Migraines can be extremely excruciating, often accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, severe sensitivity to light and sound. What is a migraine and what are its symptoms?
When are we talking about migraines?
A severe, typical (but not always) unilateral headache that occurs in migraine attacks. It can have such severe symptoms that the person concerned can only think of lying down in a quiet, dark place and waiting for the end of the attack. 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men suffer from migraines.
In some cases, headaches are introduced by warning signs ( aura ) that can be attached to a sensory organ (e.g., flashes of light, dark spots, numbness in the arm or leg). Migraines are often accompanied by other symptoms, e.g. nausea, vomiting, severe sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines can be extremely excruciating, causing you to be unable to work for hours, possibly a few days.
Although migraine still has no causal therapy, it can be used pharmacologically to reduce the intensity and frequency of headaches. The right medications and some lifestyle changes can greatly improve your quality of life.
The typical seizure for migraine
Symptoms of a common migraine
- In most migraine patients, the headache is not preceded by an aura, in which case we speak of an ordinary migraine.
- Pain ranging from moderate to seemingly intolerable, which may be limited to one side of the head but may affect both sides.
- Throbbing, pulsating headache.
- Increasing pain on movement that hinders the performance of daily work.
- Nausea with or without vomiting.
- Sensitivity to light and sound.
In untreated cases, migraines typically last 4 to 72 hours, with the frequency of headache malaise varying from patient to patient. You may develop it several times a month, but you may only develop it once a year.
Symptoms of migraine with aura
Aura migraine or migraine with aura is a subtype of the disease, in part with different complaints that affect about a quarter of migraine sufferers. They also experience the following symptoms during a seizure.
- Flickering lights, sparks, or lightning-like light phenomena.
- You may notice slow-growing dark spots.
- One of your arms or legs may be numb and have a needle-like sensation.
- Rarely, you may experience weakness, voice formation, and speech impairment.
Phases of migraine
The first is the prodrome , when the patient experiences mood swings, feels tired or just uplifted, complaining of general symptoms such as loss of appetite, neck stiffness.
This is followed by aura phenomena (if any), which can be visual (e.g., loss of field of vision, points in the field of view), sensory (e.g., numbness), motor (e.g., limb weakness), and speech disorder can also occur.
This is followed by the headache itself , which is typically associated with sound and light avoidance in migraines , and the patient longs for rest, a quiet, dark room, and possibly nausea. The cessation of the headache is usually gradual, followed by sleep and possibly vomiting.
In the drainage phase, the so-called reconvalence phase, the person is still tired, anorexic, depressed.
Not everyone is the same
The classic migraine is introduced by an aura, which is caused by a headache of approx. It follows 15-30 minutes, in some cases up to several hours later. The aura may persist after the onset of the headache, and may even occur after the headache, or the aura may occur on its own, even without a migraine attack.
Regardless of the aura, hours, days before the attack, certain phenomena may indicate an impending migraine. The patient may feel upset, extraordinary energy, or just want to be drowsy, irritable, in a bad mood, or thirsty and sugary.
In all cases, migraine can be diagnosed on the basis of a diagnosis made by a neurologist, but not on the basis of self-diagnosis alone. Extreme care is needed because the symptoms are often caused by a developmental disorder of the cerebral vessel (called a cerebral aneurysm ).
Are you prone to migraines?
It is not yet clear why some develop migraines. However, genetic factors also appear to play a role in its development, as this type of headache often affects several members of a family . If both parents have migraines, there is a good chance you will develop the disease. If only one parent has had a migraine, you are also at increased risk of developing it.
You are more likely to develop a migraine if you are a young woman. This is because the disease is three times more common in women than in men. In childhood, migraines develop in equal proportions in boys and girls, however, after adolescence, the proportion shifts toward girls.
If you are a woman and have a migraine, you may notice that the migraine headache develops shortly before or during your period.
This article may also be of interest Here you can read in detail about the causes of migraines
Complaints may change over time
Migraine headaches can also change during pregnancy and menopause . Many women report that their complaints improve in the late stages of pregnancy, while others are characterized by deterioration in the first trimester.
If pregnancy or menstruation affect your migraine, it is highly likely that both contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy can provoke headaches in you.
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