Migraine Headache Treatment

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Migraine Treatment Migraine Headache Remedies – What Are Your Choices?

Nowadays there is a huge amount of migraine headache treatment available to help you deal with the pain. Of course it’s a good thing in a certain way to know that there are a lot of options to help you with your situation. On the other hand it can get very frustrating and extremely confusing. With so many choices it’s difficult to know which ones are working and which ones are not even worth trying.

There are various factors you should be aware of before deciding which migraine treatment you are going to take. The most common of all and probably the most important is that you need to be aware of the fact that not all treatment work at the same degree on all people. This is crucial.

The Various Migraine headache treatments

When it comes to migraine or headache treatments, there are two main options for you to choose from. Of course each of those options contains a wide variety of treatments. You can either go naturally or more traditional, in other words natural treatment or pills. This is the first step you will need to take in your research for a good headache treatment.

If you decide to go the natural way you will then have to resort to natural ingredients only. In our case this means mostly herbs and spices. Of course there is a wide variety of headache home treatment that can help you with your migraines and headaches. One of the most commonly used would be the use of green tea.

If you decide to try the green tea solution, all you need to do is to prepare yourself a cup of green tea and drink it black. The antioxidant in the tea and of course the tea itself is very good to relieve the pain that is caused by headaches and migraines.

On the other hand if you choose to go the more traditional way for your migraine headache treatment then again you have many options. Basically here is the general principle for this kind of headache treatment. You will start with a lower dosage of medication or pills. If this dosage does not help you reduce the pain caused by the headaches then your doctor will most likely prescribe you something stronger.

Of course this process can get extremely frustrating and difficult for you. For some people it seems like whatever they try, the migraines and/or headaches just won’t go away. In those moments you should try to calm yourself and avoid getting frustrated. Just remember that there is a wide variety of migraine headache treatment out there to help you get rid of the pain. One day or another you will find the one that helps you.

By: madcore

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

If you are tired of suffering from headaches and migraine and would like to find the best Migraine headache Remedies visit my website at www.headache-solution.com.

Also try causeofmigraines.com

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Migraine Headache Treatments

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Migraine headache painMigraine Headache Treatments

Migraines are recurrent headaches that can be disabling. Up to 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men have experienced a migraine. Migraine headaches are less common than tension headaches. About 6% of all men and 18% of all women experience a migraine headache at some time. Migraine headache occurs on one or both sides of the head. The pain is typically pulsating or throbbing in nature. Nausea, with or without vomiting, as well as sensitivity to light and sound often accompany migraines. Migraines are made worse by activity, bright lights and bright noises. In most cases, migraine attacks are occasional, or sometimes as often as once or twice a week, but not daily. Women who have migraines often find that their headaches occur or worsen around the time of their menstrual periods. One unique feature of migraines is an unusual sensation that a migraine is about to occur. This sensation is called a prodrome. Prodrome symptoms can include fatigue, hunger and nervousness. Not all people who get migraines have prodromes. An aura is a complex of neurological symptoms that occur just before or at the onset of migraine headache. An aura involves a disturbance in vision that may consist of brightly colored or blinking lights in a pattern that moves across the field of vision. Most patients with migraine have attacks without aura. About one in five migraine sufferers experiences an aura. Treatment How your migraines are treated will depend on the frequency and severity of attacks. People who have a headache several times per year often respond well to nonprescription pain relievers. There are two types of medications to treat migraines:

  • Abortive medications – drugs that are taken when a headache starts
  • Preventive medications – drugs that are taken every day to prevent migraines

Abortive Medications Migraine-specific abortive medications usually are necessary for moderate to severe migraine headaches. When possible, an abortive medication should be taken immediately after an aura or migraine headache starts. However overusing abortive medications can lead to chronic headaches, that occur day after day without a specific cause or diagnosis. Several prescription and nonprescription pain medications are used as abortive drugs: aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Apsifen, Motrin, Nuprin and other brand names) or naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprosyn) Effective agents available by prescription include:

  • Triptans – sumatriptan (Imitrex), naratriptan (Amerge), zolmitriptan (Zomig) and rizatriptan (Maxalt). Triptan drugs are effective in 60% to 65% of patients, completely or significantly relieving migraine pain and associated symptoms within 2 hours of administration. Triptans reduce inflammation and constrict the blood vessels. The triptan with the longest history of use is sumatriptan (Imitrex).
  • Ergots – sublingual ergotamine (Ergomar) and dihydroergotamine (Migranal). Ergots cause constriction of blood vessels, but ergots tend to cause more constriction of vessels in the heart and other parts of the body than the triptans, and their effects on the heart are more prolonged than the triptans. Ergots are not as safe as the triptans.
  • Midrin. It is a combination of isometheptene (a blood vessel constrictor), acetaminophen (a pain reliever), and dichloralphenazone (a mild sedative)

Preventive Medications Preventive medication are prescribed when migraine attacks that don’t respond well to abortive medications or adverse reactions to abortive medications occur, migraine attacks occur too often, complicated migraines. Many drugs are listed as potentially useful to prevent recurrent migraine attacks. The drugs in the following classes are useful to prevent recurrent migraine attacks:

  • Beta-blockers. Propranolol (Inderal) and nadolol (Corgard) have a good track record of being safe and effective. Metoprolol (Lopressor) and atenolol (Tenormin) are reasonable alternatives. Beta-blockers have been used for many years to prevent migraine headaches. It is not known how beta-blockers prevent migraine headaches.
  • Tricyclic antidepressants. These medications are very effective, but often have troublesome side effects such as sedation, blurred vision, dry mouth and constipation. The first choice is often amitriptyline (Elavil). Nortriptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl), doxepin (Sinequan), imipramine (Tofranil) also can be tried.
  • Anticonvulsants. Of the drugs in this class, valproate (Depakote, Epival) has the best evidence to support using it for prevention. Gabapentin (Neurontin) and topiramate (Topamax) also are effective. It is not known how anticonvulsants work to prevent migraine headaches.
  • Serotonin antagonists. Methysergide (Sansert) has been available for many years and is very effective. Methysergide prevents migraine headaches by constricting blood vessels and reducing inflammation of the blood vessels. However, this medication has side effects that are potentially very serious and therefore is not widely used.

By Katie Bennett Published: 8/8/2008

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Best Ten Ways To Avoid Migraines

Migraine Headache Causes 1 Comment »

The problem with migraine prevention is that there isn’t just one cause for the headaches. There are very many triggers for migraines, in fact, and trying to avoid them all would be an exercise in hermitry. Who wants to spend the rest of their life living in a cave just to avoid headaches? That being said, there are a few things you can do to avoid migraines and here are the top ten.

1) Cut the caffeine. Among the multitude of products linked to migraines is caffeine. Taking in too much can lead to a headache of monstrous proportions. Unfortunately, it’s not only too much caffeine that lead to a headache, it’s caffeine withdrawal if you’re used to taking in a lot. Best to cut back slow http://www.causeofmigraines.comly.

2) While we’re talking about caffeine, let’s also talk about NutraSweet. Aspartame has been the culprit for many people who have complained of migraines. Go in search of why aspartame causes migraines and you will run into what seems like the biggest cover-up since Roswell. Most of what you’ll read hasn’t been proven, but then again neither have the makers of NutraSweet proven that their product doesn’t contribute to migraines. Avoid it and you may well avoid a horrendous headache.

3) There are more reasons to give up smoking than you can count, but avoiding migraines is another reason to put on the list. Of course, that’s easier than said than done if you are the smoker, but remember, secondhand smoke is just as likely to cause a migraine headache as actual smoking. So if you can, remove yourself from the environment in which people are smoking. Better yet: Get them to remove themselves. You do have the right to not have to be around their smoke, especially if their smoke is causing your headaches.

4) Establish a regular pattern of sleeping and waking. In fact, get as anal-retentive as you can about this. A regular pattern of going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time, on weekends as well as weekdays, can do wonders. Many people who have instituted a rigid routine of sleeping and waking have discovered that their migraines disappear completely and forever. Or at least as long as they continue the pattern.

5) Give up the pill and try another form of contraception. Birth control pills and their effects on hormones can be a major hazard when it comes to migraine pain. You don’t necessarily have to go off the pill entirely. Some people have found that merely changing brands puts an end to their migraine misery. If that doesn’t help, however, you may look into other forms of female contraception or, if you and your partner don’t mind, switching over to condoms.

As you’ve seen from the article you’re reading, we have tried to compile the very best resources from across the Internet on this topic – build the ultimate destination that’ll attract you and others interested in the subject.

6) Change your lighting. Very bright lights can often trigger very severe migraines. You might consider using the softer, filmy kind of light bulbs. Or use lamps instead of overhead lights. Or stop using fluorescent lighting, if that’s possible. If you spend a lot of time at the computer monitor, take frequent breaks and get as far away from the pulsating waves of the monitor as possible.

7) Cheese, chocolate and wine may sound like the ideal ingredients for a romantic picnic, but if you are prone to migraines the last thing you may be feeling is romantic following that afternoon getaway. Aged cheeses especially are dangerous because they contain the amino acid tyramine. Chocolate contains phenylethamine. Both chemicals contribute to migraines and alcohol is a trigger as well. Stay away from all three and find other ways to get in a romantic mood.

8) Use body wash to smell good instead of perfume or cologne. Odors and aromas are major causes of migraines and those that make you smell good are among the worst. Keep yourself clean instead of daubing with the smelly-goods.

9) Being an aerobic exercise program. Exercising regularly helps to increase your cardiovascular capacity and improper blood flow is linked to recurrent migraines.

10) Driver or take a train when you can instead of flying. The lowering of cabin pressure on airplanes is a sure-fire migraine trigger and one easily avoided when the trip can be made by alternative means of transportation.

So, what did you think about this article? Please drop me a quick note to share your thoughts and comments on it.

There’s also more to come – and I keep updating this article regularly. So please keep visiting often to get the latest information!

About The Author  James Mahony

James Mahony is the founder of http://www.migraineheadacheprevention.com – A site dedicated to preventing and treating migraine headaches http://www.migraineheadacheprevention.com http://www.articlesforwebsitecontent.com

 

This article was posted on February 27, 2006

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