So when does episodic migraine transform into chronic migraine? Well, it’s a matter of frequency. The International Headache Society defines chronic migraine as more than 15 headache days per month over a three month period of which more than eight are migrainous, in the absence of medication over use (2-3+ times per week). Often your … Continue reading When migraine turns chronic
So we have talked about lifestyle habits to prevent migraines, all the things your patient can do to prevent migraines. But your patient is still having frequent migraines or the migraines are significantly impacting the patient’s functioning. When do you consider adding a daily medication to prevent migraines? The mark I use for deciding when … Continue reading Daily medications for migraine, part 1
There are 3 groups of medications that are used to treat a migraine attack: migraine abortives, analgesia, and adjuncts. We have covered the migraine abortives (those medications specifically designed to stop the migraine attack) and analgesia (used to reduce pain) in the past 2 posts. There are several medications that are used either in combination … Continue reading Migraine medications to the rescue…..adjunct and combination therapies
There are 3 groups of medications that are used to treat a migraine attack: migraine abortives, analgesia, and adjuncts. . We covered the migraine abortives (those medications specifically designed to stop the migraine attack) in the last post. So let’s talk about analgesia now. Analgesics are medications that are used to reduce the pain. Again, … Continue reading Migraine analgesic medications to the rescue……
So in the previous few posts I talked about the lifestyle factors important for migraine and headache patients. But even someone with excellent self-care, can still suffer from a migraine attack. After all, we have no control over weather changes, fire alarms, Aunt Betty’s strong perfume and other common triggers. So let’s talk about medications … Continue reading Migraine medications to the rescue
In the previous post, I talked about the important lifestyle factors and strategies of hydration, diet and sleep. In this post I will discuss exercise/physical activity. Again these are basic lifestyle strategies that are appropriate for all headaches, but can be particularly important to migraineurs. Exercise or physical activity is vital to healthy functioning for … Continue reading All about the Migraine…. part 3
So you have identified one of your patients as having migraine. Now decisions have to be made about management. Important points to consider are: frequency of migraine, intensity of pain and/or associated symptoms, triggers, and lifestyle factors. Unless the patient is presenting with frequent or intractable migraine several times/week, the first things to review with … Continue reading All about the Migraine….part 2
The 3 most common subtypes of primary headaches commonly seen in pediatric patients are: migraine, tension-type, and new daily persistent headache. Children often have a combination of types, such as chronic mixed type headache, which generally combine migraine and tension-type headache. All primary headaches present differently and are often treated differently. Migraine is a well-known … Continue reading All about the Migraine…. part 1
HeadFirst PNP 