Migraines can be debilitating, yet there are ways to manage them effectively. Medicine may help, as can making healthy lifestyle changes that reduce migraine risk.
Your healthcare provider will likely prescribe pain-relieving medicines to alleviate migraine symptoms and decrease nausea and sensitivity, and may also recommend preventive medicines to lower how often and severely migraines impact you.
Avoiding Triggers
Migraines often occur as the result of internal or external triggers, which could include food, sleep issues, stress levels, lights or smells. While these stimuli do not cause migraine attacks directly, they increase their likelihood.
As it can be hard to identify triggers of migraine attacks, avoiding them may not always work. Because the prodrome stage often begins several hours prior to an actual headache onset, some triggers might seem responsible when in fact the headache was already developing when that particular event took place. Keep a diary of your symptoms to help identify patterns; then try to avoid as many of your triggers as possible.
Avoiding Stress
Stress and migraines are closely connected, creating a vicious cycle: chronic headache pain can increase stress levels while high levels of tension can trigger or prolong migraine attacks. Seek treatment to break this pattern and improve quality of life.
Effective migraine treatments can dramatically enhance your functionality, enabling you to tackle daily tasks without fear of an attack and enjoy work and social events without worry or anxiety – plus engaging in hobbies that bring fulfillment and joy into your life.
Sleep is one of the key elements to effective migraine treatment, helping you feel energised while decreasing the risk of depression and anxiety. Plus, quality rest can strengthen relationships by encouraging participation in activities together with family and friends.
Getting Plenty of Sleep
Sleep habits that help prevent and relieve migraine attacks may also play a key role in managing migraine headaches effectively. A combination of behavioral therapies, home treatments and medications often proves most successful for managing them effectively.
When suffering a migraine attack, take immediate steps to relax in a dark room by turning off all the lights and resting comfortably in a darkened space. Use temperature therapy – such as using an ice pack as a numbing agent while heating pads or warm showers may help relax tight muscles. In addition, taking small amounts of caffeine may relieve early stage migraine pain as well as increase its relief using medications like Tylenol (acetaminophen) or aspirin.
Make a point of creating a regular sleep and wake time schedule each day, according to Move Against Migraine moderator Rachel Hamilton. Sleep deprivation reduces brain pain threshold and increases risk for migraine headaches.
Keeping a Journal
Maintaining a headache diary can be invaluable for migraine sufferers. Doing so allows them to keep track of when, how long, and the intensity of migraine attacks as they happen – something which may help their doctor identify potential triggers of their migraines.
Your food diary can also help you monitor dietary habits and detect any changes, e.g. if specific foods trigger migraines for you, gradually eliminating them from your diet. Be wary if taking over-the-counter pain relievers as too much medication could cause rebound headaches.
Talking to Your Doctor
Your doctor can assist in finding an ideal balance of medication and healthy habits to combat migraine symptoms, including ways to identify and avoid triggers like skipping meals or eating food containing nitrates, monosodium glutamate (MSG), etc.
Be sure to share your medical history, especially a list of medications and treatments you have tried in the past. Bring along a diary that documents when and how often migraine attacks happen as well as their severity; color coding it could make reading it easier for your physician.
Ask your doctor for comfort strategies such as ice or heat packs, warm showers and massage. Also discuss taking nutritional supplements such as magnesium, riboflavin (vitamin B2) or butterbur to ease symptoms or prevent migraines.
