Ellen Campbell -Grizzle
PEOPLE WHO suffer from migraine are not taking the necessary precautions to prevent attacks of this debilitating illness.
Patients experience a lot of distress from migraine. Migraineurs fear the pounding in the head, nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to light or sound. In addition, 15 to 20 per cent of patients experience a warning sign aura before the headache. They may see blind spots, flashing lights, zig zag lines, have shape or size distortions or lose vision in one eye. Migraine attacks force sufferers to be bedridden. This means time away from work and other essential activities
Migraine is a disease, and a headache is just one of its symptoms. In fact, there are some children who experience no headaches, but go through bouts of cyclical vomiting. We know that the migraine sufferers have inherited a sensitive nervous system. The pounding headache that they experience is caused by the overreaction of the blood vessels in their brains to triggers. This may last between four and 72 hours.
Migraine is most prevalent in people between 25 and 55. Women sufferers outnumber men three to one. Triggers may be dietary, changes in sleep patterns, environmental, hormonal, stress-related or due to physical exhaustion. A specific trigger will not induce a migraine in each sufferer and may not cause an attack every time.
MIGRAINE DIARY
You must take control of your migraine management if you want to prevent attacks. Keep a migraine incidence diary that states what occurred before your most recent attack. This will help you identify your triggers, so that you can avoid them.
PREVENTATIVE MEDICATION MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
There is a wide range of preventative medicines for migraine. They are not intended for use during an attack. However, choosing a regimen for you can be complicated and your physician will work with you to identify the best option for your needs. Here are a few medicine-management principles:
Low doses are used at first and gradually increased to higher doses as needed.
It may take two to three months before you notice a decrease in the frequency or severity of attacks.
Treatment may be required for six to 12 months.
If you are experiencing side effects or not tolerating the medication, contact your doctor to discuss your treatment plan.
Do not stop taking preventive medications suddenly because of the risk of rebound headaches or other adverse effects.
Preventive medication is always gradually tapered off after a period of sustained benefit.
Your pharmacist will always discuss potential side effects of preventative migraine medication, so that you can identify them if they occur. Also, there are treatment options that treat a migraine attack.
NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT
Several behavioural and physical treatments have been used with medication or on their own to prevent or relieve a migraine attack. They include stress management, hypnosis or biofeedback a method that helps you to use relaxation and other techniques to respond to changes in the body's activity. Therapists have applied physical measures, such as acupuncture or massage.
WHAT OTHERS CAN DO TO HELP
If you are a friend, family member, employer or co-worker, you can help. Make sure that you:
Acknowledge the presence of the illness and not dismiss it as an emotional problem or evidence of incompetence.
Understand when the sufferer is unable to perform to expectation.
Take over tasks that the sufferer cannot manage at the time.
Turn down the lights, draw the blinds or turn off the television to make the room more comfortable.
Keep an ice pack handy.
Ellen Campbell-Grizzle is the president of the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists; director of Information and Research at the National Council on Drug Abuse; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
