PajMon Information Blog

Posts Tagged ‘migraines’

There are a fair number of commonly-known sort of headache. These include, but are not limited to: cluster headaches, migraine headaches, tension headaches, chronic daily headaches, blood pressure headaches, chronic cluster headaches and sinus headaches.

A migraine headache is a severe headache. This type of headache has been found to have a profound impact on the daily lives of its sufferers. The pain can be a pulsating sensation or sometimes a throbbing kind of head pain. This throbbing pain can be moderate to severe. The symptoms of migraine headaches include nausea, extreme sensitivity to light and sound. With the migraine kind of headache there is often an early warning sensation called an aura.

The aura is experienced in the form of alterations in visual perception. You may see bright flashes, swirls or blurs and sometimes you may even lose a part of your sight. You could also experience a numbness or a tingling in your arms. These precursory warning symptoms will fade a while before the migraine attack begins. A migraine headache can last for up to three days without any treatment, before it recedes.

The kinds of tension headache cause a dull, constant pain in the forehead, the sides or back of the head. Some people liken a tension headache to a tight band wrapped around the head and it is considered to be one of the most common kinds of headache. A tension headache does not create symptoms such as light sensitivity, loss of sight, nausea and vomiting.

Tension headaches occur in episodic or chronic kinds. Generally, most sufferers of this kind of tension headache, experience chronic headaches. It is estimated that about 40% of the population suffers from tension headaches. Chronic daily headaches are another of these sorts of headache.

Most chronic daily headaches are tension headaches or headaches that result from ingesting too much pain medication. With these kinds of headache, the pain is of a constant, dull nature – there can also be a feeling of tightness like a rubber band around the head. A chronic daily headache is diagnosed by its duration: the pain must last for at least 15 days per month during a three month period of time.

Another type of headache is the Cluster headache group, which is a rare but very painful kind of headache. The name of this headache arises from the fact that the headache produces clusters of pain. Periods of continuous Cluster headaches may last weeks or months, but this is then followed up by long periods of no headaches at all.

Cluster headaches are usually to be found on one side of the head only. Usually the sharp, penetrating pain begins behind one eye. Cluster headaches cause red, teary eyes, a stuffy nose and sometimes symptoms like nausea and sensitivity to light may occur too.

These are some of the many types of headaches that can be experienced. The pain from the headache can be mild or it can be excruciating in its severity. To obtain relief from these headaches you must talk to your doctor about medication or you can buy some over the counter headache pain tablets.

Headaches in any type are always painful to the sufferer. However, some headaches, like migraines, for instance, can cause even more problems than just a headache. These problems could be nausea, light sensitivity and a banging pain in the head. Sometimes the headache acts on one side of the head, and other times you can feel the pain on both sides of the head at the same time.

The real causes of migraine headaches has yet to be discovered, although there are a few theories why we have migraine headaches. The most commonly held belief is that an alteration in the blood flow within the brain is one of the triggers that causes migraine headaches. Another theory about migraine headache is that maybe it could be caused by pain sensing chemicals called neuropeptides.

Many medical professionals think that neuropeptides relax the smooth muscle that surrounds the cranial blood vessels. This relaxation causes the blood vessels to dilate. This blood vessel relaxation increases the flow of blood and other cranial fluid to the brain. This increase in fluids is thought to be the cause of migraine headaches.

These cranial fluids cause inflammation, pain, sensitivity, tissue and blood vessel inflammation during the time of migraine headaches. Some people think that the aura that is sometimes seen during a migraine headache is caused by the constriction of blood vessels that became dilated during the beginning phase of the migraine headache.

Another theory about the reason for migraine headaches has been linked to genetics and inheritance. These theories say that a child of migraine sufferers will have a 50% probability of getting migraine headaches too.

The probability of inheriting migraine headaches become even greater if both parents are known to suffer from this painful type of headache. Should both parents be known to have frequent migraine headaches the chances of the child inheriting migraine headache symptoms is about 70%.

Now even though many professionals think that genetics plays a large part in migraine headaches the genes that may be considered as the causes of migraine headaches have not been identified or even isolated. When we begin to experience migraine headaches the only warning signs that we may receive are a throbbing pain in the temple area and slight nausea.

As the symptoms of the migraine progresses, the pain becomes much more severe. Unfortunately, since the causes of migraine headaches have yet to be found and we dont know what triggers these attacks, there are no medications to cure this kind of headaches yet.

In all probability either you or a loved one suffers from the severe pain of migraines or cluster headaches. I am sure it’s very difficult for someone who has never experienced these types of headaches to imagine how debilitating they can be.

As a youngster, I had constant bouts of nausea, often leading to vomiting. I didn’t have a headache though. The doctors at the time were puzzled about my condition and no diagnosis was ever made. Decades later, it was determined that as a child I was suffering from a migraine equivalent. When I was in my late teens I started having problems with visual disturbances. All of a sudden, I would just lose a good portion of my vision. I would only be able to see half of an object. This would last for about 45 minutes. I was still not having any headaches though.

The headaches began when I was in my late 20s. That was the beginning of many visits to the family doctor and numerous specialists. They gave me every test they could think of, including brain scans. I am happy to say they didn’t find anything organically wrong with me and eventually the “migraine” diagnosis was made. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, because my mother suffered from them most of her life.

Then started the search for a medication that worked well and that I could tolerate. For at least 30 years I was taking an ergot compound but the last time I went to renew the prescription I was told that it was now taken off the market because they were unsure about the side effects. I found that surprising, because the drug had been around for over 40 years. I was then introduced to sumatriptan and to my dismay found that it was nearly 100 times more expensive that my old reliable ergot and came with a host of unpleasant side effects.

I found that the sumatriptan did get rid of my migraine and I would have relief for about 12 hours, but then the headache would come back with a vengeance and I would have to repeat the cycle. This would actually go on for at least three days. At the end of it, I was feeling like I had been stomped on by a herd of elephants! It would then take me another few days to get over the fatigue and lethargy.

I was continually searching for alternative treatments and would try various things that were recommended but it wasn’t until I recently found this wonderful little book called “The Magnesium Solution for Migraine Headaches. How to Use Magnesium to Prevent and Relieve Migraine & Cluster Headaches Naturally” by Jay S. Cohen, MD, that I found what I had been looking for.

I was upset that my family doctor was not familiar with the treatment that Dr. Cohen discussed in his book. In fact, in all the years I have suffered from migraines, no one in the medical profession has ever mentioned the use of magnesium to me. However, the great news is that I have now found this information and want to share it with my readers who are needlessly suffering with these devastating headaches.

Magnesium is a natural vascular relaxant in both humans and animals. It doesn’t come with all the side effects that a synthetic drug comes with. I found it interesting to learn that in certain areas of Africa and Japan, they have the lowest number of migraine sufferers in the world. This is because the dietary level of magnesium is high in these areas.

The body cannot function normally without magnesium. It plays a major role in more than 300 different enzymatic reactions that take place within all the cells of the body. It quietens the actions of the sympathetic nervous system and has a relaxing effect on the central nervous system. It plays a vital role in healing wounds, sleep, muscular function, healthy pregnancy and growth. It has been named the ‘king of minerals’ and has been noted as having solved more incurable and mysterious symptoms than any other mineral.

I don’t recommend that you drop everything, run out to the store and buy the first bottle of magnesium that you see. Using magnesium successfully depends on finding a product that agrees with you. Some people with a very strong constitution can actually take any magnesium product, but others have some difficulty with cheap, low-quality products that are not well absorbed. There are many forms of magnesium, such as carbonate, oxide, chloride, sulfate and others. Some companies combine magnesium with amino acids to enhance the absorption. This produces magnesium maleate, magnesium citrate, magnesium lactate or magnesium aspartate, and these products work well for most people.

For those who have difficulty taking pills the magnesium can also come in liquid form. Even though solutions cost more than pills, for many it is well worth it, because they are the best absorbed, best tolerated and fastest acting forms of magnesium. You might want to check out Liquid Ionic Magnesium at your local health food store.

I highly recommend that you get a copy of Dr. Cohen’s book and read it from beginning to end. I would suggest that you mention to your health care provider that you want to try supplementing with the proper dose of magnesium. Take the book along with you to your next appointment and show him that a medical doctor is the author of the book. There are no reliable blood tests to diagnose a magnesium deficiency. Even those people who are seriously deficient, will have a normal level of magnesium in the blood.

This magnesium therapy has been the answer for so many people in relieving their migraine and custer headaches. If you go ahead and give it a try, I do hope that it will work as well for you in alleviating your pain, as it does for so many others.

It’s the very rare person who has never had a headache. However, all headaches are not created equally. There are various forms and one of the most painful and difficult to handle is the migraine headache.

They are classified as throbbing headaches that occur on only one side of the head. Many migraine sufferers also experience nausea and even vomiting. The pain becomes worse with activity and there is a sensitivity to light and sound.

A person that suffers from ‘classical’ migraines will have what is called an ‘aura’ prior to the actual headache. They will experience sensory disturbances that could include brightly colored blinking lines, flashes of light, dots and black spots that pass in their field of vision. They might also lose a portion of their sight for this short period of time and may only see half of an object. The aura comes about 10 – 30 minutes before the headache and only 10% – 15% of migraineurs have this type of a migraine.

The ‘common’ migraine (or migraine without an aura) will be experienced by the other 85% – 90%. They can still have warning signs thought that could include a hot sensation in the head, a tightening sensation throughout the scalp and a feeling of heaviness. The warnings can actually occur a few hours or even a day before the headache starts.

Learning to read your own body warnings and symptoms can be a very important part of developing an effective treatment program for your headaches. It’s a good idea to keep a little symptom diary so that you can identify any patterns that might emerge. For instance, you might find that the migraine comes on around the same time every month. If that’s the case, and you are a woman, it could be tied in with your monthly cycle.

Some people only experience the headache for 4 hours or so, but other will have the migraine for up to seventy-two hours. It mostly starts with a dull, aching pain, developing into an overwhelming throbbing pain, which can fluctuate. For those who are sensitive to light during this phase, they have to lie down in a darkened room and keep as still as possible. Bending over or sudden movements can increase the pain. Diarrhea, increased urination and loss of appetite are other changes that can occur.

When the headache is at its worse, the hands and feet can feel icy cold. This is in contrast to the hot feeling in the head that is felt just before the migraine. The hypothalamus is the bodys thermostat and it is believed that these changes in the body temperature are brought about by disturbances in this area.

Migraines can occur after a period of intense stress has actually ended. For instance, after getting back from a vacation, a weekend or shortly after meeting a deadline. Also, when the migraine is all over, it is not unusual for the person to feel completely wiped out. Some report actually feeling exhausted for days after. Some, however, feel a sense of renewal and a surge of energy.

If you believe that the headaches you are having are migraines, then I recommend that you make an appointment with your health care provider. Regular over-the-counter medication does very little to alleviate the pain and you will more-than-likely need a prescription.