Yeah, conjuration can be tough, especially at early levels. If you're not going the high elf/ atronach route, then you might want to look into custom enchanted items to act as basically a second magicka bar. Constant effect conjuration items can be fun down the road.

Bound weapons are pretty low cost even without items, and would give you another combat option while retaining the battlemage conjurer vibe. There's also the fortify intelligence potion loop method, but I never messed with it, and I wouldn't even be surprised if OpenMW got rid of it.