What Are Migraines?
By Niall Roche
If someone has ever mentioned having a migraine and you responded with a comment about it just being a headache, then you've been fortunate enough to never have suffered from a migraine - otherwise you'd never make that comment in the first place. A migraine does more than cause a bit of pain in your temples or that spot over the bridge of your nose where you get a sinus headache. This nervous system disease saps your strength, causes nausea and even makes the sufferer unable to see properly.

If you're thinking that migraines aren't very common, these statistics may surprise you:
* In developed areas, migraines are as much as 300 to 500 percent more common than in third world and Asian countries.
* More than 500,000,000 (five hundred million) people have migraines every year.

Since millions of people worldwide suffer from migraines each year, this disease is actually fairly serious. A migraine is not just a little - they cause people to lose work time, miss out on family events and generally enjoy life less than people who don't get them.

So what exactly are migraine headaches and where do they come from?

There are actually two types of migraines. If you've been suffering from migraines and have a common migraine, it hits without warning. If you have a classic migraine, you do get some warning that it is coming, but the warning isn't a nice one and is almost as bad as the itself. Anywhere from ten to thirty minutes before the actual hits, people who suffer from classic migraines will have something called an aura. Auras can include many symptoms, but visual difficulties, such as flashing lights, zig-zag lines and temporary loss of vision, are the most common warning signs. Other aura symptoms are difficulty with speech, feeling confused, tingling in the face or hands and weakness in arms or legs.

Migraine sufferers don't always feel pain on both sides of their heads. This is because these headaches are unilateral, or on one side. Most people develop a around one eye or one side of their jaw and neck. As the migraine persists, it will envelope the rest of that side of the head. During a bad migraine, noise or light can worsen the pain and the sufferer may vomit from the pain they experience.

Another term for a migraine is vascular headache. This means that the happens because the blood vessels around and inside your skull change their shape and size. This is what actually causes the migraine pain and what makes it so difficult to treat at times.

Children

Zyprexa Withdrawal -- Bob12 10/6/09
Can you anyone tell me whether I should try to reduce my zyprexa dosage from 17.5 mg down to a smaller dosage or if it is...
Parnate vs Effexor for Social Phobia -- bearfan 11/3/09
What is the deal with Parnate vs Social Phobia and depression? Effexor works pretty well, but it has horrible sexual side...
remeron -- llenox 11/4/09
I started 15mg. remeron on aug.12, 3 weeks into it I told the Dr.s I had developed sores im my mouth and nose and pin pricks...
remeron -- llenox 12/8/09
I am having a very hard time getting off this drug. Been on it for 3 months.dr told me every other day, went craxy for 16...
Feeling BETTER coming OFF of SSRI's??? -- Walfredo 12/24/09
I was just writing to see if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon. I have all the major SSRI's and none had any...
Cymbalta Withdrawal -- Just Jen 1/4/10
Sorry... I couldn't find the Cymbalta Withdrawal page that I was already on and tried to post to before I was officially...
Going off Emsam - withdrawal? -- em_kath 1/19/10
I am on Emsam at the 9mg dose. I've been on it for about 7 weeks, the first 2 weeks at the 6mg dose. My depression has not...
Prozac withdrawal -- ku4ns 1/26/10
I've switched from Prozac (40mg stopped cold turkey this time) to a beta-blocker and feel fine except for the tinnitus...
TAPER -- Buckeye Fan 1/29/10
Test
Lexapro withdrawl and started on Valdoxan!! -- theconfusedone 2/21/10
Hi, I have been on lexapro 20mg and zyprexa 10mg for the last 6months. My doc decided I should quit them last week and begin...
Frustrated with SSRI's -- Michelle41 2/22/10
Here is my history with SSRI's I was on paxil for 1 year (evil drug LOL) Zoloft for about 8 years, Prozac for 2 years (added...
those effexor withdrawal dreams.... -- obsidian 2/26/10
very scary, and such a relief to wake up and realize it was a dream...that took a little while geez, how freaky and very...
d/c'ing pristiq, keeping wellbutrin; suggestions? -- BayLeaf 3/7/10
will the wellbutrin (bupropion hcl sr) 200 mg prevent withdrawal side effects? i'm on 50mg pristiq. plan to just chomp it...
abrupt switch from alprazolam (Xanax) to diazepam -- sukarno 3/25/10
August 2008 -- 21 March 2010, alprazolam 1mg QID 22 March 2010 alprazolam 1mg diazepam 10mg diazepam 10mg diazepam 10mg 23...
thinking about closing this board -- Dr. Bob 3/25/10
Hi, everyone, Since the level of activity here has been kind of low, I'm thinking about closing this board and moving...

rarely suffer from migraines. Teen boys develop migraines earlier than girls who will eventually suffer from this disease. However, in later years, women will be more likely to develop migraines than men. The good news is that, for many people, episodes of this nervous system disease eventually becomes less intense and less frequent. The bad news is that migraines can last for quite some time. There have been cases where these headaches lasted for as long as two weeks, although a range of a few hours to two days is more common. Some people have migraines several times a week, while others only have two or three episodes a year.

Finally, although more than one person has feared that the terrible pain of a migraine is because of a brain tumor, migraines are not caused by an underlying disease. They are very painful and dehabilitating while they are happening, but they aren't fatal at all.

There are ways to deal with, cope and even treat your migraine and you can find more information, from a fellow, migraine sufferer by following the resource section at the bottom of this article.

Article Directory: http://www.articlecube.com

Got another throbbing migraine and just sick and tired of the pain? Find out more about the cause for migraine headaches now. Learn how to combat and defeat your migraine headaches one and for all at MigraineHelper dot com.