Mild, moderate or severe, migraine headaches afflict approximately 30 million Americans of which 75 percent are women.(1) About 76 percent of those can actually tell when an attack is about to hit them by signs that are known mostly only to them. Our article today deals with the 11 most commonly known triggers of migraines. Keeping a journal of the triggers will enable a person to avoid as many of them as possible and even navigate around a migraine from hitting them. 1. Stress or Relaxing After A Stressful Period Commonly known as the primary culprit of migraines, periods of sporadic or chronic, prolonged stress can easily set off the impending attack of migraines after a bout of stress--or even a period of after the fact relaxation. 2. Irregular Sleep Hours …show more content…
Menstrual Cycles, Menopause, Post-Menopause and Hormonal Changes Afflicting women of almost any age, changing hormones in menstrual cycles, menopause, post-menopause phases can cause very painful migraines. Many women are affected by fluctuations in estrogen as are women with a family history of pre-menstrual or menstrual distress. Oral contraceptives and hormonal replacement medications also show a tendency to trigger migraines, while in others, there seems no apparent symptoms.(3) 9. Certain Prescribed Medications, Incorrect Eye Glass Prescriptions Prescribed medications, even OTC, can trigger migraines in some persons as can an incorrectly prescribed pair of eyeglasses. 10. Perfumes and Strong Smells Household chemical cleaners, perfumes, turpentine and other strong smells can trigger migraines as can secondhand smoke. In contrast, some are bothered by one smell while not having any reaction to another kind of odor.(3) 11. Drinking Alcohol One of the reasons that people get a hangover after a drinking bout or party is that they become dehydrated by the alcohol. Other people seem sensitive to the nitrates found in wine and may suffer after drinking--especially wine or wine
It’s 5a.m and I can barely move; everything is blurry, my right hand is numb, and the right side of my head is pounding. A couple hours later everything transferred from my right side of my body to the left side of my body. It is a migraine that I am having, and this has been my life since 6th grade.
levels are high. This occurs during their premenstrual period and it causes a sudden drop in the hormone. This can worsen symptoms such as headache, nausea, dizziness,
The article begins by explaining the importance of migraines and how often they occur. The article says that there are more than 300 million people who suffer from their migraines, and they deal with all the symptoms of migraines like excruciating and pulsating pain in the head. Interestingly migraines have been around for around 7000 years, but it is only been in recent history that they have been recognized as a legit illness. However, even though it is now recognized as a serious ailment not much is known of what cause them.
The most recently released 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used in this study to analyze the racial differences in migraine prevalence among adults (age ≥ 18 years) in the United States. Data from 2010 to 2014 were also extracted to assess the annual trend of age and sex adjusted prevalence of migraine in the adult population.
Regular ovulatory cycles with increased premenstrual symptoms. (ie. breast tenderness, mood swings). Shorter cycles are normal along with hot flashes in the morning. You may also experience Weight gain, migraine headaches, and abnormally heavy or flooding menstruation may occur. Estrogen levels are intermittently high. FSH levels are normal.
Migraine is the chronic disorder of the brain and it’s more prevalent than epilepsy and diabetes. There is no cure for it. Some call it genetic disorder and some call it a stress.
Migraines are different than headaches. While headaches do have pressure and pain associated with them, migraines are more intense and usually have other symptoms that
Migraines rank as the number 7th leading cause of disability worldwide and affects an approximated 14% of the general population. In other words, a migraine is a headache on steroids. It is a primary headache disorder characterized by recurrent headaches that range anywhere between moderate to extremely severe. Typically, the symptoms associated with migraines include a pounding sensation in one half of the head, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light, smell, and sound. Before a migraine comes on, approximately one-third of people experience what is called a migraine aura. A migraine aura is typically a short period of time accompanied by visual disturbances and can occur with little to no headache. When thinking of a migraine the first
Lifestyle modifications and coping strategies can help migraine sufferers reduce the number and severity of migraines. Therapeutic lifestyle adjustments including good sleep hygiene, routine meal schedules, regular aerobic exercise, and managing migraine triggers may be advantageous for controlling migraine. Those women whose migraines seem to be triggered by estrogen should avoid or reduce use of medications contacting estrogen like birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy (Mitsikostas & Rapoport, 2015).
The cause behind migraines is a mystery. However, it is believed that they occur due to a chemical imbalance in an individual’s brain. This imbalance can be caused by food, hormone or other triggers, which is why those who have food allergies tend to get a migraine after they eat something they are allergic to! When you set off this trigger in your brain, your blood vessels dilate and they become inflamed. This inflammation then causes irritation surrounding your nerves, resulting in a migraine. Typically, those who suffer from migraines are prescribed antidepressants, which in themselves can have a series of side effects.
An incidence of headache pain may be mild to debilitating to the sufferer. Many people who experience headaches have episodic or chronic headache pain. Episodes of headache occur once a month or a few times a year; while chronic headaches have 15 or more instances a month. Although the brain does not feel pain, the soft tissues in the head and neck, blood vessels, arteries, nerves, and chemicals in the brain produce pain signals alerting the body to a headache. Experts are not sure of the exact causes of headaches however, there seems to be a correlation with blood flow in the brain. Blood vessels in the brain constrict lessening the blood flow, creating some of the symptoms involved in a migraine assault. Further into the assault the blood vessels dilate and increased blood volume triggers a migraine attack. Stress, certain foods, weather changes, menstruation, fatigue, and a shift in brain chemicals all seem to be common headache triggers.
Hormonal medications, such as hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives, also may worsen symptoms of migraines. Some women, however, find their migraines occur less often when taking these medications.
Many genetic factors are also clearly an indicative of the susceptibility to migraine headaches. While the exact mechanism remains uncertain, it is thought that migraines are caused by genetic abnormalities that cause hyper-excitability of the nervous system. The nerve terminals release neurotransmitters such as substance P, neurokinin A (NKA), and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which then binds to the receptors on intracranial blood vessels, causing vasodilation, mast cell degranulation, increased vascular permeability and blood vessel edema, plasma protein extravasation, and sterile inflammation. The cranial nerves are then reactivated causing the pain experienced during a migraine.
A migraine is a common type headache. In addition, migraines can cause moderate to severe pain and is often described as throbbing or pulsating pain on one side of the head. In addition, migraines can cause blurred vision when exposed to light and sound, nausea, and vomiting pounding.
Migraine headaches are the result of a disturbance in the neurochemistry of the central nervous system. They are relatively common, affecting three times as many women as men. Migraine sufferers typically report a definite pattern to their headaches, and they can report what stimuli bring them on. Most migraine sufferers experience their first attack before the age of 20. There is no single cause of migraines, but the tendency to get migraines does tend to run in families. When a migraine occurs, it means that something has altered several of the neurotransmitter-sensitive receptors located on the outside surface of the nerve cells (neurons) so that the nervous system is no longer able to constantly maintain the natural balance that the