Do You Suffer from Migraine? Symptoms and Treatments

Do you think you suffer from migraine? If you get debilitating recurring headaches the chances are that you are one of the 20% of the population who suffer from migraine.

Most migraine sufferers have to live with vomiting, nausea, visual disturbance and sharp pain during their migraine attacks. If these symptoms sound familiar to you then there is a good chance you suffer from migraine.

Not all migraine are the same, some people experience an ''aura'' prior to the onset of their attack. Aura migraine are examples of classical migraine. Classical migraine can last from a couple of hours to days on end, although on occasion the symptoms of classical migraine can be reduced by retreating to a darkened room free of noise or disturbance. If you suffer from aura migraine the chances are that other people in your immediate family have experienced the same migraine as classical migraine is often hereditary or found to run in family lines.

Perhaps you do not experience aura. This does not mean you do not suffer from migraine. Migraine without aura are often called common migraine and can be just as debilitating as classical migraine. Common migraine accounts for over 80% of all migraine attacks and can last just as long as classical migraine.

You may wonder why you are afflicted with these migraine attacks whilst the rest of the world moves on around you. The current theory is that you probably have inconsistant flow of blood around the head. Scientists believe that migraine sufferers may have stronger blood flow within the brain brought on by stress or other factors which leads to the blood vessels in the brain becoming dilated and inflamed. It is the inflammation, they contend, that produces the pain and symptoms of a migraine attack.

Research over a great many years indicates that many factors may trigger these episodes of migraine. Although migraine varies from person to person it is believed that stress, over sleeping, red wine, foods (such as chocolate), caffeine intake, cheeses, contraceptives and antihistamines may all act on migraine sufferers to initiate an attack.

So how can you deal with your migraine? Initially visit your physician to see what medication may be available that may suit you. Your physician should be able to offer three types of medication. Generally the physician may offer a preventative medication which is usually tablets to be taken daily, irrespective of migraine attack, with the purpose of reducing the likelihood of attack. Alternatively or in conjunction with preventative medications, the physician should be able to offer an abortive medication or a medication which controls your migraine during an attack and finally they may be able to offer a rescue solution. In the event of the other medications not working rescue medications will mask the pain and symptoms of your migraine attack to try to make the attack more bearable.

As well as visiting your physician keep tabs on your daily activities prior to and after migraine to see if you can identify and isolate the triggers that may bring on your attacks. Learn to manage stress levels if you cannot identify any obvious dietary, hormonal or sleep induced triggers and consider treatments in accupuncture if you find your migraine attacks difficult to live with. Accupuncture has been shown to be beneficial for many migraine sufferers who have found other treatments to be inadequate.

Richard Merson writes for Migraine Headaches at http://migraine-treatment.info