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Here Comes a Migraine Attack- 20 Telltale Signs

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Whether you suffer from migraines with aura or chronic migraine headaches, there’s nothing more dreadful than being caught in a migraine attack unawares. By recognizing the migraine headache symptoms early on, you give yourself a chance to take your migraine medication and hopefully nip this one in the bud, or at least tone the headache down a notch.

Here are 20 symptoms associated with migraine attacks, beginning with the most obvious:

1. Pounding headache- Many non-migraineurs mistakenly think that migraines are just really strong headaches that happen more often than standard everyday headaches. Nothing could be further from the truth! While tense muscles cause stress headaches, migraine headaches are neurologically-based, and much more difficult to treat.

A common headache may last for hours, but a migraine attack can last for days, with little time to recover between episodes.

When a migraine attack strikes, it is usually accompanied by a host of other debilitating symptoms like nausea, feebleness, dizziness, vomiting, and sometimes paralysis.

2. Sharp pain in the eyes, in addition to neck and shoulder pain

3. Tinnitus (ear ringing)

4. Painful tingling and numbness (pins and needles)

5. Aura- bright, colorful lights, sometimes in a crescent shape, sometimes flickering or oscillating

6. Impaired vision, including double vision, blurriness, voids, or blind spots

7. Sensory overload- hypersensitivity to bright lights, strong scents, and loud noises

8. Olfactory hallucination, the sensation of smelling unusual scents which aren’t present, like burnt paper, smoke, or rot

9. Alice in Wonderland syndrome- distorted sense of spatial awareness and passage of time, in addition to vertigo

10. Runny nose and watery eyes

11. Immense fatigue, constant yawning, and exhaustion that is not relieved with sleep

12. Hot flashes

13. Sudden speech slurring, similar to stroke symptoms

14. Temporary partial paralysis, also similar to stroke

15. Exertion headache resulting from light exercise , coughing, or sneezing

16. Moodiness, similar to bipolar disorder- shifting between elation and deep depression

17. Strong food cravings

18. Increased need to urinate

19. Severe stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting

20. Prolonged hangover following migraine, often requiring several days of recuperation

Please tell us…

Have you experienced any symptoms not included in this article?

Do you have any questions or suggestions? Please leave your comments below.

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Why get a spinal tap?

In diagnosing everyday migraines, it’s important to try everything. If you’ve gone through an exhaustive collection of migraine medications without results, then it might be time to find out if another condition is triggering your headaches. Your migraine headache might be from pseudotumor cerebri, or idiopathic intracranial hypertension. And the only way to confirm that is by getting a lumbar puncture.

Pseudotumor cerebri

When cerebrospinal fluids build up and cause pressure in your skull, it creates tumor-like symptoms. Doctors don’t know exactly what causes this neurological disorder, hence the term “idiopathic” intracranial hypertension. Pseudotumor cerebri is not a brain tumor, but it feels like one, and it also triggers a migraine attack.

Migraine Headaches and Brain Aneurysms- Learn the Difference

Symptoms of pseudotumor cerebri include:

Chronic headache
Nausea and vomiting
Neck and shoulder pain
Tinnitus
Painful tingling and numbness in the hands and feet
Muscular weakness
Myofascial pain
Altered sense of smell
Confusion
Visual impairments
Vision loss

Who gets pseudotumor cerebri?

More women than men suffer from pseudotumor cerebri, another common factor it has with migraines. It also occurs more frequently among the obese, which is not said to influence migraine disorder directly, although numerous studies note a decrease in migraine symptoms when sufferers lose considerable weight.

Should I get a lumbar puncture?

That is for you and your migraine headache specialist to decide. Before you submit to the test, your doctor will need a complete report of all medications you are taking, particularly blood thinners, if you have any allergies, and if you are pregnant. Your doctor will decide when and where the procedure may be done.

Coming up in part II of Diagnosing Constant Migraines with a Lumbar Puncture (Spinal Tap), we will discuss what to expect before and after the test.

Please tell us…

Do you suffer from migraines that come once or twice per month, or are your migraine headaches constant?
Would you consider getting a spinal tap to rule out idiopathic intracranial hypertension?

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Hunger headache

Migraine brains like consistency; any deviation from your normal eating habits- skipping meals, or fluctuations in your blood sugar- will likely trigger a migraine attack the size of Texas.

Of course, what you eat is just as important as how much or how often you eat. A cup of cooked white pasta might have the same amount of calories as a cup of whole-wheat spaghetti, but nutritionally, they are worlds apart. Ounce for ounce, whole-grain foods are packed with more vitamins, minerals, and tummy-filling fiber than starchy white processed foods, leaving you feeling more satisfied after finishing a meal and less likely to suffer a hunger headache.

Solution:

When cutting back on calories, make it gradual. Avoid crash dieting. Aim to lose one or two pounds per week…or month. The slower you lose the weight, the longer you will keep it off, anyways.
Don’t skimp on quality while shopping for low-calorie foods to stock your pantry. Avoid “diet” foods that are devoid of vitamins and minerals, yet packed with preservatives, refined sugars and flours, and artificial fillers. Include filling foods in your diet, like protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables that do not trigger migraines.
Don’t fall for imitation foods like “fat-free cream cheese” or sugarless pancake syrup. Instead, opt for natural maple syrup and real butter, and just use less.
Eat small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism moving and to keep migraines at bay.
Be prepared. Always keep an emergency stash of your favorite non-perishable treat in your car, purse, and work desk.

Which Foods Trigger the Most Migraines? See our Checklist

Dehydration headache

Sometimes your become dehydrated when trying to lose weight. When this happens, your blood vessels constrict in an effort to retain moisture, causing spasms, and decreased oxygen to the brain. The result is dehydration headache. So, how much water do you need? Currently, experts recommend that you drink half of your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 180 pounds, then you should drink at least 90 ounces (approximately 11 cups) of water each day.

Solution:

Make it easy to fulfill your daily water requirement. Stock up on plenty of good drinking water, and stash water bottles around your house. Keep a bottle by your telephone or computer. Stash one in the car and your emergency migraine tote bag.
Invest in a good quality stainless steel water bottle, and keep it clean. Metal water bottles stay ice cold longer than plastic bottles, and they last forever.

Stay Hydrated without Drinking Water- 5 Hydrating Foods

Detox headache

Ironically, eating healthier can give you a headache. If part of your migraine diet plan includes following a restrictive diet, then you’re eating fewer foods that supply toxins to the body. As a result, your body goes into detox mode, sweating out toxins throughout your day. A few side effects of detox, however, include migraine-like headaches and skin disruptions like acne.

Solution:

Hang in there! Detox is a temporary phase and worth the efforts. Countless studies prove that weaning your body off migraine triggering foods and chemicals significantly reduces migraine frequency and severity.
Supplement with natural vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Some excellent nutrients are magnesium, riboflavin, and coenzyme Q10.

Please tell us…

Are you currently using a migraine treatment that causes weight gain as one of its side effects?
Have you been successful in losing weight while battling with migraines at the same time?
Please share your success stories with our readers!
As always, we welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

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Please share this article with your friends, family, or anybody you care about!

Migraines are equal-opportunity destroyers

Disclaimer: Russel Brand was not contacted regarding this blog post. This is a review of news headlines, as referenced below.

When “Get him to the Greek” star Russell Brand had an on-stage migraine attack recently, his audience got a taste of what it’s like to be struck suddenly with crippling migraines.

First came the light sensitivity; he apologized to his audience for the delay as he halted his routine for a moment, explaining that the bright lights of the stage were probably triggering his migraines.

Next, he revealed that he had terrible pain, and needed painkillers. “I feel nauseous now,” he said. “I feel sick. Sorry about this.”

A stagehand brought him some migraine painkillers, and Russell continued his show, still apologetic.

“I think I’m such a professional showman this is beyond ridiculous stopping to take medication.”

For most migraineurs, getting on-the-spot medical attention for a migraines is like squeezing sugar from a lemon; it’s a long, nasty process with fruitless results.

Why the apologies?

We’ve all been there, yet it’s still hard to watch. When people suffer from chronic pain, they shouldn’t have to apologize for it. Yet that’s exactly what Russell Brand did for his audience when he felt the first symptoms of a migraine attack striking while he was performing onstage, fresh after signing divorce papers for his estranged ex-wife, Katy Perry.

Such is the dilemma for all people who get frequent migraines, celebrities included; once you feel the telltale signs of an approaching migraine, your only thought is to escape by whatever means possible. Locate your nearest exit, retreat, and apologize profusely along the way. (Except when you can’t.)

By the way…

Coincidentally, rapper Diddy was recently hospitalized for a migraine attack that occurred after a post-Grammy party at the Playboy Mansion.

Imagine anybody else calling 911 and explaining that he was hung over from a giant Hollywood bash, and was suffering from a killer migraine, and could somebody please take him to the hospital; or strolling into ER, wanting attention for a migraine headache that was triggered by too much partying.

For most migraineurs, getting on-the-spot medical attention for a migraine is like squeezing sugar from a lemon; it’s a long, nasty process with fruitless results.

Migraines are disabling

Fortunately, Russell Brand only had to endure 90 minutes of work time before being allowed to go home and wait out the migraine storm. And most likely, his job prospects are still good. Not to begrudge him his well-deserved fame, but for millions of blue-collar migraine patients, that is not the reality.

Most migraine patients have only three options regarding migraines and work:

suffer the migraine attack in silence until 5:00,
miss work, or
miss work while trying for months or years to qualify for disability insurance, which is always a gamble.

Please share your thoughts…

Do you think media attention on migraines will bring us closer to getting a cure?
Have you been denied disability, even though your migraines keep you from working?
What migraine treatments do you currently use, and how satisfied are you with their results?
As always, we welcome your comments, suggestions, and questions!

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Please share this article with your friends, family, or anybody you care about!

Tip #1: Lose the clutter

What’s the definition of clutter? If you ask the packrat, he’ll say that it’s “everybody else’s stuff.” But if you suffer from chronic migraines and fatigue, then clutter is “anything you haven’t used in over a year that requires dusting or organizing and takes up space.”

Take a good hard look at your closet, your kitchen counter, and your bathroom sink. When was the last time you wore that pair of shoes, or those pants? If you can’t remember, then you probably don’t wear them often enough to justify the amount of closet space they use.

What about your bathroom counter? Can you reduce the amount of migraine medicine bottles, brushes, and bath supplies that are littering your shelf space? If so, then swiping a wet cloth along the counter will be a cinch.

Getting to the kitchen- the fewer kitchen gadgets, dishware, and serving sets you have, the less stuff you’ll have to clean later when you’re having a migraine attack.

Lesson learned: Donate to charity- let your stuff be somebody else’s headache!

De-Clutter your Home, De-Clutter your Mind for Stress Relief

Tip #2: Don’t try to be Martha Stewart

Know your strengths and weaknesses, and make no apologies. Yes, it would be nice if your living space was skillfully streamlined and artfully arranged with bright white toss pillows…but nobody ever felt comfortable lying down with a headache on one of those rigid, overstuffed grandma couches, anyways.

Comfort should be your design scheme. Just focus on keeping the books in the bookcase, the dishes in the sink (yes!), the dirty laundry in the laundry room, and the mop in the storage room where you left it the last time you almost cleaned the kitchen floor, but your migraine wouldn’t let you.

Lesson learned: Nobody’s gravestone ever read, “She suffered migraines, but at least she kept a clean house.”

Tip #3: Waste not, rest not

It might not be the most environmental thing to do, but substituting disposable plates, napkins, forks, cups, foil, and pans is a great way to reduce migraines and cut down on the amount of kitchen cleanup later. And while cleaning your kitchen counter with paper towels might be seen as wasteful, it’s still a lot healthier than using a kitchen sponge, which is often laden with disease-causing headache-producing germs.

If the notion of using paper plates still offends your Greenpeace loyalties, then seek out paper goods made from recycled fibers that are also recyclable.

Lesson learned: Be kind to the earth, and yourself.

Tip #4: I am the tortoise

Who says you have to clean every room in the house at once? For that matter, why do all the dishes in the sink need to be cleaned right now? Gauge your energy level and migraine status, and pace yourself accordingly. On three-alarm migraine days, only clean something if you absolutely need to have it right this minute. Other days, when you have moderate energy, take 30 minutes to tidy up one room.

If you’ve got the time and your head isn’t hurting terribly, pull up a chair to the kitchen sink, and spend an hour or two washing dishes. Take lots of breaks. Think baby steps.

Lesson learned: Slow and steady prevents migraine attacks and wins the housekeeping prize!

Tip #5: Just don’t answer the door

Even if you follow all the above-mentioned advice, there are going to plenty of days when you’ll wish you could just move clutter telekinetically.

Nothing’s more awkward than having people drop by unannounced when your living room is in utter complete chaos. There’s no reason you should have to suffer migraines and embarrassment at the same time! If you’re not up to receiving guests for whatever reason- a killer migraine, nausea, fatigue, bad hair day, or just messy room- try this:

Carefully crack the door open an inch, keeping the chain latched, and politely say,

“Due to (fill in the blanks), I don’t feel well enough to receive visitors right now. Please call later (much later), and I’ll let you know how I’m feeling then.”

Lesson learned: If your garbage can falls over, spilling trash in the middle of your kitchen and your friends aren’t there to see it, did it still happen?

Please tell us…

Although this article is more of a tongue-in-cheek look at managing your household with chronic illness, have you found any of these tips helpful?

If you would like to add to this list of suggestions for managing migraines and a household, please comment!

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Please share this article with your friends, family, or anybody you care about!

#1) Don’t let fear control you

When you have chronic migraines, your thoughts become riddled with fear: What if I’m getting a brain tumor…What if I’m at risk for heart attack, stroke, or seizure…What if I drive on the freeway, and I get a migraine attack? The only way to confront these fears is to arm yourself with knowledge. If you’re concerned about your safety driving, then consult in your headache specialist or neurologist. While there is a high correlation of heart disease and seizures with people who get migraines with aura, the link is not 100%. Don’t be embarrassed to express these fears with a doctor. The more solid information you collect about your migraines, the less anxiety you will feel.

Seven Traits of Highly Happy People with Chronic Illness

#2) Don’t hold in anger

Anger causes stress, and stress triggers migraines. Yes, it’s angering when people make rude comments about your need for medications or time off. It’s unfair that you should suffer from debilitating migraines, while others never get a headache strong enough to keep them from work. That fact that a situation is angering doesn’t mean you have to respond with anger, nor should you. Think of anger as a cancer that drains all energy from your body, causing fatigue, illness, and depression. You can’t change the fact that you were born with migraine disorder, and you can’t control other people’s ignorance of migraines, but you can control your feelings about them. If necessary, seek psychiatric counseling, but do not allow cancerous anger to consume your life.

Can Anxiety Attacks cause Migraines?

#3) Don’t try to be Superman…or Supermom

You’re having a hard time putting your life back in order- migraine attacks have completely ravaged your home life, and you’re left putting back the pieces, one by one. You sense that certain people have given up on ever seeing you in daylight again, and in the back of your mind, you worry that your children will never forgive you being absent, mentally and physically, every time a migraine headache courses through your system. There’s no use feeling guilty about it- if you had superhuman powers, then you could manage migraines and the dishes at the same time. But you don’t, and feeling guilty about it only creates negative emotions.

7 Websites that will Change your Life and Make you Happier

#4) You don’t have to share

People ask you how you’re doing all the time. “How’re those migraines treating you? What kind of migraine drugs are you taking?” They might try to cajole a response from you because they’re curious, or because they really want to help. In any case, you don’t have to answer if you don’t feel like talking about your migraines, or feel like being identified as “the migraine sufferer.”

The polite response is, “I really appreciate your asking, but I don’t feel like discussing migraines right now. If I do feel like talking about it later, then I hope you will be there for me.”

#5) Don’t rush it

Recognize that migraines are a serious disorder, and treat your body accordingly. Don’t feel that you have to march to the same beat as other people who don’t have migraines. Give yourself more time to complete errands than you have been, and take breaks.

#6) Don’t be the social butterfly

Don’t feel guilty about declining social outings. The fact is that overstimulation is as much of a migraine trigger for some as eating a chili cheeseburger is for others. If milling around a buffet table chatting up acquaintances with music blaring in the background gives you migraines, then by all means, excuse yourself from your cousin’s 25th anniversary gala, and suggest meeting for drinks another time in a quieter setting.

Please tell us…

If you could offer one piece of advice on coping with migraines, what would it be? Please share by providing your comments!

Migraine triggers in food

Migraine headaches occur when your brain sends abnormal messages to your trigeminal nerve, prompting it to produce pain-causing chemicals that result in migraine headaches in people who are prone to migraines. Sometimes, food ingredients are the triggers that set the process in motion. Like allergies, it all depends on your sensitivity to stimuli. While a single slice of chocolate cheesecake might send you to the ER with a migraine attack, other migraine sufferers can eat dairy and chocolate with no reaction whatsoever.

Some of the most common migraine food triggers are:

MSG
Tyramine (found in red wine, cured meats, and olives)
Tannins (found in tea, grapes, and beans)
Sulfites (found in dried fruits and wine)
Dairy products, specifically choline and casein
Artificial sweeteners

For more migraine triggers in food, read Top 35 Foods and Preservatives that Trigger Migraines

What’s in a label? Not everything…

Food manufacturers are ordered by the FDA to list all product ingredients on a food label. Sort of. Actually, there are loopholes that allow them to leave out certain ingredients.

For example, if a package of oatmeal cookies with raisins contains a trace amount of sulfites, a migraine trigger, then the manufacturer is under no obligation to declare it as one of their ingredients. Also, they are not required to declare cross-contamination ingredients to which their products have been exposed.

Can I call you by your first name?

If you’re in the habit of scrutinizing food labels for any mention of MSG, then had better be prepared. Since the FDA considers MSG to be a perfectly safe substance, they have granted food manufacturers permission to use creative, alter-ego names for monosodium glutamate, lest you be swayed from buying their product.

As a result, thousands of people suffer from migraines, allergic reactions, and other health problems from eating foods that they didn’t know contained MSG or other migraine triggers.

**The following ingredients always contain MSG:**

Ajinomoto
Autolyzed yeast
Calcium caseinate
Calcium glutamate
Dry milk powder
Dry milk protein
Gelatin
Glutamate
Glutamic acid
Hydrolyzed corn gluten
Hydrolyzed protein
Hydrolyzed soy protein
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Magnesium glutamate
Monoammonium glutamate
Monopotassium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate
Natrium glutamate
Sodium caseinate
Soy protein
Soy protein concentrate
Soy protein isolate
Textured protein
Vetsin
Whey protein
Whey protein concentrate
Whey protein isolate
Yeast extract
Yeast food
Yeast nutrient

**The following ingredients sometimes contain MSG:**

Barley malt
Bouillon
Broth
Carrageenan
Citrate
Citric acid
Corn Starch
Corn Syrup
Enzymes
Fermented food
Flavors/Flavoring
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Malt extract
Malt flavoring
Malted Barley
Maltodextrin
Natural beef flavoring
Natural chicken flavoring
Natural flavors/flavor
Natural pork flavoring
Pectin
Protease
Protein fortified food
Seasonings
Soy protein isolate
Soy protein or soy protein concentrate
Soy sauce
Soy sauce extract
Stock
Ultra-pasteurized
Whey
Whey protein
Whey protein concentrate
Whey protein isolate

The following ingredients are thought to contain enough cross-contaminated MSG to trigger migraines in people who are hypersensitive to food triggers:

Brown rice syrup
Corn starch
Corn syrup
Dextrose
Enriched foods
Lipolyzed butter fat
Milk powder
Modified food starch
Reduced fat milk
Rice syrup
Vitamin enriched foods

Please tell us…

If you know of any other ingredients that contain hidden MSG or causes migraines, please send us your comments. Also, if you have found this article helpful, or have any questions, we would love to hear from you!

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Please share this article with your friends, family, or anybody else you care about!

What are migraine triggers?

There are no food cures for migraines, nor has there been any scientific evidence stating that certain foods, stress, or weather changes directly cause migraines.

Rather, certain factors- foods or environmental stimuli- “activate” neurological reactions that cause migraine headaches in people who are susceptible to them. Those factors are called “migraine triggers.”

Eating healthy, exercising, and taking vitamins and supplements like won’t cure migraines, as much as they improve your brain’s neurological response to inflammation and migraine triggers.

What is a migraine diet?

There is no one-size-fits-all migraine diet. Migraine triggers vary from person to person. You will need to develop an eating plan that is tailored to meet your migraine brain’s needs. Because there has been little funding set aside for migraine research and dietary recommendations, you will have to do quite a bit of your own detective work. (Find out how to promote migraine support.)

Fortunately, we have some tips to get your started with your migraine diet:

#1- Find your trigger! If you haven’t determined which foods contribute to your migraines, there’s no better time than today! You can’t possibly be expected to avoid all potential migraine triggers (over 100, according to this study on migraine triggers), but you can selectively eliminate the ones that count by following an elimination diet. This will also help in determining if you have any food allergies that might be giving you headaches. Some common food allergens are tree nuts, fish, spices, preservatives, gluten, and seeds.

#2- Eat heart-healthy foods! This is great advice, particularly if you suffer from migraines with aura, which has been linked with heart disease, stroke, and seizures. Choose whole grains over processed starches, opt for lean meats and dairy products, and include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet. (Read more about fatalities among migraine sufferers- Killer Migraines Might be Fatal after All- Mortality Rates among Migraine Sufferers)
#3- Watch your blood sugar! Sometimes, low blood sugar can trigger migraine attacks. So, never skip a meal, and never go more than four hours without eating. Eat small meals frequently throughout the day, and stick to a schedule. (The migraine brain loves regimented habits!)

#4- Limit your salt! If you’re a slave to sodium, now is the time to break the chains. Eating a high sodium diet is linked with stroke, hypertension, and heart attacks. The USRDA for people with chronic illnesses is 1,500 mg per day.

#5- Don’t limit your water! Sometimes, people become dehydrated and get headaches just because they were too busy to stop for a water break. Keep drinking water throughout your day, and make it easy. Set up “drinking stations” by keeping a supply of water bottles at home, in your car, and at work. Do you spend a lot of time at the computer? Keep a bottle handy, at a safe distance from your keyboard, of course. Can’t stomach tap water? (Read Stay Hydrated without Drinking Water- 5 Hydrating Foods)

#6- Take extra vitamins and minerals! For some, vitamin deficiency is a hidden migraine trigger. Nip it in the bud by including high-quality vitamins, minerals, and herbs in your migraine diet. Some good nutrients to try are magnesium, vitamin B12 (cobalamin), riboflavin, calcium, butterbur, and coenzyme Q10.

#7- Write it down in your migraine diary! This is an important tactic that is used for losing weight, and it is just as effective for losing migraines! Keep a migraine diet journal, including useful data like what you eat, when you eat, how you’re feeling emotionally, things you did, and so on. (For tips, read How to Make a Migraine Headache Diary)

Please tell us…

Do you keep a migraine headache diary? Has your headache specialist or neurologist shown interest in reviewing migraine diet with you? Have you discovered any migraine triggers that you hadn’t known about previously?

Spread the love…

Please share this information with anybody you know who suffers from migraines. Thanks!

Sources:

Food and migraine: a personal connection- Harvard Health Publications

Migraine Triggers- University Health Services, University of California, Berkeley

Tags: Butterbur for migraines, coenzyme q10 migraines, Food cures for migraines, magnesium migraines, migraine attack, migraine diary, migraine diet, migraine headaches, migraine triggers, migraines with aura
Posted in Nutrition and Migraines | No Comments »

Suicide Rate in Migraine Patients- Some Surprising Statistics

Friday, January 20th, 2012

How far would you go to get rid of a migraine attack- not just a headache, but rather a weeklong gut-turning, head-pounding assault of migraine headaches? In prehistoric times, migraine patients resorted to drastic means like trepanation to relieve migraine symptoms. Today, a startling percentage of migraine patients have either contemplated suicide… or successfully taken their own lives to end the despair caused by chronic pain.

Migraines attack the whole body- not just the head

People who have never experienced a migraine attack mistakenly believe that it’s just like a headache, only stronger. Nothing could be further from the truth! First, daily headaches like tension headaches are caused by stressed, tense muscles. Migraine headaches occur in the brain when your nervous system misinterprets certain migraine triggers as pain messages. Migraine disorder is classified as a neurological disease.

Some of the symptoms of migraines include:

Sharp, severe head pain on one side of that head that lasts for several hours or days
Intense nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea
Migraine aura, consisting of strange visual hallucinations, olfactory hallucinations, temporary partial blindness, temporary partial paralysis, speech irregularities, altered sense of spatial awareness and time, loss of consciousness, and inability to communicate with or comprehend other people.
Hypersensitivity to things like bright lights, loud noises, and strong scents

Overcoming Social Isolation in Migraine Disorder

Suicide risk with migraine disorder

Researchers point to a high correlation of emotional problems in migraine headache sufferers to explain for a higher-than-average suicide rate.

The suicide rate in migraine patients is higher than that in the general population. Out of all migraine sufferers, females who experience migraines with aura (MA) have the highest suicide rate.
People who have the most severe and frequent migraine attacks are more likely to contemplate suicide.
People who get migraines without aura (MwoA) are just as likely to contemplate suicide as those who suffer migraines with aura (MA), but they are less likely to act upon suicide ideation.
There is no significant suicide risk in people who suffer from chronic daily headaches (CDH).

Killer Migraines Might be Fatal after All- Mortality Rates among Migraine Sufferers

Depression is comorbid with migraines

Most chronic migraine sufferers battle with more than the migraine symptoms alone- they also have to contend with major depression and other emotional disorders.

In one study, about 26% of people who suffered from bipolar disorder also experienced frequent migraine attacks.
Migraine with aura patients are more likely to suffer multiple anxiety disorders, recurrent depression, and hypomania, compared with migraineurs who don’t experience aura.
Scientists speculate that various dysfunctions in the brain (like bipolar disorder) produce other brain dysfunctions like depression, seizures, and migraines with aura.

Migraine medications may raise suicide risk

There is some evidence that anticonvulsants meant to treat epilepsy, but also prescribed as a migraine treatment, may contribute to the high suicide rate among migraineurs.

Compared with topiramate (Topamax), the following migraine drugs are associated with high suicidal tendencies:

Gabapentin (Neurontin)- 40% higher than Topamax
Lamotrigine (Lamictal)
Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)
Tiagabine (Gabitril)

In a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), nearly 300,000 people who suffer from migraines, chronic pain, bipolar disorder, and epilepsy began taking one of 13 anticonvulsants. None of the participants had any history of suicidal behavior.

After approximately 180 days, 26 patients committed suicide, and 801 attempted suicide.

Gabapentin, which is associated with the highest risk of suicide, is also one of the most frequently prescribed anticonvulsants for migraines (48%), followed by Topiramate (19.4%), Lamotrigine (7.5%), and Valproate (6.2%).

Photophobia, or Go away from the light!

It’s not your imagination; lights are a major migraine trigger for millions of other chronic headache sufferers. Besides migraine photophobia, sensitivity to bright lights, other causes of light hypersensitivity are eye damage, drug side effects, excessive contact lens wearing, and meningitis.

Below are 10 interesting facts about light sensitivity and migraines:

#1- Photophobia is neurological. When you get a migraine attack, your pupils allow too much light to enter, overstimulating your retina, which in turn send pain signals to the optic nerve.

Night Terrors, Migraines, and Insomnia- 7 Nightmare Headaches

#2- You can’t escape bright lights. Unless you live in a cave, migraine triggers are everywhere. Fluorescent “curly lights” are the norm in most indoor environments, as are glowing computer screens and plasma flat-screened televisions. Car headlights shine in your eyes even on sunny days.

#3- If light gives you blinding headaches, you’re in good company. Photophobia is so common it affects 85% of all migraine headache patients.

#4- Bright-eyed and blinking: Among the people most likely to suffer from light sensitivity are migraine patients, people with cataracts, and those with light-colored eyes.

Migraine Headache Frequently Asked Questions- the Top Ten List

#5- Photophobia happens even when you don’t realize it. Even when you’re not having a migraine, you are more sensitive to lights and sounds that don’t bother non-headache sufferers. Like a magnet, your eyes and ears absorb every irritating sound and flickering light in the background.

#6- Photophobia is one-sided. Migraines characteristically strike one side of the head. Similarly, light sensitivity causes eye pain on one side of the head- in most cases, the same side as the migraine.

#7- Photophobia affects blind migraineurs, too. Scientists wanted to know if bright lights are a migraine trigger for the blind. They examined twenty blind individuals who suffered from migraines, including six who had no perception of light. When subjected to bright light, the blind migraine patients who could identify light patterns reported exacerbated migraine symptoms, while the six subjects who could not detect light saw no difference in migraine severity.

Headaches can Cause Blindness- 4 Facts about Ocular Migraines

#8- Seeing red? Good. In a famous study, migraine patients who wore red-tinted contact lenses for 5-90 minutes experienced significant headache relief, and some even experienced a complete remission of migraine headache symptoms.

Rainbow Colored Sunglasses that Prevent Migraines

#9- Old age: finally, something to look forward to. Some scientific data suggests that symptoms of migraines like nausea, vomiting, and photophobia may significantly decrease by the time you reach fifty.

#10- If you can see it, you can feel it. Bright lights migraines, but so do other photophobia triggers. In addition to light, other factors that cause eyestrain are intense colors, geometric patterns, and flickering. Looking at large, stark white walls may induce a migraine attack. So can glimpsing designs with contrasting colors- black and white bar codes, zigzags, and zebra stripes may cause excruciating eye pain. Also, low-contrast flickering objects seem to bother migraine headache sufferers more than non-migraineurs.

Sources:

Why light makes your migraine worse

A neural mechanism for exacerbation of headache by light

Why Bright Light Worsens Migraine Headache Pain

Photophobia

Images, from top:

Glen Orbik, Thomas Weidenhaupt, mageo, M a x y, @Doug88888

Tags: Chronic headache, Light hypersensitivity, Light sensitivity migraines, Lights and headaches, Lights and migraines, migraine attack, migraine headache, migraine triggers, Migraines, Photophobia
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