Chronic Migraine: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

What Is Chronic Migraine?

Most people who’re prone to migraine get a painful attack once or twice a month. But if you have the condition known as chronic migraine, you get headaches much more often – 15 or more days a month for at least 3 months.

Migraine is a very common type of headache. It causes a severe throbbing pain, often on one side of your head, along with nausea vomiting, and/or sensitivity to light and sound. This means you find bright lights and loud noises unbearable. Your migraine might last a few hours or a few days. During that time, you might be in so much pain that you can’t work or do any other activities.

The two main types of migraines are:

• Migraine with aura
• Migraine without aura

Migraine with aura means you see flashing lights or blind spots, or have some kind of muscle weakness before your migraine attack. Migraine without aura means that you don’t get these cues beforehand. It’s more common to have migraine without aura. About 14% of the world’s population has migraine. You might either have episodic migraine or chronic migraine.

Chronic Migraine Symptoms

If you have chronic migraines you don’t need to be told how painful it is. This isn’t just a “bad” headache. People with migraine often go through four stages: prodrome, aura, attack, and postdrome. Here are the symptoms of chronic migraine, keeping in mind that not everyone goes through all the stages:

Prodrome stage

A day or two before a migraine you might have:

• Constipation
• Food cravings
• Neck stiffness
• Mood changes
• More frequent urination (peeing)
• Increased yawning

Aura

Before or during a migraine headache, you might:

• See flashing lights, colors, lines, or shadows
• Lose vision
• Get tingling face, hands, or feet
• Lose strength
• Become dizzy or have vertigo (feeling like you’re spinning)

Attack

The headache can last 4-72 hours if not treated. During this time, you might have:

• Bad throbbing pain on one or both sides of your head
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Extreme sensitivity to bright lights, sounds, touch, and smells

Postdrome

You might find your chronic migraine stops suddenly or fades away slowly. For a day after an attack you might feel:

• Drained
• Fatigued, as if you had a hangover
• Similar to how you felt in the prodrome stage; for instance, food cravings might return
• Elated that the headache is over

Chronic migraine can take a toll on your personal life. If you get painful headaches for half of each month, you lose days of work or school and precious time with friends and family. It’s common for people with chronic migraines to also have depression.

Can I Prevent Chronic Migraines?

Taking care of yourself every day may prevent your migraine from turning into a long-term problem. For instance:

Catch some ZZZs

Not getting enough sleep can trigger a migraine episode. Aim for 7-8 hours of rest each night.

Watch your diet

While caffeine can soothe your pain, stopping it suddenly is a common cause of migraine. Other common food triggers include MSG (monosodium glutamate), aged cheeses, chocolate, nitrates in cured meats like hot dogs, artificial sweeteners, and alcohol.

Manage your stress

Tension and worry are common triggers. Try to carve out a few minutes each day to do something you love, or learn to breathe deeply when you’re having a crisis. You might join a support group or talk to a counselor.

Have a meal plan

Fasting and skipping meals can trigger headaches. Try to eat around the same times each day.

Get moving

Exercise is a good way to ease your anxiety and stress. It can also help you get to, and stay at, a healthy weight. Since obesity raises your risk of chronic migraines, getting in shape is crucial.

Know your triggers

Not all migraine attacks result from triggers. But one way to know whether you have triggers is to keep a headache diary. Each time you have an attack, write down details about what you were doing or eating, how long the headache lasted, and how you felt before it started. This will help you begin to notice patterns – and avoid your triggers. For instance, some people notice drinking coffee gives them a headache, while others feel it helps to take one away.

Credit: webmd

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