Migraine Headaches

There are many over the counter drugs that can be used to cure the common headache and even reduce fever. In some cases of persistent or severe headaches you could go to your doctor to get a prescription for some other medication for your headaches. Often you will be prescribed the same over drugs you can find over the counter, but with a higher grade of pain reliever milligrams.

Whether the medication you take for your headache is over the counter or prescribed by your doctor you should always be concerned with what the major side effects are. Always be sure to only take medication that has been personally prescribed to you for your symptoms. Never take someone else’s prescription drugs because they could be given to that person for symptoms that they failed to tell you about other than the one symptom you may have.

When taking over the counter medication, do not mix the medication with any other medication whether it is prescribed or over the counter unless otherwise suggested by your doctor. Drugs can have a bad interaction with other drugs causing illness and sometimes death. The utmost caution should be used at all times when taking any sort of medication.

Common Questions About Migraines

Many people ask if there are different types of migraine headaches. The answer is yes. The most common types of migraine headaches, however, are classic migraine headaches and common migraine headaches.
A classic migraine has warning signals, called an aura or precognition. These signals often cause changes in your vision. Some of the vision problems include seeing flashing lights and/or colors. You may also temporarily lose some of your vision, such as your peripheral or side vision.
Classic migraines cause you to feel a strange burning or prickly sensation, or have tense or strange feeling muscles - usually on one side of your body. You may also have trouble communicating. You may also experience a state depression, restlessness and irritability.

These auras can last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, and in some cases hours before the actual migraine occurs. These auras sometimes occur before or after the pain from the migraine.  Sometimes the pain from the aura overlaps causing more pain, and in some cases no pain occurs at all. The pain from a classic migraine usually occurs on one side of the head, while sever cases usually entail in both sides of the head.

With common migraines you don’t have any warnings or auras. Common migraines sometimes start slower than a classic migraine but last longer. These migraines are intense and can interfere with your daily activities. The pain of a common migraine, as with a classic migraine, usually occurs only on one side of the head, but can occur on both sides.

You may also wonder what causes migraine headaches. Migraines are usually triggered, and many different things can trigger the migraine. The most common triggers for migraines include:

Odors: such as really strong, abnormal or unusual odors.

Lights: bright or flashing lights

Noises: usually loud noises such as music, screaming kids, etc.

Weather: going from cold to hot, or hot to cold.  This also can be caused by changes in altitude.

State of mind: being over zealous or tired, anxious or over stressed, sadness or depression, or even being let down.

Sleeping: changing in your pattern of sleep or time, which causes tiredness.

Eating:  missing meals, fasting or not eating at all.  Also in some certain foods containing sodium nitrate, tyramine, or phenylalanine

Strain: Intense physical activity, overloading yourself with work, this also includes sexual activity

In women menstrual cycles/periods, hormones, and even birth control pills.

Migraine Relief

When a migraine hits you unexpectedly and you do not have time to rest to rid yourself of the migraine here are some tips that will help you control the migraine and go about your daily business.

Take a break from what you are doing to sit down and try to relax your mind. Take a pain reliever that is guaranteed not to have a drowsy effect. The pain reliever can take up to half an hour to begin working on reliever your pain. Although the pain may not be completely gone you will have had some time at this point to adjust to the discomfort of the pain for the time being.

If a migraine should occur while driving it is best to pull over to a rest stop and try to rest for a few minutes. A migraine can cause you to lose your side vision temporarily, see white spots, or even color blind you for the moment. If there is another person in the vehicle with you that is able to drive it is best to have them do so.

Always take the safety of yourself and others in to account  in these situations. If these migraines persist it is best to see a doctor.

Headache Sunglasses

Identifying the triggers for a migraine headache can be complicated at times. A migraine won’t happen every time a trigger is touched. Although identifying a trigger can help you prevent a migraine in the future or even over come the migraines all together.

Examine your lifestyle to see if there are any areas where a habit could cause a headache which turns into a migraine. Think of your eating habits first. Eating foods with a lot of sugar can cause a caffeine headache and if your body is accustomed to sugars and you are trying to cut back on them then it could be a lack of caffeine. Having a little sugar can prevent migraines, but always remember there is a such thing as too much of a good thing.

Working in noisy areas can be harmful to your hearing and cause migraines to some. Although the migraine may not occur when you are around the noisy area it can be what it is causing it later on in the day. The noise can be stressful to your body causing the migraine. Wearing earplugs can help prevent hearing loss and migraines.

Once you have found your triggers try to avoid the cause of your migraines or find an alternative solution to handling your migraine.

Headache Sunglasses

Although headaches and migraines seem to have similar traits there is a great deal of difference between the two. Determining which is a headache and what is a migraine is very important for medical purposes. Knowing the difference can help prevent future vision loss and illness.A migraine is a symptom of the beginning of side vision loss. With a migraine you will experience a drain of energy and sensitivity to light and sound. It will begin slowly, but be forceful and can last a very few minutes to days at a time.A headache will come very fast, and can be a dull throbbing pain in your head that can last a few hours. Often taking a pain reliever that you can obtain over the counter can rid you of your headache within half an hour.