A 44 years old lady walks into my clinic. She sits in the chair besides and starts with tears in her eyes. “My headache is killing me.” On further questioning, she told she has been having such type of headache as if something is hitting inside her head for last about 12 years. Every time she gets headache, she is irritable and goes into her room, switches off lights and lies down still. Occasionally, the pill works; most of the times, it does not. She feels nauseated.
Examination was unremarkable. MRI scan of brain was done; it was normal. She had tried medicines but to no avail.
She asked me, “Will the headache ever go?”
This question is a very difficult one to answer. To answer this, let us try to understand the disease.
A migraine is a headache that is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light. A migraine attack lasts from few hours to few days. At times, it interferes with activities of daily living and even reduce the productivity at work place.
Most of the times the headache of migraine can be prevented by avoiding the triggers. This solves lot of the problems. However, medication are required to reduce the frequency of attacks. The other angle to treatment of migraine is to provide abortive measure, which can cut short the duration of migraine headache.
Common triggers of migraine are :
Caffeine, Cheese, Chocolates, Food preservatives, Smoked fish, yeast extract, banana, nuts, dried fruits, beer, red wine, sleeplessness, excessive sleep, bright lights, hunger, fasting, skipping meals, stress
Relieving factors:
Adequate sleep, eating in time, relaxation techniques, fresh fruits and vegetables, avoiding bright sunlight , regular medications
After a detailed discussion and treatment, she came to me today after a month. She has found relief and the question now she asked was
” Will the headache come back?” ……..