Mi­graine

The most common symptoms include:

• Throbbing headache
• Sensitivity to light and noise
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Lack of energy
   

However, migraines may progress through four stages. But not every patient experiences all stages:

1. Prodrome (one or two days before the migraine starts):
   Subtle changes, such as depression, constipation, yawning, food cravings, hyperactivity, irritability, stiff neck.
2. Aura (before or during migraine headache):
   Symptoms might include visual disturbances, e.g. flashes of light, movement or speech disturbances, vision loss, needles sensations in a leg or an arm. But many patients don’t experience this stage. If these symptoms do occur, they start gradually, build up over several minutes and then usually last for 20 to 60 minutes.
3. Attack (an untreated migraine may last between four hours and three days – several times per month or less often):
   The patient may suffer from symptoms, such as throbbing pain on one side or both sides of the head, sensitivity to light and sounds, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, dizziness, fainting.
4. Postdrome (after migraine attack)
   The patients often feel drained. However, some people might be mildly euphoric.

Although the causes of migraine are not yet fully understood, it’s known that:

• Migraines run in families
• Women are three times more likely than men to get the disorder
• Migraines usually start in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood
• Patients with depression, anxiety, asthma, epilepsy are more likely to get migraines

But it isn't clear why some people suffer from this painful condition and others don't. However, various triggers might also bring on a migraine. If a person has several triggers, it increases the chance of getting the disorder.

Triggers might be:

• Stress
• Not eating
• Chocolate
• Red wine
• Monosodium glutamate
• Poor sleep habits
• A change from the routine
• Strong odors

If the affected person gets headaches on more than 15 days a month for at least three months, and if he/she has a migraine on eight of these days, the migraine is chronic. This condition may have a big effect on the patient’s life. He/she typically takes increasing amounts of medicine to ease the symptoms. But in the long run this can result in further headaches (“medication-overuse headaches”).

In addition, some pain relievers, e.g. ibuprofen, might lead to abdominal pain, bleeding, ulcers and other complications, particularly if the patient takes the medication in large doses or for a long period of time.
In rare cases, other complications might occur, such as serotonin syndrome or migrainous infarction.