Most people consider migraine to be a terrible headache that lasts a couple of hours and then the person recovers and feels better. But, that’s far from the reality of what it’s like living with migraine disease. Migraine is actually a neurological condition that along with intense head pain causes the brain to have an inappropriate response to stimuli also called triggers. Stimuli include lights, sounds, scents, hormones, weather, sleep disturbances, stress, dehydration, chemicals in foods and in the environment and so much more. These factors are easily ignored by those without migraine, but for those with migraine, it can feel like an assault to our senses and create debilitating…
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My Story – The Long Road to Vestibular Migraine Diagnosis, Treatment Plan and Hope
New Yok City, November 2017: It was the week of Thanksgiving. Luckily I had a few days off of work as I came down with a really bad cold. Fever, chills, achiness, the whole shebang. I was so sore and fatigued that I couldn’t get out of bed at times. I vividly remember my eyeballs being really sore. It hurt to move my eyes from side to side or up and down.
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Timolol For Migraine: Is It The Right Abortive for you?
Timolol eye drops for migraine is a big topic of conversation in our private Facebook group. Why would glaucoma eye drops be so interesting to people with migraine? A couple of small studies have shown Timolol maleate ophthalmic drops (0.5% solution) to be effective for treating acute migraine attacks. This article will explore how timolol for migraine and vestibular migraine can be an effective and less expensive option for treating attacks. The goal is to give you information to evaluate if Timolol maleate eye drops 0.5% ophthalmic solution is an appropriate treatment to discuss with your doctor.
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Your Practical Guide to Migraine Preventive Medications
While over 1 billion people world wide have migraine, only a small percentage of them use migraine preventive medications to control their migraine attacks. A migraine preventive medication is considered and offered when people with migraine meet certain criteria: Four or more attacks per month or eight head pain days - Can include severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually (but not always) on one side of the head. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks typically last for 4-72 hours, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with daily activities. Vestibular migraine attacks might not have head pain,…
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Symptoms of Vestibular Migraine That You Need to Know
Migraine is commonly thought of as a terrible headache, but it’s so much more than that. Migraine is a common and complex neurological disorder. So complex that it can present in lesser known variations that can actually occur without any head pain at all. These variations are called migraine variants. Vestibular migraine is just one of those migraine variants. Let's spend some time on the common symptoms of migraine as well as some of the less common signs.
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I Followed a Migraine Elimination Diet: Here’s What Happened
What is a Migraine Elimination Diet? Diet affects the frequency and severity of migraine symptoms in some people. The purpose of a migraine elimination diet is to reduce your exposure to common food triggers with the hopes of creating a calmer migraine brain. The migraine trigger list is a long one. Some migraine triggers are unavoidable like hormones, weather, sensory stimulus and so on. Others like irregular sleep, dehydration & food triggers can be avoided in an attempt to reduce our trigger load and to raise our migraine threshold resulting in better control over symptoms. ** While Migraine Strong writes about the latest in migraine treatments, this is not…
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Migraine Cocktail: Your Comprehensive Guide and Helpful How To Tips
According to the Migraine Research Foundation (MRF), migraine affects one billion people across the globe, 39 million in the United States alone, and it’s the 6th most disabling illness in the world. Finding an effective migraine cocktail is one of the single most important things that anyone with migraine can hope to find.
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Everything You Need To Know About Gua Sha Massage for Migraine
Have you heard about Gua sha for migraine? Gua sha also called scraping therapy is a therapeutic, tool assisted type of massage. This healing technique has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for migraines for centuries. It’s most commonly used for conditions of chronic pain making it a good fit for many of us with migraine disease. During treatment a smooth edged tool is used to scrape your skin. While the first thought of it may seem hokey, it’s actually a relaxing massage therapy technique that offers many benefits for those with migraine.
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How to Use Vestibular Suppressants to Best Treat Vestibular Migraine
Living with a balance disorder like vestibular migraine interferes with our quality of life. Working, driving, our ability to participate in activities with friends and family and function in a way that allows us to simply enjoy life are all inhibited by uncomfortable and at times disabling symptoms. Because of this it’s important to seek treatment from a qualified vestibular specialist who can decipher between similar symptoms caused by very different balance disorders and begin proper treatment. Treatment depends on the underlying cause. But, the three cornerstone treatments specialists typically recommend to alleviate distressing vestibular symptoms are vestibular rehabilitation therapy, lifestyle changes and medication that may include vestibular suppressants.
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Visual Vertigo: When Dizziness Is Triggered by What We See
Sometimes what we see can trigger dizziness and vertigo. If you have a vestibular disorder or disease, chances are you’ve experienced visual vertigo or visually induced dizziness. It’s a disorienting and frightening symptom that is common in those with vestibular (or ocular) disorders like vestibular migraine, Meniere’s disease, vestibular neuritis and more.
