Health is one of the gazillion things that we tend to take for granted. Only when someone suffers through a blocked nose or a severe headache that he tends to value health. Talking of headaches, the worse form to exist till date is a migraine. Although, there won’t be any people who are not familiar with this term. But for the ones who aren’t migraine is a severe and recurring form of a headache. And the intolerable pain that they bring can last for hours and even days. At times nothing helps during that painful period. Even your FiOS in my areawon’t help you distract yourself. No amount of shows or movies will be enough to help you forget the pain when you experience an episode of migraine. In fact, you might feel the urge to isolate yourself in a dark and silent room.
So, here are some symptoms and treatment for a migraine to help you get relief. Talking of the symptoms first:
Symptoms
Prodrome Stage
The migraine symptoms may begin a day or two before the actual pain. This is called the prodrome stage.And during this stage, the most likely symptoms to occur include:
- Food cravings
- Depression
- Neck stiffness
- Frequent yawning
- Fatigue or low energy
- Hyperactivity
Migraine with Aura
However, if you suffer from a migraine with aura, the aura occurs after the prodrome stage. It includes one or all of the following:
- Difficulty in speaking clearly
- Losing vision temporarily
- Feeling a tingling sensation in the arms, legs or face
Attack Phase
After the aura stage, comes the attack stage. This is when the real pain kicks in. In some people, this stage overlaps the aura phase, making it even worse. The attack phase can last for hours or even days. It depends. Although the symptoms of migraine vary from one person to the other, some of the very common ones include:
- Increased sensitivity to light or sound
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Pulsing head pain
- Dizziness
Postdrome Phase
Postdrome phase follows the attack phase. It comes in different forms to different people. Usually, people experience changes in their mood. For some, these are pleasant mood changes where they feel happy. While for others these moods might take the form of fatigue and apathy.
However, the length and severity of each phase vary from individual to individual. But sometimes it might happen that a certain phase never happens to an individual.
Having talked about the symptoms, now let’s throw light on the treatments.
Points to Consider
Before you go for a treatment, there are certain points to be considered. However, one thing that you should keep in mind is that there is no cure for a migraine. The treatments will only help you to treat the symptoms when they occur and for you to get the migraine pains less often. However, certain points to consider before you get a treatment include:
- Your age
- How often you experience the migraine pains
- How severe are the pains
- The type of the migraine you are suffering from
- Any other health condition that you might be suffering from
Once you figure this out, you can opt for home remedies or medication as your potential treatment. However, the severity of the pains becomes the deciding factor in this.
Home Remedies
You can try one or all of these home remedies to help you deal with the migraine pains:
- Lie in a dark and quiet room
- Place a cold cloth on your forehead
- Massage your temples or your scalp
Medication
The medications for a migraine come in two forms:
- Drugs that alleviate the symptoms after a headache starts
- Drugs that prevent a headache from occurring
The former treatments refer to acute treatment. And it includes OTC pain-relievers or prescription medicines. These medicines include pain relievers like Tylenol and Advil. Other than these, Triptans treat migraines as well. These are available in pill, injection or nasal spray form. Other forms of medication include anti-nausea medicines and opioid medications.
The latter treatment that makes use of preventive medication comes in use when one of the following happens:
- You have 4 or more attacks per month
- An attack lasts for more than 12 hours
- The pain-relieving medicines are of no help
The preventive medication can then reduce the frequency, length, and severity of your migraine cycles. And these include cardiovascular drugs, antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs or pain relievers.
If these tips do not come in handy, you should keep researching regarding the topic. Or talk to different doctors. You can even educate yourself through documentaries. For me, it is very easy to watch documentaries as I have access to information channels through Cox Customer Service Number. You can also check with your cable service providers and see if you can subscribe to reality TV channels as well. In case you suffer from migraine pains often, you should consult a specialist.
