Migraine Headaches? Comments, Please!

I am one of the lucky ones. I do not get migraine headaches. In fact, I rarely get a headache of any kind. But I have family members, co-workers, and friends who do suffer from migraine headaches, and there is one common thread that seems to run through all of their discussions about these headaches. That common thread is resignation. For the most part, the migraine headache sufferers that I know have all but given up on finding an actual cure for these debilitating headaches, and they have learned instead to live with the migraine headache - - oftentimes going to bed for hours or days at a time - - rather than finding a way prevent it or to stop it once it has begun.

Why is that? I know there is no cure for migraine headaches, but is there nothing that helps reduce their intensity or symptoms? Are the remedies worse than the headache itself, side effect-wise, money-wise, or whatever else-wise? Or are most of those who continue to suffer with migraines older people who were told ten years ago that there was little that could be done for migraines, and who do not realize that new treatments have exploded over the past decade?

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are 28 million Americans alone who suffer from migraine headaches. Three times as many women get migraine headaches as men. These headaches can last for days, and are almost always preceded by a "sensory warning sign" that lets the person know the headache is coming on. This warning sign can be something like flashes of light, tingling in the arms or legs, or even blind spots. In addition to the often excruciating pain of a migraine headache, there are often other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, light and sound sensitivity.

The treatment of migraine headaches is one of those topics that has become an industry unto itself. Thousands of websites, ads and articles proclaim ways to prevent migraine headaches, to shorten them or to cure them. Many of these remedies may help some sufferers, but others are complete scams designed only to help line the pockets of the lowlifes who promote their useless so-called cures. Perhaps this is the reason why many migraine headache sufferers have just given up, and simply go to bed and suffer rather than try to find a way to take back that part of their lives that has been stolen by these headaches.

Even the Mayo Clinic, in its article about migraine headaches, states that, while medicines and treatments for migraine headaches have grown significantly in the past decade, medicine is not the only effective treatment for a migraine headache. They recommend that you make another appointment with a doctor about your headaches if you have not seen a medical professional about this issue in a few years, but they also go on to say, "The right medicines combined with self-help remedies and changes in lifestyle may make a tremendous difference for you."

So what are these medicines, self-help remedies and changes in lifestyle that can help a migraine headache sufferer? I hope that those of you who suffer from migraine headaches will take a moment below to comment on your story - tell us what has worked for you, as well as what has not worked for you. I hope that those of you who believe you have a remedy that will cut short the time that these people must suffer with migraine headaches will tell us your story. I also hope that , if you have a business in which you sell these remedies to migraine headache sufferers, that you will "put your money where your mouth is" and provide an opportunity for migraine headache sufferers to try your product or other remedy for free, with the understanding that they may come back to this article and report their findings, good or bad.

I am one of those people who has never hesitated to try an "alternative" treatment for a medical condition, so perhaps this is why I am so interested in migraine headaches and the way people deal with them. Granted, migraine headaches are not a serious health issue, in the same way as cancer or other debilitating or life-threatening illnesses. But everyone deserves to live a full and happy life, and migraine headaches are one of the most common ailments that prevent people from living that kind of life. Let's do whatever we can here to help reduce the effects that migraine headaches have on the lives of those who suffer from them.