I wanted to check in here, and share my updated experiences with this ongoing personal study of how weather affects my PCS. You could read former posts to see my history, but in short I have dealt with debilitating PCS symptoms for over 7 years, but have recently made a lot of improvement.

I was in WI for the first 5 years, and finally came to the end of my rope, being unable to go on, even with a overly-optimistic personality, and strong support from family and friends. I kept a log of symptoms, and after some years, a seasonal pattern emerged. I have a "points" system for symptoms and was averaging 180 points/month in WI. I began to investigate the relationship between weather and health. Finally, one day I lined up my head data with the local weather data, and found there was a lot of correlation with barometric pressure change.

Two years ago, I moved to central WA state, and did a lot better in the drier climate and fewer weather changes, averaging around 70 points/month (much better in summer). This past fall we had a lot of unstable weather, and my health almost reverted back to WI levels in October, since the pressure was a rollercoaster just like WI had been. I was pretty much dysfunctional for part of Sept, all of Oct and Nov.

We left WA after Thanksgiving, and traveled to AZ for the winter. It was raining when we left, and we drove through a lot of rain down into CA. I still had a lot of head pressure and other symptoms as we traveled. Once we got into southern CA, the symptoms evaporated, and I felt REALLY GOOD! I had not felt good like this for months.

We got to southern AZ, and the good health continued. I had a some issues when a rain storm came through in Dec, and a stumble (fall), but outside of that have done really well. Most of my days are "perfect" days without symptoms, and I still thank God every morning that I wake up without head pressure and think - "Praise GOD, it's still gone!". This is the third winter in AZ, and I have averaged a score of 30/month with some months in the teens. Needless to say this is really life-changing for me. According to my pressure change map, I should do even better in southern CA (actually almost any tropical place near the ocean - but who wouldn't do better there?).

I have tried to take into account any other factors that could be affecting me like stress, drinking water, sunshine levels, Vit D, dietary deficiencies, air quality, different foods, sleeping arrangements, exercise levels, temperature, chemical off-gassing in the house, etc. With all the varied places and conditions I have stayed, it seems that the pressure change causing problems shines through.

Last week, I met with Dr Freidman in Los Angeles to look into possible damage to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. It seems that there is not much he can do for me, as my issues come and go. He said that if he were me, he would be looking to move to San Diego. Since he is a research doctor, I told him that I wished that someone could take my data and make it into a study. He said he did not have time, but would put one of his students on it. She is now requesting the data, and is hoping to publish it in a medical journal in the near future. Hoping that this can be of use to finding more answers to PCS.

One disclaimer - every head injury is different, and what is a help to me, will not necessarily be a help to you. I am VERY grateful to have found something that helps, and if this info can help even a few other people get relief, it will be worth the years taken to discover it.