Posts Tagged ‘Skipping Meals’

Understanding Your Migraine Headache Triggers

November 14th, 2010 by Tramadol

Migraine headaches are a type of headache resulting in pain so severe that it can be disabling. Typically, migraine headaches are accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to both light and noise. There are many different causes attributed to migraine headaches, and these migraine headache triggers can affect just about anyone.

All you have to do for proof is examine the statistics. In America alone, over twenty-eight million people suffer from migraine headaches. Migraine headaches are more common in women; for every one man who suffers from a migraine headache, there are three women.

Migraines and migraine headache triggers have become somewhat easier to manage than they used to be. Often times, you can just examine the migraine headache triggers and determine which aspect of your life is the cause of your migraine headaches. Once you know which migraine headache triggers relate to your situation, it will become easier to find a treatment.

What Are the Most Common Migraine Headache Triggers?

Of all the migraine headache triggers, the most common one is stress. Another common trigger of migraines is certain foods, such as alcohol, aged cheeses, chocolate, aspartame, caffeine, msg, seasonings, and some canned or processed foods. Migraines can also be caused by fasting or skipping meals.

Physical factors such as increased sexual activity, intense exercise, or a change in sleep patterns are also migraine headache triggers. Changes in the environment and certain medications often act as triggers of migraine headaches, as do sun glare and bright lights. Hormonal changes can also cause migraines, and this may be why a significantly greater number of women than men are affected by migraines. Some women experience migraines during pregnancy or menopause.

Are You at Risk?

There are several risk factors that make someone more prone to migraine headaches. Migraine headaches most commonly occur in girls that have already passed through puberty. Women who experience migraines find that their likelihood of experiencing one increases during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause. Migraine headaches also run in families; if even one of your parents’ experiences migraines then you are much more likely to develop them yourself.

Treating Migraine Headaches

Although previously, the only way to treat migraine headaches was to take aspirin, this is no longer the case. Now, there are both preventative medications and pain-relieving medications that are intended specifically for migraine treatment. There are also other alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, massage, vitamins, herbs, minerals, and biofeedback. Migraine headaches can be prevented by maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle.



Tramadol ultracet
Tags: , ,
Posted in Health Resources | No Comments »

How Long Does Migraine Attack Lasts?

September 21st, 2010 by Tramadol

Migraine is a neurological disease that can cause a wide range of symptoms during an attack. The most commonly thought of symptom is headache. A migraine can be disabling — with symptoms so severe, all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. People who get migraines often describe the pain as pulsing or throbbing in one area of the head. During migraines, people are very sensitive to light and sound. They may also become nauseated and vomit. Attacks are often recurrent and tend to become less severe as the migraine sufferer ages.

There is a migraine “pain center” or generator in the brain. A migraine begins when hyperactive nerve cells send out impulses to the blood vessels, causing them to clamp down or constrict, followed by dilation (expanding) and the release of prostaglandins, serotonin, and other inflammatory substances that cause the pulsation to be painful. Although much about headaches still isn’t understood, some researchers think migraines may be caused by functional changes in the trigeminal nerve system, a major pain pathway in your nervous system, and by imbalances in brain chemicals, including serotonin, which plays a regulatory role for pain messages going through this pathway.

Migraine Triggers

Emotional stress. This is one of the most common triggers of migraine headache.

Sensitivity to specific chemicals and preservatives in foods. Certain foods and beverages, such as aged cheese, alcoholic beverages, and food additives such as nitrates (in pepperoni, hot dogs, luncheon meats) and monosodium glutamate (MSG, commonly found in Chinese food) may be responsible for triggering up to 30% of migraines.

Allergic reactions

Bright lights, loud noises, and certain odors or perfumes

Physical or emotional stress

Changes in sleep patterns

Smoking or exposure to smoke

Skipping meals

Lack of Water or dehydration

Alcohol or caffeine

Difference between Headache and Migraine

Migraine is disease, a headache is only a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels, while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction. During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain, i.e., neurogenic inflammation, exacerbates the pain. Therefore, medicine often prescribed to treat a headache, such as beta-blockers, dilate the blood vessels and therefore can make a Migraine worse.

Unlike a headache, the Migraine disease has many symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, auras (light spots), sensitivity to light and sound, numbness, difficulty in speech, and severe semihemispherical head pain. One Migraine attack alone can last for eight hours, several days, or even weeks.

Migraine is a true organic neurological disease. A Migraine is caused when a physiological (not psychological) trigger or triggers cause vasodilatation in the cranial blood vessels, which triggers nerve endings to release chemical substances called neurotransmitters, of which the neurotransmitter serotonin is an important factor in the development of Migraine.

Migraine can induce a host of serious physical conditions: strokes, aneurysms, permanent visual loss, severe dental problems, coma and even death.



Tramadol ultracet
Tags: , ,
Posted in Health Resources | No Comments »

Migraine – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Migraine

January 10th, 2010 by Tramadol

A migraine can be disabling — with symptoms so severe, all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. Up to 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men have experienced a migraine.

More than 29.5 million Americans suffer from migraine, with women being affected three times more often than men. This vascular headache is most commonly experienced between the ages of 15 and 55, and 70% to 80% of sufferers have a family history of migraine. Less than half of all migraine sufferers have received a diagnosis of migraine from their healthcare provider. Migraine is often misdiagnosed as sinus headache or tension-type headache.

Causes of Migraine

Foods. Certain foods appear to trigger headaches in some people. Common offenders include alcohol, especially beer and red wine; aged cheeses; chocolate; fermented, pickled or marinated foods; aspartame; overuse of caffeine; monosodium glutamate — a key ingredient in some Asian foods; certain seasonings; and many canned and processed foods. Skipping meals or fasting also can trigger migraines.

Sensory stimuli. Bright lights and sun glare can produce head pain. So can unusual smells — including pleasant scents, such as perfume and flowers, and unpleasant odors, such as paint thinner and secondhand smoke.

A migraine begins when, for some reason, blood vessels in the brain narrow (constrict) temporarily. When that happens, the amount of blood and oxygen flowing to the brain drops. So the brain sends a message: “Hey guys, we need some more blood and oxygen here!”

Until recently, the general theory on the migraine process rested solely on the idea that abnormalities of blood vessel (vascular) systems in the head were responsible for migraines.

Symptoms of Migraine

Intense throbbing or dull aching pain on one side of your head or both sides.

Migraines typically begin in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood and may become less frequent and less intense as you grow older. In addition to physical suffering, severe headaches often mean missed school days and trips to the emergency department, as well as lost work time for anxious parents.

Most experts now agree that the term migraine should be used to refer to a chronic, recurrent neurological condition resulting in periodic attacks of head pain rather than the headache.

Changes in how a person sees, including blurred vision or blind spots, zig-zags of light or light flashes

Treatment of Migraine

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three over-the-counter products to treat migraine. Excedrin® Migraine (a combination of aspirin, acetaminophen and caffeine) is indicated for migraine and its associated symptoms. Advil® Migraine and Motrin® Migraine Pain, both ibuprofen medications, are approved to treat migraine headache and its pain.

Ergots. Ergotamine (Ergomar) has been in use for more than 60 years and was a common prescription for migraine before triptans were introduced. Ergotamine is much less expensive, but also less effective, than triptans. Dihydroergotamine is an ergot derivative that is more effective and has fewer side effects than ergotamine.

Drug names and migraine headache treatments availability vary widely from the USA and UK. Migraine headache treatments fall into two broad categories: first with migraine treatments are analgesics and analgesic combinations and, secondly, migraine-specific therapies, such as the triptans, ergotamine and dihydroergotamine. Many of these are available only on prescription but there is a variety of therapeutic options available over the counter (OTC) and pharmacists can often advise patients about these.

Beta blockers (e.g., propranolol [Inderal®], atenolol [Tenormin®]) are the preferred medications. These drugs produce an effect on heart rate. They should not be taken by patients with asthma and should be used with caution in patients with diabetes.



Butalbital
Tags: , ,
Posted in Diseases And Conditions | No Comments »

This page is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a medical doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner or other qualified health professional.