Drop in Barometric Pressure and Psychiatric Depression

[timrobynw]

I drop in pressure is generally accompanied by low oxygen levels in the air. This can cause the body to work harder to maintain normal oxygen levels in the blood aiding all kinds of physiological processes. This can be tested with an oximeter. If you use a barometer to measure the fluctuations in the air pressure and low pressure (i.e. low oxygen levels in air), you may consider oxygen therapy when the barometer falls. An oxygen pump/concentrator may temporarily raise your blood oxygen levels and counteract the lack of oxygen in the air. Periodic breathing with an oxygen concentrator should temporary raise the oxygen in the blood back to normal barometric levels at least until the barometer rises back to normal levels.

[susan t]

I have had returns of symptoms, including headache, nausea, dizziness, depression, ever since my vp shunt, which occurred more severely with a change in weather, always worse in the summer than winter. The NSG agrees, and says I just have to ride it out, that it happens. Warm weather is nice, but it sure plays havoc with my shunt!

Originally Posted by bryanedmondson

Please contact me if you have any information or understand the fact that you may know of one who suffers from depression, Also having Major Acute Attacks of Depressive Lows that coincide with the BaPressure dropping from 30.00 to 29.99 in mercury or lower.

I am devastated by depression at such a drop. Almost instantaneously with records of local Weather Archive for All Data in my area. I never watch the news so it can't be placebo.

I have tracked several weather factors in addition for a 3 month period emperically. I have spreadsheets and weather graphs hourly for said periods.
I will gladly share with and Physicians doing research on Barometric Pressure and Psychiatric conditions.

Bryan

[Arzka]

I've been suffering short time depression and tiredness over 20 years. It lasts from couple of days to about 10 days. I had no idea, what caused that. I started to keep notes of my diet and feelings last year. No match. Then I found a weather station history data. MATCH! Every time, when pressure drops down quite a fast, under 1005, that's it. Tired and depressed.

But what is the mechanism? Blood pressure? Ear? Sinus?

[Arzka]

Originally Posted by Arzka

I've been suffering short time depression and tiredness over 20 years. It lasts from couple of days to about 10 days. I had no idea, what caused that. I started to keep notes of my diet and feelings last year. No match. Then I found a weather station history data. MATCH! Every time, when pressure drops down quite a fast, under 1005, that's it. Tired and depressed.

But what is the mechanism? Blood pressure? Ear? Sinus?

Update:
I started to feel very tired at last sunday, even depressed momently. Pressure dropped from 1015 hpa to 990, when I checked afterwards. This mornig energy has came back. And when I checked pressure, it had raised to 1018 during last night.
And similar results during last year. The only thing now is to know, why this happens.

[Brain patch]

I suffer from chronic pain from a MVA in my back, head, neck, and constant pain down my left leg. I monitor how I eat, everything I do as to avoid flares. I have totally noticed my pain level goes up when the air pressure goes up. Also the real cold weather makes it worse. When pain level goes up so does depression, muddled thinking, less cognitive functioning. I usually stay in bed and try to meditate all day to get through. Stiffness gets terrible and bath hurts too bad to do. You would think water would help but it is like a torture on those days. My mom has arthritis and goes down on the exact same days I do as well as dad with parkinsons disease. We all have bad flare days on the same days. I have noticed the one common factor is the weather. Me and mom can actually feel it coming a day away. hate it.

[atl1968]

I have been fighting depression / bipolar ii for many years. I've been on and off anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. I've taken so many different types of supplements. I've given up gluten, alcohol, sugar, caffeine. I exercise religiously.

All this has helped but it hasn't stopped periodic 3-5 day stretches of debilitating depression. Can't get out of bed, the world is ending, it's not worth living, etc

Like many of you, I finally (recently) tied it to drops in barometric pressure. My God, how can that cause me to feel the way that I feel??

Let's work together to figure this out. Has anyone tried the oxygen therapy that another poster suggested? I plan to look into this and will post back. Please contact me if you want to discuss this offline -- nothing more important in my life than getting this figured out...

[Diffie]

Hello friends!
Not that any of you need my comments to validate what you have been going through, but I would like to share what happened to me when the atmospheric pressure changed. I use the past tense because I have been very fortunate to have found relief from many of my symptoms since my last surgery in April of 2012. However, I greatly empathize with those of you who continue to suffer from the symptoms of hydrocephalus. May research help us all to be relieved of this condition very soon! Unlike most who have posted in this thread, I experienced depression (what I now relate to as pain because of the relief I found through potent pain relievers like oxycodone) when the barometer rose above 29.9 inches. In fact, I have a mark on our barometer at that spot because it helped me determine if what I was feeling was related to my hydrocephalus or something else. In my journal, I would record every instance of depression (pain) and the barometric readings. More than 98% of the time, my emotional state reflected a rise in the barometric readings to 29.9" or higher. I am very grateful that this issue is being openly discussed and for the confirmation brought to what we have known to be true for a long time.

Kindest Regards,
Lon
(Diffie)
facebook.com/diffie