There you are; holding your head in your hands; the migraine is back. Your spouse does not particularly want to hear about your headaches any more. Though he does not say so, you think that he believes that your headaches are psychological.
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At best, he will suggest that you pop a pain reliever, but he has stopped sympathizing a while ago. What do you do? You know that your migraines are for real. You and only you know how severe they are and how hard you try to manage your attacks without disturbing others. But, you also know it is hard to do so.
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For the lucky ones who have never suffered such an attack in their life, let us first list the symptoms. A migraine is often referred to as a headache. This is not quite true. Though a pain in the head is there, a headache can most often NOT be cured by just taking a pain relieving medicine. Symptoms include:
* Severe headaches accompanied by hyper sensitivity to lights, sounds and smells
* Blurring of vision
* Nausea
* Dizziness and pain in the neck
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What Brings Them On?
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It is often difficult to pinpoint the cause. Different factors can bring on migraines in different people. Some of the commonly listed reasons include hormonal fluctuations brought on by stress or other reasons, smoking, irregular sleeping patterns and high stress levels. For some, certain foods such as chocolates or nuts can bring on an attack. Doctors have found it difficult to identify the exact reason which brings on an attack, and hence a multi faceted approach to treatment of this disease is usually attempted.
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How Do You Treat Them?
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Some of the common issues which are tackled as a part of holistic migraine treatment include:
* Changes in diet вЂ" if the doctor believes that the patient is suffering from these attacks because of a reaction to certain foods he or she may be eating, it is recommended that such foods be left out of the diet. These can include nuts, alcohol, chocolates and some dairy products.
* Quit smoking вЂ" studies have shown that more than half of the patients who complained about such attacks, and who were smokers, reported significant decrease in attacks once they quit smoking.
* Lifestyle changes вЂ" stress has been identified as one of the most important reasons which brings on these attacks. In today’s world, stress reduction has become a very commonly tossed around term aimed at curing many problems. However, since stress is a primary cause for these types of attacks, lifestyle changes which can reduce stress can help reduce the frequency and severity of attacks.
Some amount of stress is a part of our lives. Our commute to work causes stress, colleagues at the workplace, or the boss’s behavior can increase stress levels, the list is endless. The key is to try and manage this stress. It is not possible to remove these activities or aspects from our lives. Meditation and yoga are believed to be of great help in reducing stress.
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A migraine attack can prevent a person from doing his regular activities for the duration of the attack; therefore finding an effective treatment which works for you is paramount.