Due to the unusual high temperatures and blazing sun here in the UK, I am left so much more dizzy, unbalanced and with the most evil migraines ever!!! Iām thinking of biting the bullet finally and going to start the topiramate which I have put off due to lots of stuff happening in my life, wanted no more change. My current situation of hiding away from the sun (canāt wear sunglasses due to them making more inbalanced), vegetating in a cool room and trying to just deal with the extra spinning etc., is depressing me.
Anyone else suffer in the sun and heat? and what do you do to try and carry on life?
I struggle tremendously in the heat. Itās horrible this time of year in Southern California. I am so grateful to have air conditioning in my home because I couldnāt live without it right now. I am also dealing with horrible hot flashes due to menopause in combination with MAV, which makes it so much worse for me right now. I stay in quite a bit when it is hot. When I am out and have to deal with it, I am miserable and feel ill. I feel your pain
I canāt stand it when itās too hot, and weāve just had a little heatwave here in No California, that has blessedly turned into a ācoolwaveā.
Usually I just try to stay as low as possible, only mild exercise and do everything more slowly. At work, I stay in the building instead of going out for my usual walks. Which is a bummer as I am starting to get back into shape again and I love my walks. But itās better to be safe than to have a relapse.
Oh, and donāt forget water! We need extra water anyway, compared to most people. So when itās hot I imagine itās a good idea to add another glass to your daily intake.
I too suffer more with high heat and humidity. Right now here in the Midwest itās in the 90ās with 80%+ humidity. Blech! The sun seems so much brighter on these days too. If I can stay in, I do. This weather makes me have more disequilibrium, fuzzy vision, headaches and just an allover fatigue. If I have to go and about I just try to push through it.
Sorry, no good advice really. But, youāre not alone, if that helps.
My best,
Molly
Angela - good luck with starting the Topamax - very brave! Donāt forget - low and slow! Heat in UK is hard to take - the humidity in England can be difficult to cope with. We have high summer temps in Sth Aust but very dry climate. Stay out of the sun as much as poss - sunscreen & wide brimmed hat if you canāt wear sunglasses. Have you tried a really good brand of polarised ones? I wear mine summer & winter and in shopping centres - helps with the fluro lighting.
Youāll need lots of extra liquid anyway with the Topa so stay cool and rest as much as poss. Hope the heatwave doesnāt last too long for your sake.
Barb
I sang with my singing group at a festival at 2 in the afternoon on Sunday in 30 centigrade and I felt quite ill. Got through that then had a dizzy spin, I had been experiencing muffled hearing for two days prior to this. Then that evening, after the performance, went to bed but the temperature in the bedroom was 27 and I woke at 4 with a severe vertigo attack. It wore off by lunchtime and I went out to the shops and felt rough but not dizzy, then today, Wednesday, dizzy lurches again, so I am not coping with this very hot weather at all. I think I might just stay indoors until it passes (only two weeks then, according to the forecast)
Either that, or get down to the South East Coast which is down to around 22.
You can add me to list of those that cannot tollerate the heat and direct sun. I was diagnosed with MAV about 3 months ago and have been on nortriptyline, increasing by 10 mg weekly. I have been on the max dose of 100 mg for about 2 weeks now, pretty much symptom free. I do get imbalanced while walking my dog, when we stop. I have always been intolerant to the heat and direct sun, but it seems like the MAV makes it worse. I had heat stroke about 30 years ago, and ever since I get dehydrated easily and have gone to the ER several times for IV fluids. I now sweat even more than before (I didnāt think that was possible). I always have a water bottle with me when outside, so I am constantly drinking. I also have cardio-syncopy, so my doc to me to add salt to my diet to help keep my BP up - lots of potato chips :D. I try to find shaded areas to be in, instead of in the direct sun. Of course sunglasses and a hat. Oh yea, this past week the temps have been in the low to mid 90s and high humidty every day now in upstate N.Y. Good luck and I hope you find a solution that works for you.
i hate it tooā¦if i have to run errandsā¦i waer a hat, sunglasses & always have a btle of water. i have let my garden run amuk b/c its so boody hot & humid out. so easy to over do it.
yes, indeed I struggle with the heat, even without the heat I get hot flushes when I try to carry out activities which I find hard, that then makes me even more giddy and lightheaded and I feel like I am going to faint,
I think something happens to your blood vessels when your hot or with the heat and blood vessel spasm causes the migraine so its just another thing to aggravate the situation,
I do find I have to wear sunglasses when its bright and when at work (on computer all day, even though I look abit of a wally) although sometimes it does make my balance worse when I first put them on but it does help with the glare.
I find it helps if I carry round a small spray bottle of water even when I attempt the shopping, spraying arms, face and neck helps cool for a few minutes, cant use a fan as the wind force behind it makes me feel giddy??
Also suffer from hayfever so this time of year head feels really full up too and swimmy on top of everything else, dont like taking tablets so just use a bit of vic vapo rub under nose and on top of nose/head.
Sounds obvious but drinking cold water does cool the body on the inside too and just try doing things at a really slow pace. I find I am giddy more when I stop that when I am moving so slow everything right down, hopefully that will help with overheating and excessive diziness.
Iām really enjoying the U.K. weather this week. Mid-June. Itās High Summer. Its about 17C outside and Itās raining intermittently. Sorry to be a misery but since chronic VM the summer heat really does me in and by how much I can only appreciate once it passed. I love to see the sun really. I always remember an Alexander Technique practitioner who was teaching me when I was totally photophobic once asking me if I still liked the sun and I could truthfully reply that I did. Iām a photographer. That doesnāt make it any less draining when you have VM however. The preventatives receive mixed reviews regarding whether or not they affect tolerance too. I have read both. Beta blockers and tricyclics particularly can cause heat intolerance yet both are used to treat it. When I questioned the doctor he suggested as Propranolol reduces the ability to perspire it helps. Not so sure about that one. Iām just hoping July and August wonāt bring any heatwaves this year. Iād rather not spend days thinking Iām about to pass out. Meanwhile I watch the drizzle fall and hope the televised tennis wonāt be cancelled because of the rain.
I love the sun as well, even though it can trigger attacks. I am an amateur photographer, so I see the sun differently from a lot of people. I see it in terms of shadow and highlights.
I like the cloudy days due to the diffused light and the interesting photo opportunities it presents. I do dislike the rainy days if they hang around. An occasional day, say once a week is cleansing, but here in the south central US, rain usually hangs around for several days and then repeats the same pattern a week later.
Lately the sun has not triggered any attacks, and that is puzzling, but welcome. Just when I think Iāve got my triggers figured out, this disease morphs and the triggers change. Right now, deviations from my standard sleep pattern seems to be one, yet Las night I was five hours late gettto bed and no migraine this morning. Maybe itās going to go into hiding, or perhaps the new vitamin regimen is working.
I guess I will wait guardedly for the next attack.
Yeah heat and direct sun really has an effect and brings on migraine and head pressure usually in the afternoon not great as I live in SE Asia at present where temp never drops below 30 degrees but the thing that most gets me is the humidity followed by thunderstormsā¦
