Best place in USA to live for migraine/headache sufferers?

[Aldika1956]

If migraines and headaches are affected by air pressure, humidity, etc., then where would be the ideal place to live for someone who suffers from migraines and headaches, and also allergies?  Any ideas?

[Eddie1994]

I neglected to mention on a previous post about prodome periods of migraines.  The prodrome preceeds the migraine by hours to a day or two.  I can always tell when my wife is about to get a migraine as agitation is a hallmark of the prodrome period.  I would suspect that the stress and agitation you felt was part of the prodrome.

I ran the historical data for Sunday the 13th.  Winds were from the East beginning about 11:00 AM with slightly sustained winds from the East from 1:00 PM through 10:00 PM.  Humidity was high through the morning and then again from 3:00PM.  So there appears to be enough humidity and air particulates to generate EMF fields although it's on the lower side for the wind.  The Easterly and Westerly wind direction seem to be key in our research.  So your info does help.  If it was a strictly North/South wind, that wouldn't fit our model and would be less likely to contribute to headaches.  I thank you for the info.  

I hope you don't get anymore migraines but if you do, just post the time it started and I'll plug-in the data again.

[diggersnat]

I have also suffered from migraines since I was about 10 years old.  Nothing seemed to work until my doctor finally prescribed sumatriptan.  This will knock me out for 1/2 a day or more, but it does make the pain disappear once I'm alert again.
I've lived in a few different places. They started when I was living in the lower mainland in BC, Canada which gets a lot of rain and I attributed the headaches to the weather, but when I moved to Calgary, AB the migraines still came and there is a lot less rain.  Both places can get pretty windy though, so possibly there is a bit of a link there. When I moved to Manitoba I continued to get migraines until I was pregnant, and even after a miscarriage, the migraines never returned.

[Aldika1956]

I have been living in the Los Angeles area for the last 16 years. Zip code is 91401. I had the worst migraine I ever had last Sunday. I posted about it earlier - a rather rambling post. It seemed to be brought on by stress, or I guess you could say emotion. I was very upset and explaining to my son about why I was upset, and I got more and more agitated. The pain hit me very suddenly. It also made my neck and back hurt. While waiting in the emergency room I think I had 2 minor seizures. These left me tingling all over and actually made me feel more relaxed and lessened the pain a little. At this point I felt like I could swallow something, and as I wasn't getting any help in the er, so I had my husband take me home and I took a Clonazepam,. That helped the pain somewhat. It was prescribed for my husband when he was having seizures after surgery. It's supposed to control seizures and anxiety.

I took Dramamine once a long time ago for a migraine, and it worked really well. I don't know what gave me the idea, or why I haven't tried it since then, but I am contemplating getting some. My mother used to use them a lot. I never knew why. I just thought they were her "mother's little helper."

I have been getting migraines since before I had ever heard the term "migraine." They were bad when I lived in the high desert, but they have not really improved since I moved down here.  But I have noticed that when there is wind, whether here or in the high desert, I am more likely to get some sort of headache or migraine.

I used to get them a couple of times a month. Since menopause they have lessened, but not stopped. I can't stand the idea of ever having another one like Sunday. Maybe the right kind of depression and or anxiety medication will help me.

Thanks for your input.

[Eddie1994]

You hit a key ingredient of the research - wind.  That, combined with some other substances such as humidity or dust create the right combinations to trigger migraines.  Keep in mind that migraines are thought to be electrical storms within the brain.  The antidepressants appear to help calm the excess electrical activity.  You may need to try some different versions to find the right one.

Also, since you moved from the high desert, would you feel comfortable providing a nearby city zipcode from that area and just a couple of dates i.e. day/month/yr that you remember that you had a major migraine.  From that information I can give you some general info as to whether your migraines fit the research model.   Thanks for any assistance you can provide.  

[Aldika1956]

Hi Eddie, thank you so much for the info. I just recently realized that there seems to be a link between stress and my migraines. But I also have noticed that on windy days I tend to have more problems, especially when we lived in the high desert.

I seem to have a lot of triggers. Most of my migraines start in the middle of the night, which makes it hard to pinpoint the trigger, or to take medication in time to get ahead of the pain.

Since I do have major problems with depression, your suggestion about the antidepressant may be something that would work well for me.

Thanks so much again.

[Eddie1994]

I'm not so sure there is a good place anywhere on earth.  Keep in mind that air pressure and humidity as factors for migraines is pure speculation and no definitive study can link conclusively weather as a factor.  The cause, I believe and have been researching, is more elementary.  A better strategy might be to seek a medication that reduces the migraine storm within the brain.  After 17 years of migraines, my wife and I have found the cause of her migraines and can actually reproduce the head pain and subsequent migraines.  We presently have a leading headache center seriously interested in our findings.  The good news is that my wife seems to be responding very well to a antidepressant called Pamalor (a generic version) that was prescribed by this center.  Surprisingly it seems to work at very low dosage of 10mg.  Consider this approach and see if it can work for you.