Barometric Pressure

I was telling someone recently what it means to be weather sensitive. I discovered this about myself years ago when I noticed four children all crabby at the same time while a crabby mother reacts. It always seemed to happen on rainy days. At first I blamed the fact that they could not go out to play or because the sky was grey, but when I checked it out, I found that the barometric pressure is the culprit.

In my case, a lowering pressure, often before the rain, means a queezy stomach, aches in my  joints, and edginess. Not a good day to work out marriage problems. Once the rains come, relief comes with it. A rising pressure means sleepiness and sometimes a headache. It sucks to be sleepy when the sun finally comes out after days of rain. While everyone else is out playing I am napping.

Yesterday was a rising pressure day. I took two naps, the second during the dinner hour. Then I had to drag my bag around to get through supper and dishes. Bernie asked me if I was mad about something. No, I told him. He asked me two or three times more until I got mad at him for asking. I went to bed at 8:30 and fell asleep before I got through two pages of my book. I woke up this morning at 7:30: 12 hours of sleep. My reaction to the change in weather seems normal for me and sometimes inconvenient. It is something I have learned to live with over the years.

I learned something new this time though, that I hadn’t noticed in the past. I found myself hungry through the whole ordeal. Starting at about 4  pm, I ate  until my head hit the pillow. I ate half a (large) bag of Doritos at 4:30 and it went downhill from there. I started to think about the chocolate candy my daughter had given me for Mothers Day. After taking a few too many, I gave them to my granddaughter to get them away from my addicted self. But yesterday, after the Doritos, I regretted this and thought maybe I could sneak into her bedroom and find them. Unfortunately, Maddie was in the kitchen when I went down to Kate’s house. “You sure are getting tall,” I said. I wanted to ask her if there were any candies left, but I was not ready to share my state with her. Nor was I ready to show Emma my madness when I picked her up from school and wanted to stop at the grocery store for chicken wings.

You might say I was saved by my shame. A good thing, too, because the barometric pressure is steady now and I feel safe again. Rather than  regretting the Doritos, I am appreciating the fact that I did not eat candy and chicken wings.

2 thoughts on “Barometric Pressure”

  1. Yes. I suppose looking outside ourselves for our blue mood can be a way of avoiding facing some truth about ourselves. On the other hand, when we notice our reactions to factors like the environment we may find a partial solution to our sadness. Without exception, rainy turns to sunny in time. Dark turns to light. If we can blame the weather for a blue mood, we don’t have to blame our mates, our bosses or the high cost of gas. And then we can come into the sunshine without having exhibited some reactive behavior that we are now embarrassed about or that may call for an amends. Gray and rainy today…challenging again.

  2. Wow what a concept. I usually blame how I am feeling on what I have eaten of if I have not exercised. Maybe some of my tiredness has to do with the barometric pressure. I will have to take a closer look at that. Thanks

Comments are closed.