But this is understandable because migrane headaches can be extremely distressing and debilitating, often needing many hours resting or trying to sleep to get rid of the symptoms of pain, nausea, vomiting, cold hands and feet, affected vision and sometimes a sensitivity to light and/or sound. A migrane attack can last for as little as 4 hours, or up to 72 hours. During this time, the sufferer will probably prefer to be lying down in a quiet, darkened room.
Did you know that in an estimated 40-60% of migraine attacks, there are preceding warning symptoms that can last hours or days? These may include irritability, sleepiness, fatigue, depression, yawning, or a craving for sweet or salty foods. It is possible for family members, or patients to know when a migrane attack is beginning, and the patient is not just irritable!
In roughly 20% of migrain cases, there is an aura, which usually precedes the headache. These auras may be flashing lights, or disturbed vision, or a hole in the vision, and there can also be auditory hallucination or abnormal tastes or smells associated with migranes. In some cases, there is a feeling of pins and needles in one hand, or around the mouth and the nose, usually just on one side.
After the migraine headache has gone, the patient is left with a great deal of fatigue and exhaustion, and unfortunately there is a chance that the headache will reoccur during this time period too.
All in all, migrane headaches really are unpleasant, affecting the family of the patient as well as the patient. There are medications available for migrane headaches, but unfortunately, not all medications work for everyone, and there are no cures right now either. Some of the pain killers do help, but because nausea is a symptom of migranes too, it is often difficult to keep the medication down.
Ice or biofeedback is often used by patients to top an attack, and relaxation methods may be helpful too. However, to prevent the migrane from happening in the first place it generally needs a great deal of motivation as the patient needs education as to why these headaches are occurring, and they need to track the food and drink used before an attack to see if one food, or group of foods is the culprit. For example, sulphites found in wine or nitrates found in processed meats can cause migrane headaches in some people, but to find this out, you have to make sure you know what you ate and when, as well as when the migraine occurred, and so on. For some people this is more than they can cope with, in an already stressful life, but it is a decision only the patient can make.
In the meantime, eat a nutritious diet, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, and get plenty of sleep, and hopefully you will have fewer migrane headaches in the future.
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