 +0000): Ugh - you just busted the one hope I had...
Barbara Collins (Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:05:03 +0000): Linda, I'm with you. Way past that and still have them like clockwork.
Tammy Boczon Lancaster (Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:10:00 +0000): I was hoping to avoid migraines after the "change of life" too. I'll keep hoping!
Pat Groves (Mon, 09 May 2011 16:33:12 +0000): I still get the headaches, but not as often from hormones but the weather, milk chocolate and wine induced ones still continue. Robin Van Allen (Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:53:42 +0000): hysterectomy made absolutely no difference.....total that is....I'm with you
Barbara. It's so sad......but I have an aunt that just passed away at 87 who continued to have vomiting migraines right up to the month she died. So I just think that our family history doesn't show them going away or slowing down in older age either.......
Diana Lee (Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:44:17 +0000): Thank you for addressing this, Dr. Whyte. I think this really reinforces the individualized nature of migraine.
Lisa Mitchell (Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:24:21 +0000): I am 48 years old and have been suffering migraines for at least 30 years. The weather is ABSOLUTELY is one of my worst triggers. I can tell a day or two before bad weather is actually here that it is coming because I always wind up with a migraine. I would LOVE it if the weather report could include a migraine alert....actually they could hire ME to do it for them! lol
Cristina Burnham Anderson (Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:43:47 +0000): Same here! I tell my husband what the weather is going to be in 2 days. LOL
Cristina Burnham Anderson (Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:41:15 +0000): I have learned that a low pressure system triggers a specific migraine about 2 days prior to the actual weather system hitting us. I live in the UP of Michigan and we have A LOT of low pressure weather so it is a big problem for me. My "weather migraine" is very specific in pain and location and very different from any other migraine I have. Recently, I have started having cranio-sacral massages and have found they have a HUGE HUGE impact on my weather migraines. They have lessened in pain considerably and have shifted slightly in the location of the pain. I highly recommend trying this for anyone suffering migraines!
Lori Sanford (Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:33:16 +0000): I never really thought about the weather triggering my migraines, but now that you mention it... it's been cold and rainy here in Michigan for about the last 3-4 days, and I've had a migraine everday. Maybe it is the weather?
Rick Diamond (Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:57:42 +0000): Lori . . . are you doing any better? Any relief, except for the rain?Ryan Chase (Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:08:25 +0000): Drowsiness and/or tissue pain on the onset of rapid barometric pressure drops is a sign of immune related inflammation of membranes mediating gas transport.
Inflammation isolates tissue by cell swelling on the protien tissue skeleton. Barometric pressure changes further locks the dam. I recommend a food sensitive elimination diet. MOST doctors will not advise on treatment free cures. 3 Days of a immune clean diet will nearly eliminate all such symptoms. Some fish have good slime, some need tropical water.
Terri Mlotek (Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:24:18 +0000): I'm almost guaranteed on when the barometric pressure drops. And there is nothing I can do about it. It removes me from life for two whole days.
Simone Soileau (Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:12:00 +0000): I have tracked my migraines for years. I can lay the barometric graph side by side with the highs and lows and they line up exactly. It is almost scary how close they will line up. The problem is you can't predict the pressure data, you can only look at it historically.
"My migraines, when at their worst would have me throwing up and unable to really focus or concentrate. I used to still go into work sometimes having to pull over and throw up on the side of the road." 
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My migraines have been less severe since menopause, but I still get a lot of them, mostly weather and food related.