Migraines can be debilitating. From hours to days in duration and making you sensitive to light, sound, and touch sensitivity – migraines can seriously interfere with life. But there are ways you can manage migraines so they won’t interfere with it.
Preventive medicines like propranolol (Inderal), topiramate (Topamax) and amitriptyline (Elavil) can help lower migraine attacks; alternatively, following a diet that restricts suspected trigger foods can also be effective.
Avoiding triggers
Migraine triggers vary for everyone, so it is essential to be familiar with yours. Common triggers could include stress, eating certain foods, exercise or changes in weather – keeping a migraine diary may help identify your own personal triggers.
Avoiding triggers of migraine attacks can help lower both their frequency and severity. For instance, if exercise worsens your headaches, look for another activity which doesn’t trigger them as well as practicing relaxation techniques and making sure you get adequate restful sleep each night – biofeedback therapy or other relaxation strategies can be especially helpful here.
Other triggers for migraines may include aged cheese, caffeine, chocolate and alcohol consumption as well as pre-packaged cured meats like pepperoni, ham and sausage. Hormonal changes, light and glare, sounds, strong scents, weather fluctuations can all play a part in creating migraine symptoms – it may even be impossible to avoid all triggers! Unfortunately it can be challenging.
Getting enough sleep
Migraine medications often make people sleepy. This includes preventive medication like amitriptyline, nortriptyline and cyproheptadine as well as acute remedies like diphenhydramine (over-the-counter Benadryl). Some sleep disorders can also trigger migraines. These may include sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and teeth grinding (bruxism). If you’re having difficulty sleeping, please ask your healthcare provider to screen for these disorders.
Sleep is essential to leading a healthy life. Sleep helps improve cognitive and physical coordination functions, boost immune systems and stay healthy; and prevent migraines. Furthermore, adequate restful slumber may reduce stress effects; improve productivity; and decrease migraine risk. To get better rest at night requires commitment and consistency from all parties involved – if you are having trouble falling asleep try eliminating caffeine, nicotine and electronic devices before bedtime and try relaxation techniques to try.
Taking over-the-counter pain relievers
Migraines can be debilitating, but there are ways to manage them effectively. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications and understanding how best to use them may help decrease headache days; additionally, treatments like biofeedback or acupuncture may reduce both frequency and intensity of migraine attacks.
As soon as you experience the first signs of migraines, taking pain relievers as soon as possible can help mitigate its pain. Ibuprofen or acetaminophen can both work well; most people with migraines find they start working 15-60 minutes later with acetaminophen and 30-60 with ibuprofen.
Take migraine medications only as prescribed; excessive use can lead to medication-overuse headaches that are worse than regular migraines. If over-the-counter treatments fail to control your migraines, speak to a doctor about other treatment options or consider natural medicines like magnesium or vitamin B2. Your optimal choice of migraine medication may depend on your individual triggers and response.
Keeping a migraine diary
Keep a migraine diary to monitor and better understand your symptoms and enable your physician to diagnose the type of headaches and most effective treatments. Your diary should record information such as location, severity and duration of pain; medication taken; possible triggers; nausea or light sensitivity symptoms; as well as how much of an impact the headaches have had on daily activities such as missed work and family gatherings.
Keep a migraine diary either on preprinted form, in notebook form or using tablet computer software. There are also numerous migraine apps to assist in tracking symptoms and habits, with some even providing connections with family and doctors. Maintaining such a journal may help identify patterns that might contribute to headaches; such as eating certain foods at certain times of the day – changing such habits could reduce their frequency significantly.
