Rain Predictions

I woke up this morning with my head pounding. Everybody's busy for today's reunion and this annoying headache is making me feel sick. I felt the same way yesterday (I took analgesic right away so that the pain will be lesser) and I know it's going to rain today or on Monday. I just know. I've had this since high school-- migraines and headaches preceding rain. Most of the time. I have realized this when I was in 4th year high school that whenever  headaches would attack me and at the same day or next, there would be rain. I remember texting my classmates to bring umbrellas to school and even would bet to some about rain coming. Haha.

While they are busy with the chores at home, plus relatives coming over, I slept in my aunt's room to ease my burden away. I feel bad and irritated that I just wanted to be alone. I had a nap, oh yeah at least I had some nap. I was awakened by my cousin to bring the keys to the net shop. Huh. Nice, I had a clean get away. I wanted to leave the house anyway. I didn't want to see a lot of people today. I wanted to be alone or surf the net or just write or blog or something. 

Voila! The grounds are wet, it actually drizzled! I'm right. Told you it's gonna rain. The best part is that after the rain, my migraine goes away too. As long as it doesn't rain, the pain in my head won't be gone. It's been like this since forever. May this be a blessing or a curse, I've learned to live up with this. I dont let my migraine eat me but sometimes it just hurts a lot that I really have to take some medications and have a nap. It helps of course.

Anyway, here comes the rain again as I write this. Heavier rain this time. Omigod! I imagine chaos in the house right now because the buffet table is at the garage and there are a lot of people who came for the reunion. Tsk.

And you know what? I also know what type of rain it will be. Really. How? With the intensity and the kind of pain of my headache. Call me crazy or something but this is true. 

If the pain is throbbing and very painful, it would be just a drizzle (talithi, as we call it in Ilonggo) or there would be Nimbus clouds on the sky but it won't actually rain, just the clouds turning black. This is the kind of pain and rain that I LOATH because the pain sucks big time.

Nimbus clouds = super headache

However, if I feel dizzy and my head's kinda heavy, the rain will be heavy. I always pray that the rain will be heavy because the pain isn't that much. When others are praying that it won't rain hard, I pray the other way around. Why would I want a drizzle? It's killing me slowly, wicked blasted drizzles.

I love this kind of rain--cats and dogs 

If you ask me how do I feel when storms and typhoons happen? Nothing. No headaches. Nada. I'd rather wish for a typhoon. Seriously. 

I happen to see a Psychology journal back in college and learned that my headache and migraine is caused by the change in humidity. I haven't dug deeper though. So I searched the web about my rain headaches and found out that it has a scientific explanation after all.

So here it goes:

If you think about it, people have been associating their physical and medical conditions with the weather forever. How often have you heard someone predict rain on the way because of a flare up in their arthritis or sciatica? As it turns out, there is physical correlation with the condition of the body and the level of barometric pressure in the atmosphere. 

One theory regarding the correlation between migraine headaches and barometric pressure is that the severe rise or drop in pressure that occur during a significant weather change cause the blood vessels in the brain to constrict or to dilate. Changes in the expansion of the cranial blood vessels has long been believed to be a leading contributing factor to the cause of migraine headaches, but the possibility that a change in barometric pressure can actually cause this constriction and expansion is a theory that has been more recently considered. While not all scientists currently support this theory, or in fact, support the correlation between migraine headaches and barometric pressure at all, most health care professionals I have spoken with who work with migraine headache sufferers absolutely believe that a connection exists between the changes in atmospheric pressure and the occurrence of their patients’ migraines. 

Another theory that has been posed to me regarding the questions surrounding barometric pressure and its effects on migraine headaches is that the change in pressure in the atmosphere may also cause the cranial fluid in the brain to expand, placing more pressure on the bones of the cranium and on the brain itself. 

Finally, there is a theory that the change in atmospheric pressure may actually affect the electrical activity of the brain. In a study conducted by a group of researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, it was determined that when compared with normal individuals, electrical activity in the migraine victims' brains, as measured by an electroencephalogram, was less organized and reached a higher intensity during the weather shifts 

SOURCE: (http://www.personalmd.com/altmedicine_update1.shtml)

So that goes the story of my headaches. Why I can predict rain and actually feel so much pain (depends on the kind of rain--crazy!). I feel cursed at times but somehow I feel blessed because I know when to bring an umbrella (can't say MY umbrella because  I don't have one, I hate umbrellas).

Another thing that's weird is that whenever I'm going anywhere, the rain stops for a while just right in time for me to arrive at my destination--home or something. This happens most of the time. I swear.

I'm bout to go home now. And yes, you guessed it right. The rain has just stopped. :)

I haven't had my breakfast and lunch. I cant wait to go home and pig out. It's Easter Sunday after all and let's celebrate! Banquet, here I come! :)