Are you aware? Migraine symptoms are affecting over 1 billion people worldwide. Moreover, according to the Global Burden of Disease Centre 2016 study, it is the second leading cause of disability globally.
A dream coming true and seeing it happen is the most beautiful, happy, and satisfying moment that can ever happen. Similarly, some people must have thought that how easy and fun it would be working from home, relaxing, and taking a break whenever they want to, which happened especially after COVID.
But as a fact, WFH is not very exciting. Also, you tend to keep sitting in one place, working in front of the laptop, and then for a break in front of the phone, lying in the same position, and finally getting symptoms of migraine.
Yes, migraine is the most common problem nowadays with every person of every age group due to their lifestyle. Of Course, there are other factors also, but this one is on top. So, let us further read about this and gain some essential knowledge, and become aware of what can be done.
What Is A Migraine?
A migraine isn’t just another headache that you can brush off with some chai or painkiller.
A migraine is a neurological condition that causes severe throbbing pain on one side of the head. It can last anywhere from a few hours to days. Painful right? Yes, it can mess with your daily routine.
It’s further accompanied by vomiting, nausea, and extreme sensitivity to sound and light. Basically, it is a way for your brain to ask for a break.
Migraine vs. Regular Headache – Know the Difference
We all get headaches because of stress, dehydration, or skipping meals. But a migraine is on another level. Let’s understand how:
| Feature | Regular Headache | Migraine |
| Location | Both sides of the head | Usually on the side (can shift) |
| Type of pain | Dull, steady pressure | Throbbing pain |
| Duration | A few minutes to a few hours | 4 hrs to 72 hrs or more |
| Symptoms | Mild discomfort | Nausea, vomiting, light, and sound sensitivity |
| Triggers | Stress, lack of sleep | Hormonal changes, food, weather, etc |
| Effect on life | Manageable | Disrupts work, routine, and even sleep |
Why Migraines Are More Than Just A Headache?
Because they impact your productivity, mental health, and quality of life. In fact, the World Health Organization ranks migraines among the top 10 most disabling medical conditions globally.
The whole set of symptoms before and after the pain makes migraines more complicated. Some people feel super tired or moody, even a day before the migraine hits. And even after the pain fades, some might feel drained or foggy.
Common Migraine Symptoms
During a migraine, there are 4 stages, and every stage has different symptoms. Please check them out below.
Prodrome Stage: Stage 1
- You suddenly have food cravings even if you have just eaten.
- Also, you feel depressed even if everything is going well.
- You start feeling low and feel you have no energy left in your body.
- Even if you have just woken up, you, however, start yawning and feeling sleepy.
- You tend to get hyperactive and start doing quick movements and impulsive actions.
- You also start getting irritated with the people around you for no reason.
- Your neck gets stiff, and you are unable to make a move, and it is one of the common migraine symptoms
Migraine With Aura: Stage 2
- You might have difficulty speaking clearly.
- Also, you might get a sensation of tingling in your arms, toes, or face.
- Moreover, you might see light flashes, shapes, or bright spots, and these are the common migraine symptoms.
- You can lose your vision for some time.
Attack Phase: Stage 3
- There is an increased sensitivity to sound and light.
- You start feeling nausea, dizziness, vomiting, or a feeling of fainting.
- Throbbing pain occurs on one side of the head, which can be left, right, temples, front, or back.
- You can therefore feel throbbing and pulsing while the pain is in your head.
Postdrome Phase/Migraine Hangover: Stage 4
- Feeling drained, tired, or “washed out”
- Confusion or brain fog
- Mood swings again
- Muscle weakness
While in some cases, migraine can occur without a headache, skipping any of the above phases.
Types Of Migraine
For your information, there are many types of migraine. Some are common, and some you would not even have heard of. So, now know all types.
1. Migraine With Aura/Classical Migraines
- Migraine with aura include symptoms like lines, shapes, or flashes.
- You might lose vision for 10 to 30 minutes, feeling the tingling in your arms or legs.
- Also, it can affect smell, taste, touch, vision, speech, ringing in the ears, or a feeling of spinning.
2. Migraine Without Aura
This is the most common type of migraine.
- It is most commonly a symptom that affects your sight, such as blind spots or seeing lights flashing.
- Also, in this, you will not get to know that you are about to get a migraine attack, as there is no warning.
3. Migraine With Brainstem Aura
This is basilar type migraine and includes the following symptoms.
- However, there are visual, sensory, speech, or language problems.
- Also, you will feel that your speech is slurred, experience a feeling of dizziness, tinnitus, unsteadiness, and a sensitivity to sound.
4. Episodic Migraine
- You get migraine attacks at least 7 days a month they too in the same pattern.
- Moreover, if you get 8 to 14 headaches in one month, then that is a high-frequency episodic migraine.
- Therefore, high-frequency migraines are more severe than normal ones.
5. Chronic Migraine
Chronic migraine is also known as a combination or mixed migraine, as it has symptoms of either the headache due to tension or the migraine headache.
- However, you have a headache for at least 15 days in a month that too for 3 months.
- Also, 8 days of those months, you will feel the migraine symptoms with or without aura.
- This type can also lead to other health problems like anxiety, depression symptoms, or chronic pain.
6. Hemiplegic Migraine
This means paralysis on one side of the body.
- Well, in this type of migraine, your body paralysis on 1 side may last for less than 72 hours if aura symptoms are there, as these symptoms vanish within 24 hours.
- This type of attack is generally like a stroke, but does not cause any nerve damage.
7. Silent Migraine
Silent migraine is one without headaches.
- In this type, the aura is the warning or the sign of silent migraine.
- However, this type only lasts for 20-30 minutes.
8. Abdominal Migraine
As the name suggests, this type does not happen in the head but in the stomach.
- You might feel nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, or pain in your stomach
- This type usually affects children whose relatives have migraines.
9. Menstrual Migraine
This is the migraine that happens before the menstrual cycle.
- A woman tends to have a headache for 2 days of her period cycle, which remains for 3 days after.
- Moreover, this type of migraine is without aura, and they might have other types of migraine headaches also.
10. Vestibular Migraine
This is another type of common migraine.
- In this type, you will surely also get vertigo.
- There will be sensitivity to motion or visual stimuli
- You may feel unsteady or off-balance
- There can be nausea or vomiting
- Visual disturbances, such as blurred vision or visual aura, are also common symptoms
- This type of migraine, therefore, lasts for a few minutes to hours.
When To Call A Doctor
However, it is important to seek emergency help if you feel the following symptoms.
- A sudden and the worst headache you’ve ever had
- A headache after a head injury
- A headache with fever or a stiff neck
- Lack of consciousness or confusion
- Weakness or paralysis of one side of the body
- Seizure attacks
- Vision problems like loss of vision or double vision
- A head injury with loss of consciousness
What Triggers A Migraine?
You know what’s worse than a migraine? Not knowing what triggers it. Because once you know the culprit, avoiding it becomes half the battle won. Let’s understand the triggers:
1. Indian Food Triggers
A study published by NIH says that food triggers are around 20% of migraines, and foods high in tyramine (like aged cheese, preserved foods) are top of the list.
- Pickles And Preserved Foods: Who doesn’t love a tangy mango pickle with parathas, or in the lunch? But the pickles, which are store-bought, contain a lot of nitrates, excess salt, and other preservatives. Moreover, studies state that foods that are rich in nitrates and preservatives are the triggers for migraine.
- MSG (Ajinomoto): Most Indians love and are crazy about instant noodles, schezwan noodles, and masaledar street chowmein. But as we know, most of them include MSG for better taste. It can mess with your brain signals and trigger a migraine in just half an hour.
- Caffeine: This is for all the chai and coffee lovers; a little caffeine in your system can be good for headaches. But as you go overboard or you suddenly stop having it, your system goes mad and can trigger migraine.
- Fasting or Skipping Meals: If you are skipping meals, doing strict fasting, or thinking “I will eat later”, they are not a great idea. Your brain needs glucose, and when it does not get enough, it starts throwing tantrums in the form of migraine.
2. Lifestyle Triggers
Apart from your diet, your lifestyle can actually trigger migraine symptoms.
- Irregular Sleep: If you have irregular sleep, either you are lacking sleep, which can trigger migraine.
- Stress And Anxiety are one of the most common migraine symptom triggers, especially in today’s always-on work culture.
- Hormonal Fluctuations: Especially in women, changes in estrogen levels during menstruation, menopause, and pregnancy can lead to hormonal migraines.
3. Environmental Triggers
- Heat and Humidity: Indian summers are brutal, and for many, rising temperatures and dehydration can be instant triggers.
- Air Pollution: Exposure to dust, strong smells, car fumes, or chemical-based perfumes can easily irritate the brain and trigger a migraine.
- Noise & Bright Lights: Sensory overload from traffic sounds, loud music, or strobe lighting at events can lead to migraines, especially if you’re already sensitive.
How To Prevent Migraine?
Well, if you want to prevent migraine or want to get over them, then it is important to take some essential precautions timely manner and take out the migraine solution at home before going on medications. Even if you notice that you are getting migraine symptoms for the first time, immediately follow the points below.
- It is, however, important to stay hydrated as dehydration might cause headaches or dizziness.
- Notice the types of foods, smells, and situations that trigger your migraine attacks so that you avoid them.
- If possible, then try to skip meals.
- A night of good sleep is the key to overall health, so make sure you get a quality of it.
- Also, make sure you do not take much stress and do not smoke.
- Moreover, make it a point to exercise as it reduces stress levels and takes time to develop skills to relax.
Migraine Diagnosis
A doctor will diagnose your migraine based on your medical history, symptoms, and a physical and neurological examination of you, in case you have a family history of migraine. But if it becomes severe or there is sudden pain, then the following tests will be performed.
1. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This helps doctors to diagnose brain and nervous system conditions as detailed images of the brain and blood vessels are formed due to the strong and powerful magnetic field and radio waves.
2. Computerized Tomography (CT Scan): This test helps doctors diagnose the problems that cause headaches by creating detailed cross-sectional images of the brain using a series of X-rays.
In some cases, doctors recommend wearable migraine devices to manage symptoms, but they are usually used after diagnosis.
Migraine Treatment
However, when it comes to stopping the symptoms of migraine or stopping future migraine attacks, there are certain medicines, like relieving and preventive ones.
1. Medications To Relieve Migraine
These medications are best taken when you realize you have the symptoms of a migraine for the first time. These medications include as following.
- Pain relievers: These are for those who have mild pain from migraine.
- Triptans: They help block the pain in the brain, preventing migraine.
- Dihydroergotamine (DHE-45, Migranal): This is an injection taken when you start having migraine symptoms that last for 24 hours.
- Lasmiditan: This is used to treat migraine with or without aura.
- Ubrogepant (Ubrelvy): This treats acute migraine with or without aura.
- CGRP: This is similar to ubrogepant and is used for the same purpose
- Anti-nausea drugs: This one is used to treat migraine, which are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
Preventive Measures Of Migraine
These measures are taken when migraine attacks are frequent and long-lasting that especially with severe headaches. However, these help to lower the frequency of the attacks and lower the pain level.
- Blood pressure-lowering medications: These help prevent migraines with aura.
- Antidepressants: Also, this helps prevent migraines all over.
- Anti-seizure drugs: These are helpful if you have migraine on a less frequent basis.
- Botox injections: A research review by NIH suggests that these injections are given every 12 weeks to prevent migraine in adults.
- CGRP monoclonal antibodies: These are also given in the form of an injection, quarterly or monthly.
Important Note:
However, there are some important points you should know about these medications. Also, make sure you take them under the consultation of a doctor.
- Some medications are not safe for women who are pregnant.
- Excess or wrong dosage can be very harmful and also can lead to bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract.
- Also, certain medicines are not safe for people with heart disease or who have undergone a heart attack or stroke.
- The above medications can also have side effects like nausea, excessive sleeping, vomiting, dry mouth, etc.
Factors On Which Migraine Treatment Depends
It is not about direct treatment. There are certain factors on which the treatment of migraine might depend.
- Frequency of migraine attacks
- Your age
- Types of migraine attacks
- How severe are they
- How long do they last
- Other problems they are accompanied by, like nausea or vomiting
- The medications you are taking
- Lifestyle factors
Home Remedy For Migraine Symptoms
- You can lie down in a dark room, relaxing and stress-free.
- Also, you can place a wet cloth on your forehead as it will make you feel relaxed.
- Do a nice and smooth massage on your temples, back, neck, and forehead.
- Instead of consuming large meals at long intervals, it may be beneficial to have smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day to maintain energy levels.
- However, if it’s feasible for you, consider skipping meals during a migraine episode.
- Always remember that these dietary changes should be made in consultation with a health specialist to ensure they suit your individual health needs.
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Well, a strong immune system is a key to a healthy you. So, in your daily life, sometimes you might tend to do things that might weaken your immunity. To know which mistakes you can watch this video by Dietitian Mac.
Bottom Line
In short, a neurological condition with severe throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head. It can last from a few hours to days.
Common Migraine Symptoms
1. Prodrome Stage
- Food cravings
- Fatigue, yawning
- Irritability
- Stiff neck
2. Migraine With Aura
- Visual disturbances
- Tingling sensations
- Temporary vision loss
- Speech issues
3. Attack Phase
- Pain on one side
- Nausea, vomiting
- Light and sound sensitivity
4. Postdrome Phase
- Fatigue, brain fog
- Mood swings
- Muscle weakness
Types of Migraine
- Migraine With Aura
- Migraine Without Aura
- Migraine With Brainstem Aura
- Episodic Migraine
- Chronic Migraine
- Hemiplegic Migraine
- Silent Migraine
- Abdominal Migraine
- Menstrual Migraine
- Ocular/Retinal Migraine
- Vestibular Migraine
- Status Migrainosus
- Ophthalmoplegic Migraine
When To Call A Doctor
Seek immediate help if:
- Sudden, intense headache
- Headache post-injury
- With fever or a stiff neck
- Confusion, fainting, seizure
- Vision loss or paralysis
What Triggers A Migraine?
1. Indian Food Triggers
- Pickles & Preserved Foods
- MSG (Ajinomoto)
- Caffeine
- Fasting or Skipping Meals
2. Lifestyle Triggers
- Irregular Sleep
- Stress & Anxiety
- Hormonal Fluctuations
3. Environmental Triggers
- Heat and Humidity
- Air Pollution
- Noise & Bright Lights
Migraine Diagnosis And Treatment
Doctors diagnose migraines based on medical history, symptoms, and a physical/neuro exam. If symptoms are severe or sudden, tests like MRI and CT scans may be done to rule out other issues.
Treatment includes pain relief medication and some preventive medications through the doctor.
Factors Affecting Treatment:
- Attack frequency and type
- Age, severity, duration
- Accompanying symptoms
- Current medications and lifestyle
Home Remedies:
- Rest in a dark room
- A cold compress on the forehead
- Gentle head/neck massage
- Eat small, frequent meals
Frequently Answered Questions
What Is The Main Reason For Migraine Symptoms?
Well, the causes could be several, but the main one is when the nerve signals are affected by the temporary abnormal brain activity and blood vessels in the brain.
How Long Do Migraine Symptoms Last?
The symptoms depend on a person to person and can, however, last for hours, days, or months.
How To Relieve A Migraine Headache?
Relaxing your tense muscles with heating packs and hot pads can help release migraine symptoms. You can also take a shower, as you will feel relaxed.
Can Migraine Be Cured?
It is difficult to cure migraine completely, but you can effectively manage it. With the right medication, preventive measures, and lifestyle changes, you can manage the frequency and severity of migraine symptoms.
Contact Us Today
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Disclaimer
This blog post was written to help you make healthier food choices altogether. So, be aware and take care. The important thing to consider is your own health before starting a diet that is restrictive diet. Therefore, always seek advice from a doctor/dietitian before starting if you have any concerns.
Eat Healthy, Live Healthy. Enjoy a long, happy life.
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