Air purifiers and migraine
Fairly recently I decided that since the medical profession were unwilling/unable to help me with my migraines it was all down to me. I have taken a variety of steps, including getting an HEPA filter air purifier, however, despite all advice to the contrary this seems to cause migraine in me! Does anyone have any idea why this could be?
- Greetings! Thank you so much for sharing this conundrum with us. It definitely seems illogical at first glance. My assumption would be that perhaps the filter or machine is putting out a smell that may be triggering attacks for you. Do you generally find you are triggered by smells? I'm sorry you are feeling disappointed in the medical profession - it's understandable. I thought you might be interested in some links about types of at-home approaches you can try to help your condition: https://migraine.com/migraine-treatment/natural-remedies. And: https://migraine.com/migraine-treatment/migraine-otc-drugs. And: https://migraine.com/complementary-and-alternative-therapies. We are here for you as you navigate your life with migraine - and are here to provide support and information anytime. Warmly- Holly -migraine.com team. bettynoodle, I wonder if your air purifier uses any ionizing processes. I had had a whole home system put in (in my main air handler). The company said it emits ALMOST zero ions, but it definitely triggered major headaches that in turn led to migraine. I had them come back to remove it and the pain disappeared very quickly. I have a lung condition so have been considering a HEPA filter purifier, but now I am having second thoughts.
This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing! Glad you found a way to stop the attacks that were triggered by the filter. Warmly- Holly -migraine.com team.
I have one and it does help. I do make sure to put it in the ‘night option’ which turns off all lights on filter off and sound is minimize . I also prefer to use an eye mask to avoid any equipment light in the bedroom .
Thank you for sharing how you use your filter. It's nice it has these options to customize your experience. Warmly- Holly -migraine.com team.
The first thought is that migraine in some people might or not be linked to air quality. If your migraine is not linked to air quality then it can seem unlikely that an air purifier will do any good. However, still - it might.
It's possible that, though air would be nothing to do with why you have migraine, purified air may still help you. Migraine and also neurological conditions associated with so much going on in the body (often can be considered "systemic") including the physical nervous system and the psychological aspect, may be improved by what you may expect, and also, by what may be unexpected. Everyone is different of course.
The second thought I had is that, at first glance and thinking of the more obvious, the reason some people are being negatively affected by purified air could be one of two things, or both.
Firstly, it could that the whole bodily system is simply being thrown by a new sensation whose effect might even be almost visceral in terms of bad effect. This is probably unusual rare, but for some people they can get over the new physical situation, their bodies may adapt. For some others the bad feelings might stick - for some time or more or less permanently.
I'll just insert here that, whatever physical situation around us and situation of the physical body we are dealing with, we are all psychological beings also (and emotional) and that truth can never go away. I say that to underline how the simple act of just explaining the possibilities within a situation, possible explanations, can itself be a real help somehow to many people, if not good enough to be itself a solution.
Secondly then, in possible reasons for reacting against the purified air, this might come down to the materials in the purifier.
The two most common air filters nowadays are probably HEPA and carbon aka activated carbon or charcoal.
Carbon filters are typically made from natural materials but as it's basically charcoal formed into a network making a filter, this can be a strong substance for some people to experience all of their home air going through. Charcoal is natural, biological materials such as coconuts burnt more or less to a cinder. It's worth bearing in mind that some migraine sufferers have difficulties with strong materials, whether smells or just being in the atmosphere. Carbon filters though don't tend to smell or at least produce much of a smell. (Sensitive people of course might very much disagree.)
Again, it's possible where this is a problem some people can get used to the materials.
One material home HEPA filters can be made from is polypropylene, which is a synthetic fabric, a plastic basically, where synthetic materials might bring on negative effects in some people.
From looking at them a lot of people assume that HEPA filters are made from paper (natural fibres from trees).
Continued...
... For most home filters it is is probably wrong that it's made of paper, though medical grade HEPA filters are indeed made from high quality paper.With home HEPA filters, they're likely to be from polypropylene or fiberglass. Unfortunately it's possible that you might not be able to find out which, even if you have bought the purifier and are reading the accompanying literature.
Fiberglass is a natural material, basically real glass fibres. If you are looking for a natural HEPA filter and can identity one with a fiberglass filter, that may do.
It's time for a 'however', though - because I've read that HEPA filters are made with 5% acrylic fixer and I've no idea if that applies to all kinds of HEPA filter or just one or two.
It's very worth bearing in mind if you are wondering if a fibreglass HEPA or even a medical grade paper filter would be good for you, they easily may or may not be.
If the effect of the purifier would indeed come down to materials for you, for example avoiding synthetics, you might also be able to find other kinds of natural filters, such as cotton roll filters. I have a tiny purifier at home which has cotton roll, charcoal and uv lamp (very inexpensive ) which is a 'leave on' filter as it has a very low watt fan very slowly pulling the room air through it. It cannot, if you need it, be switched on to purify a whole room within half an hour as many larger purifiers will do
The materials of the rest of the purifier might make a difference to some people. The vast majority of home units are plastic. Some have metal front meshes or other metal parts.
Finally, whilst these filters mentioned will remove dust and particulates from the air, and some claim to deal with irritants or toxins such as formaldehyde, they are unlikely to remove bacteria - actual microbial germs in the air.
It's worth remembering that bacteria is likely to build gradually on the filter and will need either replacing or periodic cleaning. If your manual doesn't tell you how to clean a filter it might be (who knows) that you would harm the filler's ability by cleaning it yourself. Having said that I clean HEPA and carbon filters, and spongy pre-filters. I don't know if it reduces their effectiveness.
For a purifier which also kills bacteria, a UV (ultraviolet) lamp inside is a great idea but when you add such asks, units become harder to find and possibly more expensive. There are also the titanium dioxide (TiO2) filters which kill germs and can be found in some purifiers. When you have a purifier with a Tio2 filter and UV lamp combined this is called a photocatalyst filter and is very good at killing germs (and never needs to be replaced). These also might be inexpensive.
With more elements however, there might be more to irritate migraine sufferers - or, on the other help for others, potentially provide a little help.
You can also come across living pot plants which are known to purify a room's air well, and separately I've heard of, but not tried, indoor plants said to help migraine.
Good luck if you're going down this route of searching for some help in how your home air is.
My goodness- how lucky we are to benefit from your knowledge on this topic. I agree about both the potential scenarios you offered. Migraine seems to thrive on change. Whether it be a shift in barometric pressure, an increase or decrease in hormonal levels - migraine seems to love change and uses those opportunities to strike. So, it would follow that perhaps if there is a change in the air (even if it's overall for the better health-wise) this shift would be enough to trigger an attack. The second point you raised re: materials used in the actual filter also seems quite valid and a potential cause for an attack or uptick in severity or frequency of attacks.
So grateful you shared your wisdom on this front. Thank you for taking the time. Warmly- Holly -migraine.com team.
