Migraine

A migraine is not simply a bad headache. It has certain features which make it distinctly different from stress or other headaches that can strike anybody from time to time. Not everybody suffers migraines, but those who do tend to experience them regularly. They often run in families.

Symptoms of migraine may include

• pain on one side of the head only, mainly around the temple area
• unusually high sensitivity to bright lights and/or loud noises
• lasting three or four days, often worse in the mornings and reduced by the evening
• nausea, which may be mild, or may be severe enough to cause vomiting

A classic migraine begins with an 'aura' - flashing lights, or a hazy halo-like effect around objects. However this may manifest simply as a hazy, disconnected feeling, as if you are very tired. Alternatively, a migraine may begin with no warning at all.

Attempting to discover and eliminate migraine triggers

Keeping a detailed food diary is very important, since there are different migraine triggers that you might not otherwise notice. Common ones are chocolate, red wine, mature cheese, artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame) and monosodium glutamate (MSG). If you suffer regular migraines it is well worth eliminating all of these from your diet for at least a month, to see if it makes a difference. MSG is particularly difficult to avoid since it is in many processed foods, often disguised as maltodextrin, or yeast extract, or a flavour enhancer. Giving up Marmite and soy sauce have made an enormous difference to my susceptibility to migraines.

If you still suffer regular migraines despite having given up these likely triggers, check your food diary carefully, noting exactly what you ate or drank in the preceding 24 hours. Other possible triggers include wheat (gluten), corn, and citrus fruits. Each of us is different, and it may be something else entirely. It may also be that a food trigger must be combined with an environmental one - such as stress, or lack of sleep, or getting too hot - to start a migraine.

Dealing with migraine in the early stages

While there are plenty of available medications for migraine, from over-the-counter products to those prescribed by a GP, and it may sometimes be necessary to take them, there are plenty of technique or natural methods that are worth trying first. If you can stop it in early stages, it may go quickly or be manageable; if you leave it until it is almost unbearable, you may have to resort to strong medication and a darkened room.

• Water is vitally important, as in most sickness. Migraine may result from mild dehydration, so it's always worth drinking a couple of glasses of water if you feel a migraine threatening.
• Ginger has powerful anti-nausea properties, and may help relax your blood vessels. A teaspoonful stirred into some fruit juice, every hour, has sometimes stopped my migraines in the early stages.
• Apples can sometimes prevent a migraine from developing. Choose a crunchy one, and eat it slowly, so long as you are not too nauseous.
• Almonds may help - a small handful of unsalted raw almonds can be eaten slowly at the aura stage.
• Feverfew
  • is a herbal supplement which has helped many people when taken at the start of migraines or other headaches.
• Calcium tablets
  • may be helpful since calcium can help to block pain.
  • Magnesium tablets may also be helpful, since migraines may be triggered by low magnesium.

In addition, if possible, you could try lying down in a darkened room for a while, after rubbing a little lavender oil

on your temples. If that is not possible, and if nothing else helps, it is better to take a dose of medication as soon as possible rather than waiting until the pain is too bad and requiring more.