Migraine headaches can last up to 72 hours and cause extreme sensitivity to light, sound and scents. Treatments may help stop an attack as well as prevent future ones.
Regular migraine self-care combined with medications and lifestyle modifications may reduce both how frequently migraines appear and their severity.
Identifying triggers
As migraine triggers can vary depending on their source, these factors could include bright lights, loud noises or strong odors; food-related triggers (aged cheese, chocolate and monosodium glutamate); or medications which may trigger migraines in certain individuals.
If patterns in your migraine journal suggest certain foods as potential triggers, try eliminating them for four weeks and recording results in your symptom diary. If a suspected food doesn’t trigger an attack after four weeks, reintroduce in small quantities to see its impact.
Avoiding triggers
Migraine triggers can be difficult to avoid, particularly since many people have multiple. Your response may depend on factors like sleep quality, weather conditions, and stress levels – your tolerance may change over time.
Food may also be a migraine trigger, especially aged cheeses, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol and certain additives. Other common triggers can include lack of physical activity, changes to sleep patterns, skipping meals, hunger/thirst issues (especially during menstruation), light/glare issues and loud noises.
Keep a journal to help identify triggers and devise ways to overcome them. Speak to your healthcare provider about ways you can increase physical activity, sleep well and practice stress management techniques.
Getting plenty of sleep
As migraine research advances and clinicians gain greater ability to pinpoint specific parts of the brain involved, it has become apparent that poor sleeping habits are a risk factor. Therefore, physicians suggest practicing what is known as good sleep hygiene – a collection of tips designed to keep their sleep-wake cycle balanced.
To promote better sleep, try going to bed and rising up at roughly the same time each day. Also avoid napping for more than 30 minutes as this may interfere with nighttime restful rest. Keep alarm clocks out of view to reduce distraction and make falling asleep easier.
Staying hydrated
As soon as a migraine strikes, every little thing hurts – from light to sound to thought itself. If nausea prevents you from drinking water regularly or you want a quicker way to find relief, IV hydration vitamin therapy could be an ideal way forward.
Dehydration is a frequent trigger of migraines and even a small decrease in hydration can trigger symptoms like throbbing pain, nausea and visual disturbances (auras). Hydration strategies such as drinking plenty of water and eating electrolyte-rich foods to combat dehydration-triggered migraines include drinking plenty of water; eating electrolyte-rich foods; avoiding dietary triggers altogether and drinking electrolyte-rich beverages; these may all help prevent future migraine attacks by providing immediate relief while lessening severity over time.
Avoiding over-the-counter pain relievers
OTC medications may help treat some forms of headaches, though they typically don’t do enough for migraines. Furthermore, taking too many drugs that contain caffeine could result in medication overuse headache (MOH).
MOH can lead to increased pain, reduced effectiveness of medications, stomach ulcers and bleeding in your gastrointestinal tract. Migraine medicines containing butalbital are particularly at risk; newer migraine medicines known as gepants don’t seem to present this issue and have less side effects; in fact they may even work well when combined with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or strong CYP3A4 inhibitors like some cancer medicines or those used to treat diabetes.
Talking to your healthcare provider
Migraine symptoms are difficult to differentiate from regular headaches. Migraines don’t just involve pain; symptoms include visual disturbances, nausea, numbness and tingling in extremities and even sensitivities to light and sound.
Consulting a neurologist who specializes in treating headaches is essential. He or she will diagnose your condition based on your medical history, symptoms and physical and neurological examination. In some cases they may recommend an MRI scan to examine your brain and blood vessels more thoroughly.
Your healthcare provider can assist in creating a management plan to suit your specific needs, which may involve medication, lifestyle modifications, or both. When communicating with them about this matter it is essential that they fully comprehend your requirements and can respond accordingly to questions.
