allaboutmigraine.com

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For some, migraines are infrequent. On the other side of the spectrum are people who have frequent recurrences and whose lives can be debilitated by pain. Fortunately, progress is being made in migraine management. Although an individualized treatment approach is often necessary, most people can be helped.

Migraine headaches are severe, usually one- sided headaches that often occur with nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light or sound. People often describe migraine headaches as throbbing or piercing. The pain may range from mild to terribly severe.

Although migraine headaches are usually one- sided, there may be pain on both sides of the head. In some people, the pain may switch sides each time they have a migraine.

Migraine headaches sometimes occur with an aura, a group of symptoms that usually develop 5 to 30 minutes before a migraine begins. Visual disturbances, such as flashing lights, distortion, in the size or shape of objects, or blind or dark spots in your field of vision are the most common symptoms of an aura.

A typical migraine attack produces some or all of these signs and symptoms:

* Moderate to severe pain, which may be confined to one side of the head or may affect both sides
* Head pain with a pulsating or throbbing quality
* Pain that worsens with physical activity
* Pain that interferes with your regular activities
* Nausea with or without vomiting
* Sensitivity to light and sound

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Classic migraine symptoms include visual irregularities where you can see lights blinking or lines zigzagging, hallucinations, sketchy vision, unable to read, a high instance of sensitivity to bright light, and temporary blind spots in visual sizes or shapes of an object.

Other symptoms include sensitivity to loud sounds or music, pricking sensation in hands, yawning, and an excess of hunger and thirst sensation.
Migraine sufferers usually experience numbness around the mouth, difficulty in uttering the right words and weakness on one side of your body.
The presence of these symptoms doesn’t mean that they will recur most of the time. But in any kind of headache, where the ability to see is affected,
it is a must that you seek medical help.

Migraines usually interferes with our performance of daily tasks although there are no serious side effects of migraine that can cause permanent health disability, true migraines are not the result of any serious medical maladies or brain tumors. However, if a migraine becomes rapid and occurs frequently and is accompanied with high temperature, you should see a doctor and have him run some neurological tests.

My pals who are nursing migraines told me that there are similarities between a panic disorder and .
A panic disorder gives you some sort of fear for an actual panic attack and for weeks and months, anticipating it only heightens your anxiety as well as your stress levels to the point where you end up having a panic attack.
Migraines on the other hand add stress to my life in a way that contributes to the next migraine episode that will ultimately begin a cycle that is very hard to stop. There are periods where a migraine comes very frequently — every other day or twice a week — for a couple of months.

In early 2004, my pal went to the hospital to address his painkiller addiction (which was in part due to the migraines). The hospital was a “dual-diagnosis” facility which treated both his panic disorder and depression all the same time. He later found out that once he was able to manage those two things that has been bugging him, he was able to live a life which is migraine-free for the last four years. Based on what happened to my friend, i could deduce that there is some sort of connection between panic attacks and migraine.

A migraine is normally triggered by the following things:

Hormonal changes – Fluctuation in estrogen seem to trigger migraine in many women with migraines. Women with a family history of migraine, often account headaches shortly before or after their menstruation.
Foods – Alcohol, aged cheeses, chocolates, gorge of caffeine, pickled or marinated foods, and canned and processed foods are some of the foods that trigger headache.
Changes in environment – Change of weather aggravate headaches.
Stress either at home or in work
Changes in wake-sleep pattern – which is to either lack of sleep or oversleeping
Physical factors – Forceful physical exertion, which includes sexual activity.

Migraines are frequently undiagnosed and untreated, that may lead to a more serious illness. A person experiencing migraine may track and record their attacks, and may refer to these following signs and symptoms, which may indicate other, more serious medical problems:

An unexpected, severe headache, similar to thunderclap
Headache after a head injury, especially if the headache becomes worse overtime
A persistent headache that is worse after coughing, physical exertion, straining or a rapid movement
New headache pain if you’re 45 and up
Headache with stiff neck, mental confusion, fever, seizures, double vision, weakness, numbness, or trouble in speaking