• A heightened sensitivity to light and sound
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain so intense it interferes with your regular daily activities
• Head pain that has a pulsating or throbbing quality.
• Inability to function normally or below normal at work and at home when suffering the headache.
• Pain that becomes worse if you engage in physical activity
• Feeling of being nauseated with or without vomiting
What causes migraine headaches?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this. While much isn't understood about the cause
of migraines, it is believed that genetics and environmental factors both play a
role.
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It is believed that these headaches may be caused by changes in the trigeminal nerve, which
is a major pain pathway. Brain chemicals, including serotonin — which helps regulate pain in your nervous
system — also may be involved.
The reason for this is that studies have shown that serotonin levels drop during migraines. It is th0ught
that this may trigger your trigeminal system to release substances called neuropeptides, which travel to your
brain's outer covering - resulting in headache pain.
Be sure to get an accurate diagnosis
Migraine help begins with getting an accurate diagnosis. Just because you think you have migraine headaches
doesn’t mean that you do. You could be suffering from some other type of chronic headaches such as
stress-related headaches, chronic daily headache or cluster headaches.
It will help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis if you keep a headache diary for a few weeks before your
appointment. This will help you keep track of important information such as what you were eating before the
headache, where you were, whom you were with, what you were doing, whether you were drinking alcohol and so
forth.
Cures for headaches with prescription medications
How your doctor treats your migraines will depend largely on how severe they are.
If your migraine is mild with little disability, your doctor will probably suggest analgesics. In this case, a
caffeine-containing analgesic such as Excedrin may work best.
For severe or disabling migraines, your doctor may add an anti-nausea medication such as Compazine, as well as
DHE or a triptan.
If you get poor relief or usually need to repeat your dosage for the same headache, your doctor may consider a
different acute medication.
Finally, if you usually need to use acute medication for more than two days a week, your doctor may add a
preventive therapy
Cardiovascular drugs for migraine help
Cardiovascular drugs, which are commonly used in the treatment of high blood pressure and coronary artery
disease, have been shown to reduce the frequency and severity of migraines. In fact, these drugs are considered
to be among the first-line treatment agents.
Propranolol, which is better known by the brand name Inderal, is a beta-blocker and is currently considered to
be the first choice drug in migraine prevention. . If your physician does not want you to take propanol for any
reason, he or she may suggest another beta-blocker. One that has received approval in migraine prevention is
timolol, which is usually marketed under the brand name Blocadren. Another beta-blocker, nadolol (commonly
known as Corzide) has also been used successfully in migraine prevention.
Methysergide. Sansert is the brand name of methysergide. It is a synthetic drug and is closely related to
ergotamine medications, which occur naturally. While this drug is one of the most effective for migraine
prevention, it is normally used only for patients who suffer from frequent, severe, disabling migraines that do
not respond to less toxic agents.
Calcium channel blockerS
Calcium channel blockers may also be effective in the prevention of migraines, but it may take two to four
weeks for their full effects to kick in.
Verapamil is a calcium-entry blocker that maintains its effects and for this reason, is useful as a migraine
preventative agent. It is marketed as Calan, Isoptin, or Verelan.
Another calcium channel blocker, Nimotop, has also been used effectively to prevent migraine headaches.
Unfortunately, it has also been known to cause more behavioral changes, sedation, and other central nervous
system effects than other calcium blockers.
Antidepressants
Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) have an anti-migraine effect, but are not
usually considered to be the first choice in preventing migraines. However, they may be useful in some
patients, especially if you have both migraine and tension type headache.
SSRIs
Serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and some of the other newer antidepressants have a more targeted attack as
they operate more specifically than serotonin receptors and their side effects are not as disabling. SSRIs such
Prozac (fluoextine), Zoloft (setraline), and Paxil (paroxtine) have been found to help prevent migraines.
Wellbutrin (bupropion) and Desyrel (trazodone) are other antidepressants that have shown some ability to
prevent migraines.
MAOIs.
Nardil (phenelzine) and Marplan (isocarboxazid) are Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) that have been found
to be helpful in preventing migraines. Monoamine oxidase has been identified as one of the chemicals that are
instrumental in developing migraines, and these drugs prevent some of its actions.
Natural migraine help
There also some natural ways to treat migraines. First, if you find that your migraines are triggerd by certain
foods, you can simply change you die. The most common food triggers for migraines are:
• Chocolate
• Aged cheese
• Vinegar (relish, salad dressings, sauces, catsup)
• Organ meats (kidney, liver)
• Alcohol (especially red wine)
• Sour cream
• Soy sauce
• Yogurt
• Yeast extracts
Other food triggers for migraines are foods containing nitrites as a preservative. Foods in this category
include:
• Smoked fish
• Corned beef
• Bologna
• Pastrami
• Pepperoni
• Canned ham
• Bacon
• Sausages
• Frankfurters
Finally, monosodium glutamate, frequently called MSG, may also cause headache pain
More natural migraine help
In addition to eliminating these migraine food triggers from your diet, there are some other natural ways to
prevent - or at least control - them. Among this group are oxygen therapy, acupuncture, detoxification therapy,
ayurvedic medicine, fasting, naturopathy, ice and heat, enemas, hypnosis, aromatherapy, compresses and steams,
flower essence therapy, and herbal compresses.
In short, there is much migraine help available. Just be sure to get an accurate diagnosis, discuss the
migraines with your healthcare provider, check out your alternatives and you should be able to reduce both the
severity and frequency of your migraine headaches.
Do you have trouble sleeping?
There are a number of natural ways to stop tossing and turning and enjoy a good night;s sleep that lets you
wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy. Go to the Natural,
Restful Sleep site to learn how
Migraine Help - Sinus Headache Help - Chronic
Tension Headache Help - Chronic Tension Headache
Help - Menapause Headache Help - Headache and Neck Pain Help - Headache
Pain -
Chronic Daily Headache Help - Headache food triggers -Getting the right diagnosis
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