For my last blog of SC200, I thought I would write about something personal to me, as well as get a little more research out of the way for myself. I have chronic migraines and have had this diagnosis since the 5th grade.Every day when I wake up I get an intense pounding on the sides of my head, behind my eyes, and under my neck. Throughout all the years I’ve known about my condition and through all the doctors I’ve seen, nobody has been able to tell me what causes the terrible pain I have everyday. Hopefully, the research I do for this blog will teach me something new.
According to the Migraine Research Foundation, a chronic migraine is categorized by a person having 15 of the month taken over by migraines, which can last from hours to a few days. Believe me, I’ve had it all. I see a neurologist at the Children’s National Hospital, and she said the main reason I get migraines was probably stress, but I’m perfectly unstressed right now.
Some main triggers for migraines as mentioned on the Children’s National website are the weather, bright lights and loud noises, food (especially chocolate). I personally experience all of these and they all really lead to worse migraines existing. A lot of times, women can experie
nce menstrual migraines, which as they sound, are migraines that flare up at the time of a woman’s period, the Migraine Research Foundation says.
So what causes migraines? It is a lot of neurological symptoms that lead to throbbing and extensive pain, and personally attack all over my head.
I suffer from frequent migraines (at least once a week.) I have (unfortunately) discovered that at times chocolate can trigger a migraine for the next few hours, I’ve found the biggest culprit for me is back knots that sit on migraine trigger points. The trapezius us located between the shoulder blades, going up into the back of the neck. I’ve noticed that increased amounts of tension and back knots that I neglect to loosen end up causing severe migraines, so I’ve been trying to focus on this area lately.
Although my go to treatment is always black coffee and ibuprofen!
Man, reading the description of a migraine almost made me feel one coming on!
It must really suck to have to deal with them so often, but aside from outside influence (bright lights, eating habits, etc.), did you look into the possible genetic causes? Usually something classified as “chronic” has something more behind it than just cause and effect of our environment. Perhaps deficiencies in certain areas of health (caused by genetics) make you more susceptible to a harmful environment? There could be many different ways to trace this back to genetics, even if there’s not a specific gene that gives you the migraines itself.
Fortunately, I’ve never had to endure a migraine in myself. However, my best friend growing up suffered frequently, and many times I had to leave his house because he simply could not bare the pain anymore and needed to lay down. After reading this article from ABC News, I found some strange facts about migraines and how they are linked to suicide and other serious health problems like an increased risk of stroke or cardiovascular issues. Additionally, taking the medication to treat migraines can make your condition worse if taken too frequently. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/surprising-facts-migraines/story?id=19581796#4
I too have struggled with migraines. When I was younger, they were so bad that I would pass out sometimes. I’d be curious to see how the effects of migraines change as someone gets older?
I found your blog interesting and very helpful. I get migraines once or twice a week. Whenever I get them my vision get messed up, I have to go to a dark place to get away from the light for it to get better. Now I understand mirgraines a little better.
https://migraineresearchfoundation.org/about-migraine/?gclid=COKPjYaK1tACFY5MDQodZuACwg
Your blog post was very interesting to read. I myself suffer from migraines and never really knew how does this come about. Reading your blog post gave me better sense of why they occur. I know now that there isn’t just one thing that causes but many other factors.