Feedback Barometric pressure

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Gordon
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Feedback Barometric pressure

Post by Gordon »

Two of us are in the same office and we are comparing notes when we feel like crap and when we feel okay and we have noticed that the Barometric pressure has a significant impact on how we feel.
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SaintLouis
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Post by SaintLouis »

Humidity has a huge affect on my symptoms (especially the head ones and just overall weakness) and it doesn't have to be hot, just relatively high humidity. I always assumed it had something to do with the greater amount of water molecules in each brreath I take and less oxygen. But who knows, maybe it has more to do with the pressure?

All I know is, I can predict rain with a higher degree of accuracy than our news meteorologist. 8O
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PCakes
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Re: Feedback Barometric pressure

Post by PCakes »

Gordon wrote:Two of us are in the same office and we are comparing notes when we feel like crap and when we feel okay and we have noticed that the Barometric pressure has a significant impact on how we feel.
Without a doubt. I've been tracking this effect on my symptoms for almost a year now.

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopic-13473-da ... ic-15.html
PCakes wrote:
selkie wrote:Since the pain arrives with strong winds & times of the year with pollen..
interesting..
stong winds = barometric swings = vascular effect
seasonal allergies = spring / fall = barometric swings = vascular effect

I found the following surfing for proof.. full credit to 'Landlady' @ 'philosophyforums.com'
#4 Posted Jan 24, 2010 - 9:28 PM:

I did some research on different existing theories that explain what might be causing the drowsiness and headache. My initial guess was that the barometric pressure causes an imbalance between the intracranial pressure and the rest of the body (along the lines of Monro-Kellie hypothesis), and the symptoms were somehow related to an attempt to equalize the pressure. So, I assumed the culprit was the pressure itself. Many of the explanations involving correlations between weather and headaches that I came across, however, point to possible changes in oxygen levels in the atmosphere, combined with the vascular theory as a main triggering mechanism.

The brain hypoxia theory suggests that a change in barometric pressure causes changes in oxygen levels in the atmosphere, which in turn cause changes in the blood oxygen levels. To compensate for lowered oxygen, the blood vessels dilate to bring more blood flow to the brain. There are many things that can cause blood vessels to dilate, of course, including diet and hormonal changes, but a change (decrease) in the blood oxygen would also have the same effect on the vascular system, namely vasodilation; and considering that one of the constants in all of the cases is the drop in atmospheric pressure, it would seem natural to assume that lowered oxygen level might definitely be a triggering mechanism. This could be easily corroborated (or alternatively, refuted) by monitoring of oxygen concentration in the air as the air pressure changes to see if, indeed, there is a decrease in oxygen concentration in the air as air pressure decreases.

Although it’s true that most of the brain is insensitive to pain, there are some sensory nerves that surround intracranial blood vessels, and as the blood vessels dilate they activate sensory nerves (in this particular case, the activation of trigeminal sensory nerves/Nerve V is suspected), thus causing a perception of pain. It was also mentioned that activating trigeminal nerves triggers the release of certain vasoactive neuropeptides which act as vasodilators, which further aggravate the symptoms.
The proponents of vascular theory point to the fact that when the patients are given vasodilators, the symptoms of the migraines got worse, and when they were given vasoconstrictors, the symptoms were diminished. This points to the fact that vascular theory definately plays a role in triggering headaches.

The hypoxia theory seems plausible to me for several reasons. One of the symptoms of brain hypoxia is drowsiness, which is one of the first things that I notice when the pressure is dropping. There are some studies which show that brain hypoxia is often a precursor to many migraines, as well. The hypoxia theory would also explain why this happens only when the pressure is dropping and not when it’s rising. And this theory is the only thing so far that could explain this fact.

However, I am mindful of the possibility that there could be some other contributing factors, as well. If pressure drop was the sole factor then I would have a headache every time there was a pressure drop, which is not usually the case. Some other factors that were mentioned were hormonal changes, especially change in estrogen levels. It’s possible that the pressure drop coincided with an estrogen drop and that somehow played in. It’s been shown that drop in estrogen levels leads to a drop in serotonin levels, which in turn cause the trigeminal system to release the same neuropeptides which cause vasodilation (specifically substance P). This was one of the explanations given as to why women are more susceptible to headaches/migraines then men.
I also came across an interesting study in which people who suffered from frequent migraines were shown to have low levels of vitamin D in their blood, so there might also be a relevant component of nutritional deficiency that might affect vascular health and contribute to sensitivity/pain. I haven’t had the time to look more in depth into this, but I think it would be interesting to follow this up, or at least keep it in mind.
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rssugg
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Post by rssugg »

Most folks with MS have this issue - i discussed this with my ccsvi doctor and he blieves that there is a strong correlation to pressure and venous outflows due to the unequal pressure of the head and the rest of the body.
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mavis
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Post by mavis »

Heat and/or humidity absolutely floors me. It is my biggest problem in the summer here in southeastern Canada so much so that I plan around the weather.
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Blaze
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Post by Blaze »

Falling barometric pressure as well as heat and humidity have been huge issues for me for 25 of the 27 years that I have had MS.

My absolute worst weather conditions to contend with is fog and approaching thunder storms. And those conditions on a hot, humid day are horrendous.
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Nasti
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Post by Nasti »

very much not tupically, cold affects me, not the hot. And weather sudden swings from warm to cold and sometimes vice versa. This changing climate on our earth seems to be very wracking. And if it gets even worse and worse...
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blossom
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Post by blossom »

i don't even have to hear the weather report to know the weather is changeing. it effects me for the worse. once it levels out i kinda level out. heat and cold are not even something i can function in.
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jozee
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Post by jozee »

weather rules my life. Extreme heat and cold are impossible for me . When the weather change is extreme I fall down alot. MS symptoms are balance and lower body weakness mostly. In the morning I'm normal and by 11a.m. I'm a wobbling mess. Around 8 or 9 p.m. my balance improves. This started when I was 17 and has progessed as I've aged. Now I'm 47 and bounce off the walls. My father, also an MSer has the same symptoms. Changes in the barometric pressure effect the bloodflow in my venious system. YES!

Jozee
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