Reducing migraines requires developing an individual treatment plan. Apps that track headaches and identify your triggers may help identify what sets off migraine attacks, while vitamins like riboflavin and coenzyme Q10 as well as herbs like feverfew and butterbur may provide preventative treatments against future episodes.
Many medications can effectively abort and prevent migraine attacks as soon as they start, treating headache symptoms simultaneously.
Medication
Migraine can be an debilitating chronic condition. Finding and sticking to an effective treatment may require trying more than one medicine before finding one that helps.
Your doctor can prescribe preventive medicines to help alleviate and lessen migraine attacks, or make them less severe and frequent. These are known as prophylactic medicines.
Triptans, which work by narrowing blood vessels that send pain signals to your brain, are one such medication and are recommended at the first sign of migraine, either as pills or nasal spray. Unfortunately they are not recommended for pregnant women.
Some medications can make you queasy or cause side effects such as diarrhoea and drowsiness; your doctor may suggest alternative therapies such as acupuncture74 or biobehavioural therapy75 as adjunctive therapies or even as alternatives should they think they’re safe for you.
Lifestyle changes
An effective approach to treating and preventing migraines involves lifestyle modifications. Adopting healthy practices such as good posture, sleeping through the night without interruption and participating in regular physical exercise are all helpful in treating migraines, while adhering to regular meal times and work schedules may also assist.
Identification and avoidance of food triggers for migraine are crucial, including processed foods, aged cheeses, chocolate and alcohol (particularly red wine with its high level of sulfites). Avoidance of additives such as MSG or artificial sweeteners has also proven beneficial to many who experience migraine.
Migraine sufferers can benefit from keeping a diary to track their headaches, marking down days they have migraines with green dots if it was mild and did not interfere with daily activities, yellow for moderate pain, and red if disabling migraines occur. A diary can also help pinpoint triggers and provide greater understanding on how they can be avoided; relaxation exercises or deep breathing techniques may be extremely helpful for some migraine sufferers.
Triggers
Migraines can be caused by any number of events or changes, including stress, hormonal shifts, specific foods and environmental influences. Common triggers for migraines may include bright lights flashing suddenly or flashing continually, loud noises or strong scents; skipping meals and eating at irregular times could also elicit migraine symptoms; keeping a headache diary may help identify possible triggers and help pinpoint possible triggers.
Migraines can be caused by certain birth control pills and vasodilators (like nitroglycerin). Migraine has also been known to run in families; up to 80% of those diagnosed have first-degree biological relatives suffering from migraine.
If you suspect a food as being the source of an attack, try eliminating it for four weeks and gradually reintroducing small amounts to see how it affects them. Make sure you eat regular meals and do not skip meals; stay hydrated, and try avoiding foods high in salt or with additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG).
See your doctor
Migraine is a medical condition, so it’s wise to visit your neurologist as soon as you suspect symptoms of migraine. A specialist in treating headaches (a neurologist) will be able to confirm whether your symptoms are indeed caused by migraine and prescribe appropriate medication or treatments.
Acute treatment helps reduce the frequency, duration, and severity of migraine attacks when they arise. This treatment may involve over-the-counter pain relievers or prescription medications as appropriate – just be careful about overusing pain relievers as this could lead to rebound headaches as well as dependency issues.
Neurologists can also provide ways to prevent migraines. This could mean changing your diet to exclude foods known to trigger migraines; stress management techniques; relaxation techniques; or taking certain supplements like riboflavin, magnesium, coenzyme Q10 or feverfew that have proven useful; behavioral therapy using monitors may also prove effective; biofeedback offers another effective solution by helping individuals learn to regulate heart rate, breathing rate and muscle tension–often key triggers of migraine attacks.
