Nearly everyone has suffered from migraines at least once in their life time. It’s not a pleasant experience at all. The symptoms of a splitting endless headache are combined with nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity and a whole range of symptoms which make any normal person turn into a recluse. Most of the time the symptoms are limited to one side of the head and can make normal functioning impossible for the duration of the headache.

A few of the more obscure symptoms are auras, with vision disturbances that indicate that an attack of migraines is imminent.

Causes of migraines

The cause of migraines is not really known. But a lot of people get it and very frequently too. According to modern statistics, at least 11 out of 100 people do get migraines at least once in their lifetime. The most common age for migraines to occur are from 10 to 46 years of age. Migraines may occur later in life but they are more common in women and do have a familial history. The incidence of migraines decreases after pregnancy and during pregnancy.

The most common reason for a migraine headache is supposed to be due to stress, tensions, certain foods, environmental factors and a load of other reasons. But no one is exactly sure at the exact cause of migraines. Researchers believe that the main cause of the migraines is due to dilation of blood vessels that supply blood to the brain. The exact pathway is supposed to be inside the nerve pathways of the brain and the release of specific chemicals that can change the flow of blood in the brain and surrounding tissues.

What are the common symptoms of migraines?

The most common symptoms of migraines are auras which come before the actual attack. The patient will experience visual disturbances that are supposed to be the indicators or warnings of an impeding migraine attack. The exact symptoms vary from person to person with symptoms ranging from temporary blind spots, blurred vision, eye pain, shooting stars, or cloudy vision around objects and tunnel vision. The symptoms precede an attack and vary in intensity. A few patients do not experience auras at all.
The exact intensity of the migraine attach differs from person to person. Patients have described attacks as bad as drumming pain in the head, eyes, neck and forehead. Several patients complain of the pain being one-sided and starting as a dull ache which gets worse with time. Attacks last from several minutes to days

Reducing the frequency of attacks

Once the attacks have started, there are medications that doctors prescribe to patients to take every day. Most common medications prescribed by doctors are-
1. Anti depressants like amitriptyline
2. Blood pressure medicines like betablockers (propanolol) and calcium channel blockers (verapamil)
3. Seizure medications like valproic acid and topiramate
4. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like venlafaxine

Controlling attacks

There are several groups of medications that are available for use to control your pain once the attack has started:
1. Over the counter pain medications like aspirin and ibuprofen.
2. Triptans – This group of medication is the most common group of tablets prescribed for migraines like almotriptan (Axert), frovatriptan (Frova), rizatriptan (Maxalt), sumatriptan (Imitrex), and zolmitriptan (Zomig)
3. Ergots like dihydroergotamine or ergotamine combined with caffeine (Cafergot)
4. Isometheptene (Midrin)

Precautions

You must always be careful while using medication as they are designed specifically for dilation blood vessels. If you have other medical conditions you should not use medications. Check with your doctor, before you start taking any medicine.