Migraine Headaches Signs, Symptoms and Treatments

Migraines affect over 28 million people in the United States alone. Migraines are recurrent headaches that can be associated with many symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines are usually a throbbing headache felt on one side, although this may not always be the case. They can be incapacitating for hours and from time to time even days. The pain from a migraine can be agonizing. Migraines are known to begin in childhood, teen years or in young adults. Migraine suffers are haunted by the lingering throbbing recurring pain that it afflicts on them.

Swelling of the blood vessels and the release of chemicals from nerve fibers that spiral around the blood vessels is the culprit in causing migraine headaches. The unleashing of the chemicals causes you to have pain, inflammation and enlargement in your temporal artery. The pain is then amplified when the artery enlarges.

Females are more likely to suffer from a migraine than males. Hormone changes related to their menstrual cycle, pregnancy, pms, and perimenopause end with the result being 3 out of 4 migraines sufferers being women. Migraines are also hereditary; if your parents had them you are very likely to get them as well.

Birth control pills can worsen a migraine headache and sometimes with some people actually taking them may help. There are different triggers for everybody that can cause a migraine to start. These include but not limited too: changes in weather, missed meals, lack of sleep, medications, stress, beverages and foods.

If you experience the following symptoms be sure to check with your doctor:

Your head seems to throb or pulsate.

Your pain increases with activity.

Days before your period these headaches occur.

You are bed bound from the pain.

The pain lasts for over a 48 hour period.

You get a severe headache from caffeine withdrawal or msg foods.

From a pain scale of 1 to 10 your pain can be described like a 5 to 10.

Your headache seems to favor one side most of the time.

You cannot work or function due to this pain.

You tend to be nauseous or vomit.

You are sensitive to light or sound or both.

You get 2 or more headaches a week.

If you can feel the headache coming on.

Contact Doctor immediately if you experience any of the following:

Fever and stiff neck along with your headache

It feels like the worst headache of your life.

After injury you begin to have headaches

If after age 50 you experience a severe headache.

Feel dizzy or have trouble walking.

Have a severe instant "thunderclap" headache like no other before.

Problems speaking, changes in vision or suddenly seem clumsy.

A diary of your migraine episodes may help you and your doctor understand why they are happening or how to better treat them. Include information such as how often they happen, frequency, possible triggers, duration and sleep patterns.

There are many medicines to treat migraine headaches all of which you must get a prescription for. The only over the counter medicine proven to treat migraines is Excedrin Extra Strength. Excedrin contains acetaminophen and caffeine. There are some sufferers who do say this drug is of no use and do not recommend it though. On the market there are several new drugs available to migraine sufferers. These are Zomig, Amerge, Frova, Imitrex and Migranal. Other prescription pain medications that have been used are Codeine, Demoral, Fiorinal and morphine. Medications such as Compazine and Decadron have been used to treat the nausea.

Alternative therapies include acupuncture, counseling, and massage.

Some doctors claim that patients who underwent botox treatment for the reduction of their wrinkles suggest that botox injections may actually prevent migraines from reoccurring in some patients. This therapy is currently being researched.

Be sure to discuss with your doctor before trying any alternative therapies to treat your migraines. If any of the migraines seem to be severe and are listed in the call your doctor immediately list, be sure to do so. Remember you are not alone. They are many other migraine sufferers out there also. There are migraine support groups and plenty of information out there to research. Knowledge is power and power is the first step in taking control of you life and getting it back.