Understanding and Prevention of Migraine Pain

 

Understanding Migraine

People with migraine headache generally felt great on the front or the side of the head. Some people just occasional migraine. In fact there are only experiencing a migraine once or twice in a few years. But there are also people with this condition who felt up to several times a week.

A disease that generally begins in young adulthood diidap is more often women than men. Migraine is estimated to strike 1 in 5 women and 1 out of 15 men. According to the WHO study, approximately 10% of cases of headache that affects adults aged 18-65 years are caused by migraines.

Identifying Migraine
There is no specific test to diagnose migraine. Migraine can be diagnosed by identifying patterns in accordance with the headache symptoms in migraine.

Besides headaches, feel nauseous, much more sensitive to light and sound also be symptoms felt by some people. There are several types of migraine that you need to recognize, namely:

1. Migraine without aura: migraine headaches that occur without any signs or warnings. Migraine without aura is the most common type of migraine headache and affects about 75 percent of patients with migraine.
2. Migraine with aura: Signs that initiate migraine headaches are called aura. Signs perceived prior to the migraine is usually a problem with vision (flashes of light on the eyes), stiffness in the neck, shoulders and limbs. Migraine with aura is also known as classic migraine. This type affects an estimated 20 percent of patients with migraine.
3. Migraine aura without headache: migraine occurs when sufferers feel the aura or other migraine symptoms, but without the accompaniment of a headache.

Beware of Certain ConditionsMigraine relatively common disease, so it is often understood as a disease that does not need to be handled specially. However, you should consult a doctor if experiencing a migraine attack more than five times a month, or if the pain already can not be treated with drugs that are sold freely on the market. Additionally you need to be alert for a particular headache can refer to other serious diseases such as stroke or meningitis, with the following symptoms:

1. Severe headache that occurs suddenly and have never felt before.
2. Arm or one side of the face, or in whole, feels weak or paralyzed.
3. Headache, along with fever, stiff neck, confusion, seizures, blurred vision, and skin rashes.
4. Talk and lip difficult to understand.

If you experience or see someone experiencing the above symptoms, immediately take it to the hospital or call an ambulance.

Factors Still Causes Migraines
The cause of migraine is still not known for sure. However, the following factors are thought to contribute to be the cause:

1. Hormonal factors. Hormonal changes cause migraines in some women feel their menstrual period.
2. The gene factor. About half of people with migraines have a close relative who also experience migraine.
3. While changes in chemicals in the brain and blood vessels.
4. Consumption of certain foods and drinks. Amino acid called tyramine contained in products such as cheese, chocolate, and alcohol can trigger a migraine.
5. Other trigger factors such as stress and fatigue can trigger migraines in some sufferers.

Quiet atmosphere
Lying in a dark room is often the solution is most easily done when the migraine attack. This disease is actually not curable, but there are treatments that help ease the pain, namely:

1. Drugs anti-emetic used to reduce nausea and vomiting.
2. Drugs for pain relief without a prescription such as paracetamol, aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen.
3. Triptans, a group of drugs that can reduce chemical changes in the brain that cause migraines.

Recognize Migraine Triggers
Migraine recurrence can be prevented by following these steps:

1. Living a healthy lifestyle with adequate and regular sleep, regular exercise, a healthy diet, limit alcohol consumption, and caffeine.
2. Recognizing and avoiding migraine triggers such as lack of rest, stress and consumption of certain foods and beverages.
3. Avoiding the consumption of certain drugs such as women who suffer from menstrual migraines, it is advisable to avoid drugs that contain estrogen such as birth control pills.
4. Taking drugs such as migraine preventive drugs anticonvulsant (topiramate and propranolol).

For migraine sufferers
Migraine can have a major impact for the life infected. You sometimes become unable to move normally when attacked by this disease. Most people in a time of need to stay in bed for a few days during and after migraine. Although migraine attack can sometimes deteriorate over time, but in a matter of years, people with the condition generally tends to improve. Some of the treatments and effective methods can help prevent migraine that does not happen a lot of distractions in life infected.

Migraine diagnosis

  
Migraine can be diagnosed by identifying patterns in accordance with the headache symptoms in migraine. There is no specific test to diagnose migraine. Accurate diagnosis of the disease itself takes time because sometimes accompanied migraine occurs without symptoms are easily recognizable, as well as unpredictable. To facilitate the diagnosis, you can note that you are experiencing a migraine attack. In the note, you can write:

1. Date and time of the occurrence of migraine.
2. What is being done when the migraine attack occurs.
3. How long the attack occurred.
4. What symptoms are felt.
5. What medicines are consumed (if any).
6. Any food that is consumed when or before the attack.
7. If the case or close to the time of menstruation (for people with a woman).

When you first see a doctor to identify the possibility of migraine, the doctor will do tests to identify other diseases. Identification is done by examining the inter-limb coordination, reflexes, visual conditions, and the sense of touch. The doctor will confirm whether the headache you feel:

1. Makes you unable to move because it feels very badly.
2. Throbbing headache.
3. Feels even worse when moving.
4. Accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound.
5. Along with nausea and vomiting.

The doctor may refer you to a neurologist and brain when:

1. The diagnosis remains uncertain.
2. You suffer from chronic migraine (occurring within 15 days or more per month).
3. If the drugs are consumed not relieve symptoms.

Migraine prevention
  
Migraine can not be cured completely, but you can reduce the frequency of migraine attacks as possible. The trick is to identify conditions that can trigger migraines in yourself. There are also treatment measures as further action in anticipation of a failure on the first way.

Noting Migraine Triggers
If you feel a migraine during stress or after eating certain foods, stress or mean these foods are triggers your migraines. Recognize and avoid things that can trigger this disease is the best way to treat migraine.

Identification will be easier to do if you record every detail of migraine attacks that you experience such as a clock and date, if any aura symptoms before a headache, any symptoms that occur along with headaches and how long the attack occurred. You can use online facilities migraine diary here.

Use Supplements and Medications
If by avoiding trigger factors of migraine remains less successful, there are medications that can be taken to help prevent migraine attacks. Before taking these drugs as a precaution, please consult with your doctor first. Some of them are as follows:

Topiramate
Drugs are usually consumed daily is actually a medicine to prevent seizures in people with epilepsy. However, this drug also proved able to prevent migraine attacks.

Some things to note in the consumption of topiramate:

1. Pregnant women are advised to avoid these drugs. Topiramate can be harmful to the fetus and may reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives.
2. Side effects that may occur are nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, trouble in sleeping, difficulty remembering, difficulty concentrating, and loss of appetite.

PropranololTablets are also commonly consumed daily is used in general to deal with an attack of angina (wind seated) and high blood pressure.

Drugs that are also proven to help prevent migraines is not suitable to be consumed with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and people with some heart diseases. On the other hand for people taking propranolol may experience side effects such as sleep disturbance, fatigue, cold hands and feet, as well as tingling.

gabapentin
Similar to topiramate, gabapentin is a real drug used to treat epilepsy, but also to prevent migraines. Almost everyone should consume this drug, except for patients with kidney problems or the elderly aged over 65 years.
Increased appetite, weight gain, dizziness, drowsiness, until the thought of suicide is a side effect that may result from the consumption of gabapentin.

Riboflavin
Consumption of supplements of riboflavin (vitamin B2) every day can reduce the frequency and severity of migraines in some people. Although these supplements are accessible without a prescription, but you are advised to discuss the impact of the consumption of high dose levels with the doctor.

Botulinum toxin type A, or Botox
Botulinum toxin type A is a nerve toxin that paralyzes muscles. Although it was not clear how the influence of these drugs in patients with migraine, but botulinum toxin appropriate for adults with chronic migrants. People with chronic migraine headache at least 15 days each month with at least 8 days in between is a migraine headache. The toxin is also known by the name of Botox is also appropriately used for sufferers who previously had undergone three types of treatment, but it is still not effective.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
In addition to reducing the severity of migraine attacks, TMS can reduce their frequency.

Regular exercise
Regular exercise can prevent migraine. Obesity is also suspected to be a migraine trigger, can be avoided with more activity and exercise.

Acupuncture
Regular acupuncture sessions for 1 to 2 months can bring benefits in reducing the symptoms of migraine.

Preventing Migraine Happens When Menstruation
Usually this type of migraine occurs between 2 days before to three days after the menstrual period. Its predictable enable migraine this type to be prevented with hormone treatment and without hormones.

Non-hormonal treatment
These drugs are consumed two to four times daily in tablet form, since two or one day prior to the last day of menstruation. There are at least two non-hormonal drugs are recommended.

The first is the triptans, are medications that reduce blood vessel dilation that are considered contributing causes migraines. And drugs anti-inflammatory non-steroidal (NSAIDs) as painkillers that are commonly used.

Treatment with hormones
Treatment involves hormone is given in the following way:

• Gel estrogen used 3 days prior to or at the beginning of the menstrual period. Then continued for 7 days.
• Contraceptive progesterone, that administration of progesterone in the form of pills, injections, and implanted into the body.
• Contraception combination of hormones: such as the female condom or plaster KB.

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