A few months ago, I had to admit to myself that I probably have sleep apnea headache. I cringe each time I think about it as I really don’t want to do a sleep study and worst of all, I don’t want to deal with a CPAP machine. In know, I know. There are other options but all I can envision is the sexiness of it all. So, thank you for listening to my pathetic confession. Yes, I’m a writer for Migraine Strong and I’ve always known that the answer to the question, can sleep apnea cause headaches and migraine. I have responded to hundreds of social media threads about…
Finding A Headache Specialist Or These 5 Best Options
‘You really need to see a headache specialist!’ If you've had chronic migraine for any length of time, you've heard some version of this. It’s a true statement. However, when the number of headache specialists in the United States is a whopping 707 to treat approximately four million chronic migraine patients…scheduling to see one of these specialists can feel like scoring slightly better odds than spotting a unicorn.
Is the Migraine World Summit 2021 Worth Your Time?
It’s that time again! We are Migraine World Summit enthusiasts and can’t wait for them to confirm the dates. We expect the dates to be in the middle of March and will update this when it’s officially announced. It’s a simple and powerful mission statement: To reduce the global burden of migraine. Since 2016, the Migraine World Summit (MWS or Summit) has brought together dozens of leading migraine experts, doctors and specialists from around the world. They are interviewed to help answer the most difficult questions for those with migraine in desperate need of relief. Best of all, there is no charge for this tremendous event. Register now so you can…
Exploring Different Types of Migraine and Headaches – Compare Your Symptoms
There are many different types of migraine or headache disorders. The list of different types of migraine and headache disorders is below with their typical symptoms as well. Because many of them overlap, or for the overachievers who have multiple different types of headache, it’s best to get diagnosed by a headache specialist.
Prednisone for Migraine Explained – 5 Questions & Answers You Need to Know.
A steroid taper is commonly prescribed by headache specialists in certain circumstances to break a prolonged migraine cycle. Are you wondering if a course of prednisone for migraine is something you should ask your doctor about? This is written from the patient and patient-advocate perspective and is not medical advice. The goal is to help inform you so that you may work with your doctors. Specific questions about medications and whether they are right for you can only be addressed by your doctors. 1. What is Prednisone? Prednisone is a medication in a group of drugs called corticosteroids or steroids, for short. Prescribed steroids are man-made medications that are similar…
Allay Lamp – The Green Light For Migraine – Six Month Update
When Allay gifted me their green light for migraine to review six months ago, I didn’t think it would become one of my favorite tools in my toolkit. In these past months, I have been successfully using it as a preventive and abortive treatment. When I first wrote about the Allay Lamp, I explained how the narrow band of green light in the lamp worked. It was a novel item I had added to my migraine toolkit. But it has been six months now and my love of the Allay Lamp is still going strong. I thought I would write an update on how the lamp and I have been doing.…
Migraine Preventive Medications: Comprehensive Guide
While over 1 billion people world wide have migraine, only a small percentage of them use migraine preventive medications to control their migraine attacks. A migraine preventive medication is considered and offered when people with migraine meet certain criteria: Four or more attacks per month or eight head pain days – Can include severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks typically last for 4-72 hours, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with daily activities. Vestibular migraine attacks might not have head pain, but will include…
What No One Tells You about Migraines and Menopause (and Perimenopause Too)
I have always been a headachy person. Fortunately, migraine didn’t interfere with my life in a debilitating way until my 40s. Perimenopause was the culprit. Having gone through perimenopause with migraine does not make me an expert. It’s one of my areas of interest as a patient and patient advocate. I have poured over the literature on migraine and migraines as well as watched in-depth interviews of 4 well-recognized experts in this area that were interviewed during the five Migraine World Summit broadcasts. Their intention was to help during a difficult, undiscussed time and that is my intention, too. My Story I hit the big menopause milestone 6 years ago. …
Migraine Cocktail: A Comprehensive Guide
According to the Migraine Research Foundation (MRF), migraine affects one billion people across the globe, 39 million in the United States alone, and it’s the 6th most disabling illness in the world. Finding an effective migraine cocktail is one of the single most important things that anyone with migraine can hope to find. Everyday we have conversations about acute medications in the Migraine Strong Facebook group. Which ones work best, what can be combined together and just how many triptans are there on the market? I hope having all of this information in one place will be helpful for anyone treating migraine or trying to put together an effective migraine…
- Alternative Therapies, Anxiety, Chronic Migraine, Episodic Migraine, Migraine, Mindfulness, The Treatment Pie, Vestibular Migraine
Managing Stress and Migraine Attacks During COVID-19
What a difficult few weeks it has been. It’s hard enough to manage migraine disease during normal life, but adding in quarantines, worrying about the health of family and friends, and having to disinfect every little thing that comes into our house is just so incredibly difficult. For me, staying at home isn’t much of a change. I work from home and most of my job is already done online or in the kitchen. But even I am getting restless not being able to see my friends and especially my mom and dad. Overall I hadn’t had many challenges adjusting, except for having to cut back massively on my grocery…
