New to Migraines?
New to Migraines?
Did you know that there about
37 million people in the U.S. have migraines? The World Health organization
suggests that 18 percent of women and 7 percent of men in the U.S. suffer from
migraines.
So, what is a migraine?
According to Professor Peter
Goadsby, of King’s College London and Trustee of The Migraine Trust, migraine
is an “inherited tendency to have headaches with sensory disturbance. It’s an
instability in the way the brain deals with incoming sensory information, and
that instability can become influenced by physiological changes like sleep,
exercise and hunger.”
There are many different side effects with migraines,
including but not limited to, nausea, light and sound sensitivity, inability to
function and many others.
There are 4 phases to a migraine headache. Prodrome, Aura,
Headache and Postdrome
Prodrome
Prodrome is the first
potential phase of a migraine, and it can begin hours or days before the actual
migraine hits. In a way, it’s a sort of a warning sign that you may be having a
migraine. However, sometimes you may not realize that you are experiencing
prodrome until the migraine has hit. Some potential symptoms are aphasia
(difficulty finding words and/or speaking), difficulty concentrating, fatigue,
cravings, mood changes, neck and back pain and sleepiness.
Aura
Migraines are
separated into two main categories; migraines with aura and migraines without
aura. Migraines with aura are only experiences by about 25% of Migraineurs,
however, if you have more than 2 auras you are classified as having Migraines
with aura.
Aura can look very
different for each patient, however here are a list of some possible symptoms
of aura.
v Allodynia
(hypersensitivity to feel and touch, where what would e normal is painful)
v Aphasia
v Auditory
hallucinations
v Confusion
v Decrease
in or loss of hearing
v Dizziness
v Hemiplegia
(one sided paralysis that only occurs in hemiplegic migraines only)
v One
sided motor weakness
v Parasthesia
(prickling, stinging, burning, numbness, tingling usually on the arms and legs
or face)
v Olfactory
hallucinations
v Visual
(these range greatly from blurry vision to partial loss of sight to blind spots
to wavy lines)
v Vertigo
Headache
The headache phase
can be, but is not always, the most debilitating phase of a migraine. Migraines
symptoms are actually not confined just to the head. Symptoms can be felt
around the whole entire body. Furthermore, the headache phase can be “silent”
or “acephalgic,” where you cannot feel the pain or the headache phase does not
occur. These types of headaches can leave you with the same disoriented
symptoms that any migraine will leave and recovery should be treated like any
other migraine.
Some symptoms
of the headache phase are:
v Pulsing
or throbbing frequently unilateral pain, however migraine can be bilateral.
v Pain
around the eyes, sinuses, teeth and jaw due to inflammation of the trigeminal
nerve.
v Confusion
v Dehyrdration
v Dizziness
v Nausea
and/or vomiting
v Neck
pain
v Hot
flashes/chills
v Heightened
sensitivity to light, sound and/or odors
v Vertigo
v Anxiety/panic
Postdrome
The way that I
describe how I feel after a migraine is like I’ve been “hit by a bus,” and that
I have a “migraine hangover.” Postdrome can last for hours, if not days. My
doctor told me that for as many days as I’ve had a migraine, I need to give
myself as many days to recover. That is because postdrome symptoms may include
fatigue, lowered mood levels, and poor concentration and comprehension.
Migraines are so hard to treat because every symptom is
distinct to each and every patient. While many patients experience some of the
same symptoms, each migraineur has different triggers and pain solutions. For
me, going gluten free, undergoing allergy immunization, Botox and biofeedback
helped me immensely. However, there is no cure for migraines, only ways to
manage it.
If you’re new to migraines or
just want to learn more, here are a few of my favorite migraine websites. They
have testimonials, statistics and other helpful bits of advice.
Sources:
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