15 Do's and Don'ts for Migraines

Posted by Specialist II Pham Thi Son - Neurologist - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

Migraine is a condition often characterized by severe headache on one side of the head and neurological fatigue. Migraine sufferers often experience headaches accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound, sometimes with transient signs such as visual disturbances, difficulty speaking. . So when we have this disease, what should we do and what should we not do?

Headache is the most common neurological symptom in primary care. Most cases do not have a serious underlying cause. However, there is also a small proportion of diseases related to brain lesions such as cerebrovascular malformations, brain tumors, encephalitis, cerebrovascular accident .... Diseases related to physical diseases such as: Rhinitis, inflammation, hypertension, high fever, infection, intoxication, trauma...
Migraine, also known as Migraine headache, is a spontaneous and intense unilateral headache. The headache usually lasts 4-72 hours. The frequency of pain depends on the individual. Some people have only a few episodes of pain throughout their life, but up to 25% of patients suffer from one attack a week. Sometimes a person has a chronic migraine condition, which is manifested by the number of headache days in a month more than the number of headache-free days.

The cause of migraine is still not fully understood. Some theories suggest that migraines run in families. There may also be an increase in serotonin, which is a chemical mediator.
Migraine headaches greatly affect the quality of life of patients. The Health Organization has classified migraine in the group of 20 most common disabling medical diseases in the world. .

Here we give you some do's and don'ts for migraines.
Patients should see a neurologist as soon as they have pain, especially the first one, to find the cause. Among them, there are causes that can be life-threatening if not diagnosed early. In the event that the cause cannot be found and with chronic headaches, the doctor will prescribe acute treatment and preventive treatment for the patient. When the patient has too much headache, it is necessary to intervene with injectable drugs, and to closely monitor the whole condition. The patient should agree to be hospitalized for inpatient treatment. If the patient suffers from excessive, prolonged pain, it can easily lead to anxiety and stress disorders in the next pain. Adhering to treatment to avoid patients feeling better should stop taking preventive medicine. The starting dose should be used with each drug at a low dose, increasing the dose slowly until satisfactory control is achieved. A full trial course of 2 to 6 months may be required. It is important to remember that the effectiveness of preventive medicine can increase over time. Therefore, when the patient sees a partial response to treatment after 1 to 2 months, the patient needs to be patient with treatment because the treatment effect may increase in the following months.

When the patient has an acute pain should rest, lie in a quiet room, avoid strong noises and too much light For women of childbearing age and the ability to become pregnant, it is necessary to use some measures. Contraceptives are appropriate when starting prophylactic drugs because some drugs can cause babies to be smaller than gestational age, tricyclic antidepressants can increase the rate of miscarriage... Patients should be informed. Report any abnormal signs during treatment and pain level to the doctor so that the doctor can adjust the dose soon to suit each specific case. Should exercise regularly, physiotherapy Should go to bed early, avoid stress. All anxiety and depression conditions must be treated. Patients should keep a diary of their headache so that they document the frequency of the pain and that the diary can identify any potential triggers that were previously unrecognized. The patient should not smoke or drink alcohol. Do not overuse common pain relievers, eg Paracetamol ... Some patients with frequent headaches should be prescribed preventive treatment by a doctor, do not arbitrarily use more than 15 days of pain relievers in 1 month. Because then the patient may have a headache due to overuse of pain relievers. For mild headaches, patients should apply non-drug treatments such as rest, physical therapy...

When treating pain medication abuse. In the first stage, the patient will be withdrawn from pain medication, when this drug is withdrawn, the patient will have the following symptoms: Heaviness in the head, nausea, agitation, restless standing, sweating, insomnia. These symptoms can last from 2 to 10 days, sometimes persisting for 2 to 4 weeks. After 4 to 8 weeks, the headache will improve significantly. Therefore, patients need to be patient to get through the period of smoking cessation in the best way. Do not abuse medications used in the acute phase (For example, abuse of triptans, drugs used for reliever treatment... ) Vinmec International General Hospital is one of the hospitals that not only ensures quality. professional quality with a team of leading medical doctors, a system of modern equipment and technology, but also outstanding with comprehensive and professional medical examination, consulting and treatment services; civilized, polite, safe and sterile medical examination and treatment space. Customers when choosing to perform tests here can be completely assured of the accuracy of test results.