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So my mother called me up and recommended this book. I'm on the third chapter, and it does seem to have some useful information. I'm going to cull some information out of it and put it up here where others might be able to use it.
The Migraine Brain: Your Breakthrough Guide to Fewer Headaches, Better Health by Carolyn Bernstein and Elaine McArdle. This is from the Kindle version.
The authors talk about two early stages of a migraine attack that might give people warning that the pain is coming and so take preventive measures.
One early stage is prodrome, which refers to the changes your body goes through that are connected to the beginning of a migraine. It's probably occurs due to chemical changes in your brain at the start of the migraine, and appears a few hours or up to two days before the pain stage of a migraine. About 40 to 60% of migraiineurs experience prodrome. Many more might have it and not know the signals are linked to the headache.
Here's a list of some of the ways prodrome manifests. Next time you get a migraine, look at this list and see if any of these things occurred in the days and hours preceding it, and if you notice a pattern, you might be able to use it to help make the next one much easier:
Mood changes - feeling depressed? Irritable? Excited? Euphoric?
Increased appetite
Specific food cravings - suddenly craving high-carbohydrate foods such as candy, cookies, or other junk foods?
Unusual fatigue or drowsiness
Tense muscles, especially in the neck
Constipation or diarrhea
Abdominal bloating or rumbling
Difficulty concentrating
Urge to urinate frequently
Frequent yawning
A problem understanding words or finding words you want to use
Slurring your words or other problems speaking
Stumbling or other difficulties when you walk
There are other changes - keep track of anything that you remember in those days/hours before the migraine, and you might get a sense of what your prodrome stage consists of.
The second stage is aura - which are those sensory changes that some migraineurs get. About one in five migraineurs get some sort of aura, with visual aura being the most common type. Aura is the result of changes in your brain chemistry that can affect any or all of your senses and perceptions. Auras gradually appear over a period of five to twenty minutes, usually last less than an hour, and typically fade away once the pain phase appears, although some people do have their auras extend into the pain stage. The authors advise seeing a doctor immediately if you get auras for more than an hour, as that could be a sign of migraine-related stroke, a very uncommon thing. The aura stage, if you get it, is a good stage for using triptans for treatment. Some different types of aura are:
Visual -
sparkling or twinkling lights (scintillations)
area of lost or decreased vision (scotoma)
zig-zag lines
white spots
wavy lines
spots
blurry vision
mosaic vision (what you're looking at appears to be blocked off in pieces or different colors)
distortions in perception
Auditory-
hearing sounds that aren't really there (like dripping water or a beating drum)
sounds appearing louder than they actually are
losing hearing in one ear
ringing in your ears (tinnitus
Olfactory-
smelling non-existent smells
smells seeming stronger or more unpleasant than usual
Olfactory changes can also be associated with seizures, so if you get olfactory changes, they'd be worth bringing up with a doctor to double check.
Sensory-
numbness or tingling in the skin
hypersensitivity or pain in reaction to mild stimuli (allodynia)
partial paralysis of one or more of your limbs (if you've never experienced that before, see a doc - it's also the sign of a stroke... if you experience full paralysis, then you REALLY should contact a doc)
Speech and language-
difficulty speaking
difficulty finding the right words to express what you want to say
slurring words
Other-
vertigo
mental confusion
The Migraine Brain: Your Breakthrough Guide to Fewer Headaches, Better Health by Carolyn Bernstein and Elaine McArdle. This is from the Kindle version.
The authors talk about two early stages of a migraine attack that might give people warning that the pain is coming and so take preventive measures.
One early stage is prodrome, which refers to the changes your body goes through that are connected to the beginning of a migraine. It's probably occurs due to chemical changes in your brain at the start of the migraine, and appears a few hours or up to two days before the pain stage of a migraine. About 40 to 60% of migraiineurs experience prodrome. Many more might have it and not know the signals are linked to the headache.
Here's a list of some of the ways prodrome manifests. Next time you get a migraine, look at this list and see if any of these things occurred in the days and hours preceding it, and if you notice a pattern, you might be able to use it to help make the next one much easier:
Mood changes - feeling depressed? Irritable? Excited? Euphoric?
Increased appetite
Specific food cravings - suddenly craving high-carbohydrate foods such as candy, cookies, or other junk foods?
Unusual fatigue or drowsiness
Tense muscles, especially in the neck
Constipation or diarrhea
Abdominal bloating or rumbling
Difficulty concentrating
Urge to urinate frequently
Frequent yawning
A problem understanding words or finding words you want to use
Slurring your words or other problems speaking
Stumbling or other difficulties when you walk
There are other changes - keep track of anything that you remember in those days/hours before the migraine, and you might get a sense of what your prodrome stage consists of.
The second stage is aura - which are those sensory changes that some migraineurs get. About one in five migraineurs get some sort of aura, with visual aura being the most common type. Aura is the result of changes in your brain chemistry that can affect any or all of your senses and perceptions. Auras gradually appear over a period of five to twenty minutes, usually last less than an hour, and typically fade away once the pain phase appears, although some people do have their auras extend into the pain stage. The authors advise seeing a doctor immediately if you get auras for more than an hour, as that could be a sign of migraine-related stroke, a very uncommon thing. The aura stage, if you get it, is a good stage for using triptans for treatment. Some different types of aura are:
Visual -
sparkling or twinkling lights (scintillations)
area of lost or decreased vision (scotoma)
zig-zag lines
white spots
wavy lines
spots
blurry vision
mosaic vision (what you're looking at appears to be blocked off in pieces or different colors)
distortions in perception
Auditory-
hearing sounds that aren't really there (like dripping water or a beating drum)
sounds appearing louder than they actually are
losing hearing in one ear
ringing in your ears (tinnitus
Olfactory-
smelling non-existent smells
smells seeming stronger or more unpleasant than usual
Olfactory changes can also be associated with seizures, so if you get olfactory changes, they'd be worth bringing up with a doctor to double check.
Sensory-
numbness or tingling in the skin
hypersensitivity or pain in reaction to mild stimuli (allodynia)
partial paralysis of one or more of your limbs (if you've never experienced that before, see a doc - it's also the sign of a stroke... if you experience full paralysis, then you REALLY should contact a doc)
Speech and language-
difficulty speaking
difficulty finding the right words to express what you want to say
slurring words
Other-
vertigo
mental confusion
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