ADHD / weather sensitivity

[rosyred45]

know what I just thought about, it might sound childish, but it might work.

Graph out the days weather-
one column for each of the following:
temp.
precip
baramoter
cloud cover

then make the rows for every hour or two or whatever you want. AM or PM could work as well

Get yourself one of the thermometer with the barometers and rain gauge and stick it out side next to a window so you can see it easily.

My husband LOVES dealing with the weather. So if you have any questions about that, let me know and I'll ask him.

Hope you have a good day!
Kaiti

[songwriter]

kaiti-
Thank you for the suggestion. I am intrigued with weather and graphs but have never made my own weather charts. Sounds fun.
Maybe this could help to put the peices of the puzzle together for me.
-songwriter

[rosyred45]

I forgot to add, put in your mood at the time you check. Don't go back and "think" you were happy, or sad, or what ever, just leave it blank if you forget to write it in. That way it'll eliminate the chance of mixing up the responses.

Take care
Kaiti

[MomX2]

Yes!!!!! most definately yes! I've often wonder if there is such a thing as barametric pressure triggered depression. The winter snowstorms and spring thunderstorms are the *worst* for me. I wake up with migraine headaches sometimes. Often I feel a band of pressure around my head and across my chest in the hours or even days before a thunderstorm. This can be off and on for weeks in the spring (such as recently with the storms and flooding). I absolutely become irritable and depressed and there is nothing I can do to make myself feel better even though I want to. Nothing releases that sense of pressure so I just have to live with it. Medications can help with the headache but don't release me from the sense of pressure and depression. Also If the weather switches to sunny and mild in mid day I can feel my mood life almost immediately. I actually feel lighter.

I've kept written records of my moods every hour and sometimes every half hour. One thing I found out was during spring weather changes my moods can fluctuate significantly in just an hour or so. I made a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being happy and 10 being a "black mood". My mood would often jump from a 2 to a 7 or 8 in the spring and then swing back to 5 an hour later. I need to put in on some type of graph or chart sometime so I can get a visual of what it looks like.

I will tell you this that I wish I could have some freedom from the pressure and sense of depression brought on by weather changes in the spring. It really ruins my days sometimes when I have to try so hard to be happy and I'm not really.

[MomX2]

Oh and by the way, I think there is a gene that has been linked to both ADHD and migraines. I want to say it's labelled the DRD4 Dopamine Receptor Gene but I would need to look it up to confirm that. I had read something somewhere about that.

[songwriter]

Momx2-
Thank you for your reply! Doesn't it feel good to know we're not alone in this?!
I have found some stuff on the net under 'human biometeorology'- Have you looked into this topic? Apparently,Europe is way ahead of us on research of how weather affects living beings and few doctors take it very seriously here in the States.
I have been taking Wellbutrin and generally feel better but it doesn't help my "B.W.D" ( bad weather days)
I hope to send you a personal message when I have more time
t.t.f.n.- Paul (songwriter)

[MomX2]

Have you ever had confusing symptoms that felt as though they were triggered by a weather change or didn't feel them when you expected to?

Here are two examples of what I mean. One day I kept feeling the pressure building up and up on me, almost like a crushing feeling that eventually triggered a mild migraine type headache. It felt exactly the way I feel when a storm front is coming in. However, the weather was very bright, sunny and warm. No storm ever came through my area and eventually the feeling passed. That same day a friend who lives up north in the state from me posted that severe thunderstorms had gone through her area. It was as though I felt those storms even though we never had a cloud in the sky here.

Another example is this. About a year ago we were having severe afternoon storms coming in. The skies were dark as night and tornado watches were all over the state. I ended up over at the school building as I was going to pick my child up. I had to stay there through a tornado warning sitting next to a frightened little girl. I kept telling her I thought we were okay because I couldn't feel anything even though I was kind of worried because I couldn't feel it. This was confusing to me because normally the pressure and sense of depression is very intense with that type of storm but I couldn't feel a thing that day. The tornado touched down just a few miles down the road from where we were knocking down homes and a forest and I never sensed a change at all.

[songwriter]

Mom2x-
Yes , I am well aquainted with this type of situation. It seems to be changes in barometer (particularly H to L), that wreak havok on my emotional wellbeing. When I begin to feel weird I look at the regional radar picture and inevitably I will find:

1. strong storms within a 200 mile radius of here - OR-

2. L pressure and H pressure 'fighting it out' close by -OR-

3. A drastic shift in weather pattern approaching. EXAMPLE :

We have been in a sort of pattern here in illinois where everyday there has been a chance of storms for what seems like weeks.Just before the wet pattern came I was a basket case.
During this pattern I have been doing o.k. for the most part ,barring a few isolated episodes . When the next change comes
I may or may not be o.k. depending on the barometer.
I have heard that more people have heart attacks on a low barometer. I have also read that low barometric pressure affects blood flow to the brain causing migrains and anxiety and depression.
Dont you wish there were a pill we could take to offset this somehow? (maybe there is and we dont know about it)

[MomX2]

I have to admit that I wish there was a pill that would off set this. It just interrfers with my life too much when all I really want to do it get on with my life. I'm really sick of medication because my doctor now has me on 3 I'll likely have to take the rest of my life and these aren't inexpensive. I could just about make payments on a new car with what all the medication costs although we have insurance for much it right now. I don't count on that lasting since I've learned insurance pays less and less over time. My doctors keep telling me I'm one of the healthiest patients they have and I just don't know how they can possibly think that.

[rosyred45]

Momx2, per your medications:

Does your insurance have a mailing program for prescriptions? I only ask this because my mom and dad do this threw the insurance they have. We have the same as my husband works at hte same place, but we don't have any meds that we need filled on a regular basis. I know that the blood pressure medicine mom and dad both take goes into the hundreds for one fill, and that doesn't even last a month for either of them.

You could look into that if it isn't much trouble, it'll save you in the long run I would hope.

Take care
Kaiti