Do Barometric/Weather Changes Affect You?

[Slickk]

Hi all!
I struggle with fatigue, aches and malaise when the barometric pressure changes (verified by my barometer weather glass). I've read a little about this online but there seems to be little known about it. I know I have autoimmune problems, having been 'diagnosed' years ago with different maladies. So many different rheumatologists with varied answers.
I have learned to live with it, but wondered how many others feel this way before a storm or change of weather pattern.
I know the scientific reason being our bodies are not independent of our environment and changing pressures affect our water and oxygen content, but it would be reassuring to know that I am not alone.
I think I should relocate to an area with less weather variances but no can do.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/ma/Fatigue-from-weather-changes?/6/1/30403866

 

[Austina]

I was in Austin, Tx a couple of years ago during some really heavy stormy weather. I felt really ill, heady, nauseous and fatigued, I'm convinced it was the barometric pressure.

 

[telephone89]

It used to when I was a child. I would get the most intense headaches ever, possibly migraines I'm not sure. I'd remember rolling around on the floor crying because they hurt so bad, and the only constant was the weather was rapidly changing.
I grew out of it, luckily. Or at least the migraine part of it.

 

[ksinger]

I figured out I am a barometer, back in about 2004. I finally went, "Hmmm...every time I feel like I have the flu, it's cloudy or stormy or rainy." Then I found the Oklahoma Mesonet.org. I can watch near-real-time updates of the pressure (and other things). My observation is that it isn't pressure changes, because the pressure is changing pretty much constantly. It's more about how fast the pressure changes. So, for me, anything more than a 3-4 millibar change in a 12 hour period, is liable to set me off, and I end up with flu-like symptoms. Of course, being in storm central, means the pressure often does some totally whack things. Just another reason I despise spring around here. Summer is generally super hot , but once the summer high pressure heat dome fills in and settles here, pressure is more steady and I feel better, even considering the heat.

 

[Slickk]

Oh my goodness @ksinger , what a perfect way to put it. I am a barometer. Lol
I think you are right about the speed of the weather change. For example, today we are anticipating strong storms and the water barometer I have filled up quickly and overflowed and I felt horrible. I just woke up in fact, it's quite debilitating.
Thank you for the information. I will look for a website that monitors the barometer in my area.
@telephone89 I'm happy for you that you seem to have outgrown the problems. Luckily I don't get the migraines.
@Austina I believe it. We are animals after all and if they sense weather changes why wouldn't we?
Thank you for sharing!!

 

[ksinger]

Sandeek, no reply is required, but based on clues in your opener post, I'm guessing fibro or chronic fatigue for you. If so, lucky you. (not)

OK, I'll quit being an armchair doc. It's bad enough that I do it with myself, I'm just stabbing a bit in the dark with another human.

Docs do hate when I come in and say, "Doc, I'm pretty sure I've got X." Of course, I only do this with low hanging fruit, you know, stuff that's super obvious. When I do dare to do that, I usually really do have X. Some diagnoses are hard and are way way above my pay grade, but some can be done pretty well by a layperson.

 

[Karl_K]

yea big time
sinus, joints and energy levels react to it.

 

[kmarla]

Yes. Usually seems to happen with low pressure systems. Flu like symptoms and used to get bad migraines. I still get headaches but not as bad anymore.

 

[BlingDreams]

Yep. I too call myself a human barometer. It's funny you asked this as I just posted a similar question to my FB friends a couple of weeks ago about if anyone else had migraine issues related to pressure changes. I was looking for an app to track my migraines (several a week usually) to see if I could pinpoint their causes/triggers and then hopefully find a way to avoid them or at least minimize their impact. I was amazed how many people suffer from this problem.

Two websites/apps I was given that you might also be interested in:
http://weatherless.com/
http://www.migrainebuddy.com/

 

[Slickk]

Sandeek, no reply is required, but based on clues in your opener post, I'm guessing fibro or chronic fatigue for you. If so, lucky you. (not)

OK, I'll quit being an armchair doc. It's bad enough that I do it with myself, I'm just stabbing a bit in the dark with another human.

Docs do hate when I come in and say, "Doc, I'm pretty sure I've got X." Of course, I only do this with low hanging fruit, you know, stuff that's super obvious. When I do dare to do that, I usually really do have X. Some diagnoses are hard and are way way above my pay grade, but some can be done pretty well by a layperson.

Well, you are a pretty good armchair Dr! I've been told those as well as Lupus. Years ago I went to quite a few Drs, haven't been recently as I chose to not medicate and they all wanted me to take meds. My neck surgeon thinks it is caused by my neck problems but since he fixed that, I think not!
Thank you Karl and Kmarla for weighing in. It does help to know you're not alone. My IRL people think I'm a bit crazy about the weather, and I swear I am very sane. Lol
ETA @ILikeShiny Thank you for answering as well! Again, it really is nice to know that it's an authentic reality for some as like I said, I seem to be the only one I know irl. Thanks for the links. Off to peruse!

 

[ksinger]

Well, you are a pretty good armchair Dr! I've been told those as well as Lupus. Years ago I went to quite a few Drs, haven't been recently as I chose to not medicate and they all wanted me to take meds. My neck surgeon thinks it is caused by my neck problems but since he fixed that, I think not!
Thank you Karl and Kmarla for weighing in. It does help to know you're not alone. My IRL people think I'm a bit crazy about the weather, and I swear I am very sane. Lol
ETA @ILikeShiny Thank you for answering as well! Again, it really is nice to know that it's an authentic reality for some as like I said, I seem to be the only one I know irl. Thanks for the links. Off to peruse!

LOL! The Dr is IN. Ha!
And yes, probably the mayo jar of either an SSRI or SSNRI. Now with a complimentary Pez dispenser in the design of your choice!

To be fair, chronic pain is probably the hardest, most frustrating thing to treat for both patient and doctor. Considering that they give antidepressants for all sorts of dubious, seriously untested off-label uses, it's really an admission that they can't offer much, and on some level I think they know it. And yes, I've briefly tried more than one of those meds in the past. I guess my placebo effect is hard to elicit, since I could tell no difference in my pain levels. (I wasn't willing to keep upping and upping and upping doses, so that was the end of that) I wish sometimes, that I did believe in that stuff more.

And speaking of pressures, it feels....interesting...outside today. I need to keep an eye on the weather: we may be getting some today.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

I get wicked headaches whenever it's going to rain or snow.

 

[Slickk]

Exactly @ksinger I told my Dr I am not a depressed person at all, but I got mighty depressed taking those meds and gaining enough weight to split a pair of pants with none of the pain or fatigue relief benefits!

 

[AprilBaby]

Horrible migraine the 24 hrs before a storm front comes in. No one believes me.

 

[Begonia]

Oh you bet. When the pressure is changing rapidly and going from sunny to cloudy. Not the other way around. I get killer headaches that can easily turn into migraines. I'm pretty useless during that time.
You aren't alone there.

 

[VRBeauty]

Just slightly. I'll sometimes get some arthritis pain before a storm comes in, but usually it's in my thumb rather than my hips. Totally ignorable. However, I was once in the Yucatán when a hurricane rolled in. I could barely walk or stand during the day or two before the hurricane hit land, and the pain continued for several days. That was when I first learned that I have arthritis in my hips.

 

[Slickk]

Wow! Thank you all for confirming what I feel! Today was awful. I live in NY and when I visited Arizona to move my daughter there, I felt so much better, hand swelling immediately disappeared and I felt much better all around.
I really believe climate is a large factor...anyone care to share what region or climate you reside in?

 

[foxinsox]

I'm in NZ - where we live, we get northwesterly winds in summer which have a high pressure (I think) system associated with them - they're a hot dry gusty wind which is a relatively well known migraine trigger amongst the locals. My husband is quite susceptible to them if he's working outside when a norwester is brewing.
I'm the opposite - I react to bad weather with whichever joint I've injured most recently aching and stiffening up - in my twenties, I sprained a thumb snowboarding. For 3 years after, I had a fairly accurate weather thumb which would ache and 'ping' a day out from bad weather.
There's supposed to be no connection between our bodies and the weather but there's too many examples of people responding like this that I can't believe it

 

[maccers]

It's a very real thing where I live. In winter months, when there's a sudden increase in temperature and humidity, high winds and a shift in the barometric pressure, we call it a chinook. Makes for amazing pictures as the cloud cover is unusual. Many, many people get migraines and feel ill when a chinook is occurring. So, yes, I believe that rapid changes in pressure and/or high winds can affect some people.

 

[AprilBaby]

Chicago. The wind swirls in a circle over Lake Michigan and that's when it comes. Today is a good day.

 

[Arkteia]

I used to have pretty obvious joint pains when I was much younger, 17-25, with cold, rain or changes in barometric pressure. Then they disappeared.
Recently genetic tests indicated that I carry some genes for lupus, only I never developed lupus. I wonder if "aches and pains" were precursors, but something broke the chain of events. Currently i love the rain.

 

[Arcadian]

I feel them but not as bad. Usually right before a big weather event, but during the course of the day, not really (we get rain every day one way or another...lol)

 

[Slickk]

Thank you all for sharing. Knowing others feel it too makes it a bit easier to bear. It's been a rough summer so far for me, when usually spring is the worst.
Hope everyone is enjoying good stable weather patterns and nice high pressure systems only!