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Friday, June 17, 2016

Migraines, Sunlight, and CGRP

I've never been a fan of the sun. Contrary to most people, I associate it with feeling crappy. :/ I love the outdoors--as long as it's in the shade, overcast, or early evening to night. Recently I realized that on the occasions I do stumble out into the sun for too long, I get nasty migraines the next day...

So I did a quick web search, and found that skin produces CGRP when exposed to UV and, separately, that CGRP triggers migraines in prone individuals. (The newest migraine drugs are mostly targetting CGRP in one way or another.)

Put those two together and it's a pretty short path from sun exposure to migraine! (And when you look at other effects of CGRP, it explains why I feel crappy more generally.) Usually we think about sun sensitivity of the eyes with migraine, but here we're talking skin exposure. Something to look for if you get migraines. Let me know if it's true for you too. (Solutions: bigger hat, sunscreen, sleeping in a coffin during the day)

[This poorly written ramble has been brought to you by my current migraine.]

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