Our research shows a correlation between migraine headaches and weather changes that cause the blood vessels surrounding the trigeminal nerve to dilate or constrict depending on the barometric pressure. The low pressure causes dilation or expansion of the blood vessels which is a condition not desirable for a migraineur.
Changes in the expansion of these blood vessels which happens during a migraine are generally started by a chemical process. When this happens, the expanding blood vessels put pressure on the tiny nerve endings and this pinching of the nerve is the reason for the pain of a migraine headache.
When we look at the occurrence of a classical migraine, we see that this process happens when the chemical CGRP is secreted by cells within the linings of these blood vessels causing the vessel to expand (dilate). As these vessels put pressure on the nerves the pain of the migraine increases.
Even though the blood vessel started expanding as a reaction to atmospheric change, the chemical process gets invoked as a "migraine memory" gets started. In other words, this happens because a person has a history of migraines and the cells of the blood vessels are in the habit of reacting in a routine way.
If your headaches occur only as a result of weather changes, you may want to try taking the recommended amount of an over-the-counter product like ibuprofen or naproxen sodium, such as Advil or Aleve, at least 12 hours before the weather change and continuing with it for at least 24 hours past the arrival of the weather front.
Another benefit of knowing of an impending change in barometric pressure is to alert you to being especially careful to avoid other migraine triggers (see Trigger List) as their effects can be compounded.
Although we can't do anything about the weather, what we have found is that people who take Migraine Defense are much less likely to be affected by it.
The reason is that Migraine Defense prevents migraine and when the occurrence of migraine is reduced, the outside triggers have less influence on initiating the chemical processes that starts a migraine. You are "breaking old habits" of the body's reaction to these triggers.
If you have any questions about this article or migraine prevention, please call 1-866-367-5953 or contact us online.