Southern Alberta is famous for its Chinooks — a sudden change in the weather that sends warm, dry air down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and can cause the temperature in places like Calgary and Lethbridge to soar, from well below freezing to well above, in a very short period of time.
But while some Albertans may revel in the break from winter weather, Chinooks can be debilitating for others because they are often accompanied by severe migraine headaches.
“I usually get mine in the night so I wake up with them in the morning and it’s just pounding, throbbing — you’re sensitive to light, you’re sensitive to sound; all you want to do is lay down with your eyes closed,” said Calgarian Kristi Keller.
“I can get 10 to 15 a month, but they are definitely worse with weather, for sure.”
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Calgarian Kristi Keller says she can experience 10 to 15 migraine headaches per month and they are “definitely worse” with sudden changes in the weather.
Global News
Her search for prevention and treatment has included a cocktail of different drugs recommended by doctors.
“They usually start you on a battery of different medications to try and see if they work and actually none of them are really migraine-related, but they can help migraines, so you start off with one if that doesn’t work then you go to the next one and the next,” said Keller.
“A lot of them have a lot of adverse side effects so you just have to keep going through medication trials until you find the right one — and in my case, I never found the right one,” added Keller.
It’s a lengthy process that she said can take months and months and cost thousands of dollars.
“After you get to the end of all the medication trials, you finally qualify for different injectables,” said Keller. “So there’s Botox, there’s a few different types of injectables depending on what you would choose, and then I found out that I can’t afford those. They are somewhat covered, portions of it are covered by Blue Cross, but not fully.”
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To Keller it’s “weird” that, in Calgary, “the migraine capital of Canada,” Alberta Blue Cross, which describes itself as “the largest benefits provider in Alberta and one of the largest in Western Canada,” serving 1.8 million members “through small and large employer group plans, individual plans and government-sponsored programs,” does not cover more of the medications used in the treatment of migraines.
Calgarian Krisit Keller shows off the cocktail of vitamins and drugs she uses for the treatment and prevention of her migraine headaches.
Global News
Dr. Madison Young, who specializes in the treatment of migraines through her practice at My Migraine Clinic in Calgary, says from her experience, migraines disproportionately affect people in their 30s, 40s and 50s and women more than men.
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“I’ve lived in two places, Calgary being one of them, and I’m happy I chose this for a place to work as a migraine doctor because I will never run out of business,” said Young.
Doctor Madison Young, a migraine specialist with “My Migraine Clinic” in Calgary shows off some of the medications she can offer for the treatment of migraines.
Global News
Her treatment of patients involves everything from “lifestyle education” to their dietary habits, exercise and sleep, along with “full service migraine management of all pharmaceutical medications.”
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While the time she spends with patients is covered by the government, she claims there is limited support for the medications she can prescribe.
“Most of the workplace private plans do cover a lot of the newer, better options,” said Young, but “where we run into some problems is (with) some of the non-group benefits, so people that are on disability programs, they don’t sometimes cover some of the better options. So it’s an unfortunate condition where it’s a high level of disability globally, and a lot of people that have (the) disability aren’t able to work, yet if they’re not able to work and get those private plans, they’re not able afford the medication.”
“It can have such a huge impact on their livelihoods and their quality of life and their ability to parent, their ability, to work,” added Young.
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When contacted by Global News about what migraine treatments are covered by the province, a spokesperson for Alberta Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange provided an email statement that said:
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“Like other provinces, Alberta covers migraine treatments recommended through the national expert review process. Health Canada assesses drugs for safety, quality and effectiveness, while Canada’s Drug Agency and Alberta’s Expert Committee on Drug Evaluation and Therapeutics review clinical and cost-effectiveness.”
The statement claims several migraine treatments are included on the Alberta Drug Benefit List, including oral triptans as well as medical Botox and other inhibitors, while other forms of treatment are available “through special authorization, meaning patients must meet specific clinical criteria to access coverage.”
While Keller has found a couple of prescription medications that work for her, they cost about $250 for just eight pills which she said she’ll easily use in a month.
So for now she’s continuing to explore private health insurance options and a carefully controlled regime of nutrition and vitamins.
6:08
Managing weather-related migraines
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