Migraines:

Migraines affect about 16-17 percent of us at one time in our lives. That's on the average of 20 million migraines daily. Statistically women are three times more apt to get migraines than men. Wow, staggering, huh?I myself am a person who has been plagued by migraines since the age of twenty five.

If you haven't had a severe headache that has gone into a migraine or you think you may have had one. You may be wondering what exactly are the symptoms.

1) aura: lights/flashing lights; this happens with only 20% of migraines

2) severe headache lasting anywhere from several hours up to three to four days before you seek medical help.

3) intense throbbing pain

4) nausea; occasionally vomiting this occurs in about 30%

5) headache pain on one side; generally a migraine begins for most on one side
for me it has always been on the left; 60% of migraine suffers have one-sided
migraines.

6) sensitive to light;this is different than the aura-you won't be able to stand lights as they will only make your head throb worse-lying in a dark room helps.

Now maybe you do or don't have a migraine. So why not take the migraine quiz to find out if those pesky headaches have been migraines.

migraine quiz

Most Commonly Known Migraine Triggers:

1) Lack of sleep; try to get at least 6-8 hrs of sleep per night

2) Caffeine, chocolate -- chocolate contains caffeine and I have lived fairly well
on a caffeine restricted diet (of course I had developed an allergy to chocolate
therefore it's easier to stay away from it -- unless I want to itch in unmention-
able places uncontrollably)

3) Stress; this is a very hard one to avoid--therefore you must learn a few stress
relieving exercises or techniques to assist you at times when you're stress
level is going up.

4) Smells; this can be certain perfumes to tobacco smoke -- my worst is cigarette
smoke by far, but also nail polishes, nail polish remover, certain perfumes and
after shaves, even dryer sheets can trigger a migraine for me. I always ask our
family and friends that smoke to kindly do it outside our home. My husband has
asthma therefore it helps him too. Before we married though I had no problem with
any of my family or friends honoring my request (at my/our home). When I go some-
where else though I sometimes find that we may have to leave early due to the
smells may begin to give me a migraine. My husband is very understanding.

5) Alcohol; beer and wine especially (guess the cheap things cause migraines -- well
I bet drinking the expensive stuff will cause one too by looking at the prices-
lol) you can have Riesling wine (no this is not an ad for that brand of wine!),
scotch and vodka--but only 1 glass per day for woman and 2 per day for men. (hey
I'm a woman--so I'm not picking on women believe me)

6) Physical Activity; Physical Exertion;guess you guys now have an excuse to lounge
on the sofa on the weekends huh? Exercise and Sex; guess us women have an excuse
to use to get back at you if you do that too. lol. Actually, strange as this
sounds, contrary to what I just said about sex...I have found that sex has
actually opened up the vessels in my head and helped ease my migraines. But each
person is different. When I have a headache I have sex. So I guess you would have
to see which method works best for you when you have a headache. But, then my
husband has always told me "you are not like the normal person"

7) Skipping Meals; goes to reason, if I go without eating I get a normal headache
even, not just a migraine.

8) Weather Changes; this is a biggie for me--if it's going to rain or a big snow
storm is coming and the barometric pressure changes drastically I get a migraine.
I'm like a barometer for my husband--but then my neck aches too so he is well
informed of weather changes forthcoming.


migraine-headache.com
everydayhealth.com