#migraine isn't a headache

[headpainmigraine]

Interesting notes from the latest Migraine World Summit email re: 'Is Migraine a Progressive Disease?'

I asked my neuro about brain damage caused by migraine once, and was told it doesn't damage the brain.

I don't know. I certainly FEEL like it's been damaged - I feel like my powers of cognition and everything else, for that matter, have degraded since my migraines became chronic, and it's coming up on 9 years constantly now, so there's been plenty of time for damage to occur, if any.

That said, how much of that is actual damage to the physical mass of the brain, and how much is just the effect of constant persistent pain causing oversensitive nerves?

So, things I found out:

Just 1% of the population (I'm assuming in the US) have chronic migraine

there's a subset of episodic migraine called 'high frequency episodic migraine' which involves 8-14 migraine days per month; this'd be a stage in between episodic migraine and chronic migraine

research shows disability caused by migraine has increased, but that could just be because they've changed the way the studies are done - does that information really mean anything then? Disappointing

functional changes in the brain can be seen, more prominently in people in chronic migraine than episodic migraine

these changes include affected areas of pain processing (which we knew) but also more iron accumulation??? I don't know what that means, but what?

they also suspect there's more happening in our metabolisms because of all the nerve firing off, which, yeah, makes sense.

and another thing we knew already, it's best to get treatment sooner rather than later; the longer migraine goes untreated, the more sensitization in the pain pathways increases

Maybe some interesting new stuff in there for people who have chronic migraines.

For everyone else who comes by this and DOESN'T have chronic migraine, I hope I can leave you with this:

Migraine Isn't A Headache.

[headpainmigraine]

But please seek medical attention if you get a new, sudden onset, very intense headache. That can sometimes be something sinister.

Migraines do get harder to treat if you ignore them again, see a doctor.

Honestly, don't leave headaches without attention, there are SO many reasons you can have them, and, like migraines, specific meds can help (triptans, for example)

On that note, if you take frequent full doses of painkillers, you can develop rebound headaches, which are a constant daily headache, so sometimes 'migraines' can actually be that.

Just, please don't self-dx and go 'well, it's migraines, guess ill drink more water and lie in the dark' OP is 100% right about seeing a doctor

(for which headache diaries are invaluable, BTW. I track frequency, intensity on a 1 to 10 scale, if it was solely a headache or if I had migrainous symptoms, if I had an aura and what meds I took. It'll shortcut your treatment.)

common myths about migraines (AKA if you get headaches regularly, please seek treatment for migraines)

"i don't have migraines because while i get them several times a week, it's only when i am hungry or dehydrated."

those are probably migraines. thirst, hunger, sleep disturbances, or any disruption to routine are common migraine triggers.

"my headaches are specifically barometric related, i get them when the weather/altitude changes."

those are probably migraines. barometric pressure is a common migraine trigger.

"i get headaches all the time but ibuprofen gets rid of them so they can't be migraines."

that's not true. ibuprofen works great at relieving migraine pain for many people.

"my consistent headaches are tension headaches. i feel them originate in my neck/shoulders."

those are probably migraines. muscle tension is a common migraine trigger.

if you are regularly getting headaches (once a week or more), you are likely getting migraines. in fact, a good rule of thumb if you're consistently getting headaches is to treat them as migraines until you can rule out migraines. that's how common "chronic headache = migraine" actually is.

migraines are a neurological disorder wherein pain is one symptom. pain is often the MAIN symptom, and the most noticeable symptom, which can make diagnosis tricky. other symptoms of migraine include:

fatigue

nausea/vomiting

digestive issues

visual disturbances (auras)

sensitivity to light and/or sound

mood changes

brain fog/cognitive changes

ringing in the ears

dizziness/vertigo

numbness/weakness on one side of the body

this list is NOT complete, but is a starting point. i really like the comparison to a hangover. if you generally feel hungover when you get a headache (without having consumed alcohol), that's a classic migraine presentation.

so many people suffer from migraine and don't even know it, so they aren't able to advocate for themselves to get treatment. there are great new migraine treatments on the market! if you're able, please seek treatment for your migraines. a better quality of life is possible.

[kindahoping4forever]

Luke for Love Want magazine

📸: Bartolomeo Celestino

[space-writes]

last line tag

tagged by @chauceryfairytales, thank you! here’s a line from recent Valloroth work, ft a bit about Sorrow’s chronic pain~

[ID - a green and black decorative divider]

Up here, where his head didn’t try to tear itself apart on a regular basis, and he didn’t have to swallow a bitter concoction every day to stay functional because Infernus itself wasn’t trying constantly to connect to a broken piece of itself.

[ID - a green and black decorative divider]

no-pressure tagging @eccaiia @serenanymph @artdecosupernova-writing and @ashen-crest

Valloroth taglist: @cherrybombfangirlwrites @reininginthefirewriting @memento-morri-writes @foxboyclit @lawful-evil-novelist

@at-thezenith @morganwriteblr @fayeiswriting @serenanymph

@sam-glade @viscerawrites @thegreatobsesso @flower-reads (ask to be +/-)

[headpainmigraine]

Migraine is not a headache.

[b-blushes]

HEY GUESS WHAT despite it all i am 2 weeks no migraine which i think is a record amount of time without a migraine this year >:3

[utilitycaster]

it is tbh odd to me that a lot of people really love Ashton and wish the story focused more heavily on them, but also ship Imogen and Laudna. I don't think it's contradictory to enjoy both Ashton and that ship, but I'd argue that the thing getting in the way of Ashton's backstory or impinging is, most frequently, Imogen's priorities, particularly regarding her and Laudna's relationship.

[illdothehotvoice]

No one ever talks about hemiplegic migraines and how much they suck and ESPECIALLY no one ever talks about how much your head hurts THE NEXT DAY king my head felt FINE when I went to bed let me LIVE

[headpainmigraine]

Yeees, thank you, migraine is not a headache!

I want to talk about migraine and mobility aids.

I’ve made a post on Tourette’s and mobility aids so I’m going to talk about another neurological disability I have that is a reason me and many others use mobility aids. Migraine.

Migraine is a neurological disease that causes migraine attacks that are most known for causing headaches but not every attack will have a headache, migraine attacks come with many different symptoms some of which may cause someone to use mobility aids.

Some symptoms that may cause someone with migraine to use one or multiple mobility aids are

Vertigo

Vision changes

 Weakness

Pain

Pain worsened when moving

Fatigue

Dizziness

Nausea which can be worsened by moving

Those symptoms and others may cause someone with migraine to use mobility aids. Everyone is different, not everyone with migraine uses mobility aids and those who do may use different ones for different symptoms.

One person may use different mobility aids depending on the day, situation, symptoms, severity of symptoms, ect.

[supercantaloupe]

getting a migraine today of all days was so evil

[headpainmigraine]

Chronic migraine isn't a headache

I feel like, when we say 'a migraine is not a headache', people think 'it's not just a headache, it's also nausea and vomiting and being groggy' but it's not even that.

Migraine is not a headache, in that you don't have to have a headache to have migraines.

Not that I blame anyone - if you Google 'What is a migraine?', the NHS, Mayo clinic, etc, will always tell you 'migraine is a headache…' with additional add-ons.

Doctors get an entire 4 hours of medical training on 'headache' in their entire 7 years of education. Of course 'migraine is a headache' will be trotted out - headache is the most common symptom, and the one that bothers people the most.

It's understandable, but wrong.

Check out what you get from places with a migraine speciality, like the migraine trust and the national migraine centre:

'Migraine is a disorder of the brain where the nerves become over-stimulated and cause a cascade of chemicals to be released'

'Migraine brains' are easily overstimulated in response to sensory input (light, sounds, movement, smells, etc), of which headache is a product. Also nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to stimuli, vestibular dysfunction, sometimes stroke-like symptoms.

If that sounds a little like a neurodivergency to you, then yeah, it is.

Migraine is not 'a bad headache' and if you're getting them chronically, you should think about seeing a doctor* (or asking them for a referral to a headache doctor, or at least a neurologist)

'Chronic' Migraine is defined by:

at least 15 headache days a month

with 8 having migraine symptoms

for at least 3 months

(IF YOU HAVE CHRONIC MIGRAINE, YOU ALSO HAVE CHRONIC PAIN)

Otherwise it's 'episodic migraine' (although recent research indicates this defintion might be changing to be less restrictive, based on impact on the individual)

Migraine can become worse and less responsive to treatment the longer they go without treatment, so it's always worth seeing a doctor*, even if you're not having enough to be considered chronic.

Just as you can have migraines without headache, you can also have headaches without migraines that still require treatment. There's a whole host of differential diagnosis for migraine, from tension headache to cluster headache, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, hypertension, sinus disorders, trigeminal neuralgia, and on and on.

NB: Chiari malformations can also mimic migraines sometimes, by causing symptoms that come along with migraines, like neck pain, unsteadiness, dizziness, etc.

Migraines 'not just a headache'? Migraines aren't even a headache.

*usual caveat on seeing doctors; yeah, they cost money (in the US and/or privately elsewhere), long waiting lists, a lot of them A LOT OF THEM are incompetent, YMMV, but it's worth it for migraines.

[interruptingkau]

Man what is it called when you have symptoms that are basically migraine symptoms but not debilitating the way migraines are

[feytouched]

wtf just had the weirdest experience of an afterimage getting super bright rather than fading away to the point it was an iridescent semicircle of flickering light on the edge of my field of vision that didn't let me read or see properly and i felt dizzy from it and it kept getting larger until it went away outside the edge of what i can see. can the angels communicate in a less disruptive manner next time please

[bsaka7]

im thinking i might need to re-grade my hierarchy of headaches like

full on migraine: stabbing pain + nausea + light/sound sensitivity, lasts 8-16hrs = can't do anything except maybe sleep

migraine minor: stabbing pain behind one eye + light sensitivity + minor nausea, can last several days = can do some things but feel sick during them

migraine-ish: stabbing pain, can last several days = can do most things, running usually helps

headache regular: head hurts. comes and goes.

[imwritesometimes]

nothing like waking up and immediately having horrible migraine aura followed by a horrible fckn migraine to just completely derail all the plans you had 😖

[apricote]

lads i was wrong and it was definitely a migraine and just threw up like four times <33333