The Migraine World Summit is excited to introduce another method of obtaining life-changing advice from our world-leading headache experts. In between our annual summits, we will be publishing articles on your most-searched migraine-related inquiries, utilizing knowledge from our extensive interviews.
Triptans are a class of drugs specifically designed for the acute episodic treatment of migraine attacks. The first triptan, sumatriptan (Imitrex), was available for the abortive treatment of migraine in 1992, making triptans a well-established migraine treatment option today. Triptans are often one of the first drugs prescribed to individuals living with migraine. Today, there are seven different types of triptans that have emerged since the early 1990s.13
The landscape of medical treatment for migraine has evolved considerably over the years. It now offers a variety of medications to help alleviate acute attacks and prevent them in the future.
In this article you will learn more about the numerous medications offered to people with migraine today. It should allow you to easily prepare for your next doctor’s appointment, armed with knowledge.
Headaches are a shared experience impacting people across all walks of life. Those experiencing them move along and manage the best they can, tapping formal and informal supports, trying a spectrum of remedies, and taking one day at a time.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), headache disorders are among some of the most common nervous system disorders, and around 15% of the world’s population experiences migraine attacks.19 It’s estimated that up to 5% of people diagnosed with migraine meet the criteria for chronic migraine: having a headache at least 15 days per month, with at least eight of those days featuring migraine symptoms, for over three months.
Migraine disease can be debilitating and often difficult to manage. It can present as many different types and vary in symptoms, frequency (from episodic to chronic), and intensity. Learning if you have migraine in the first place, and, second, what type you have, can help guide you to the appropriate health care provider and a constructive treatment plan.
Research has proven that migraine tends to pronounce itself in many different forms. However, its impact is felt throughout the body, with its severity and frequency of episodes depending on the patient’s triggers, environment, genetics, and treatment plan. But unlike other types of migraine, abdominal migraine or “stomach migraine” is considered an uncommon type of migraine.
Good sleep is hard to come by, and not just for people with migraine—approximately 80% of the world has some form of sleep disorder.1 The impacts of this global sleep deficit are widespread and extend beyond migraine, affecting cardiovascular and metabolic health.
Migraine is a neurological condition, usually described as headache pain that is accompanied by symptoms such as light sensitivity, nausea and vomiting. However, a migraine attack can also be characterized by its phases, which begin before the headache pain starts, and continue even after the pain has disappeared.
Nestled between sleep and wakefulness, a morning headache is a common occurrence among people with and without migraine. This painful and unwelcome experience uncovers sleep’s role in migraine, and simultaneously, migraine’s effects on sleep. Though this relationship may not be clear as day, creating an action plan to combat a morning headache is both accessible and effective.
“Mind over matter”—simple, yet not easy.
For individuals living with migraine disease and its psychological comorbidities, coping with both the physical and mental symptoms can be very challenging. Despite this variable experience, a ‘mind versus body’ approach is a false dichotomy. In actuality, migraine and mental illness pool from undercurrents infused with similar biological make-ups. This resulting interdependence marks migraine and mental illness as travel companions and comorbid conditions.
Those who persevere through migraine know all too well the struggle that comes with living with this debilitating disease. The nausea, agonizing head pain, sensation disturbances, temporary cognitive impairment, and the general feeling of lost control over their own bodies. While there are many types of migraines, those living with vestibular migraine live a unique struggle when it comes to managing their attacks.
Individuals with and without migraine share a fundamental need for meaningful experiences and deep connection. While these ideals may be attainable to the status quo, people with migraine may be deprived of these core needs due to the stigma surrounding migraine.
Support, validation, and feelings of purpose and contentment strengthen our identity to self and community. Without these basic needs, becoming empowered and visible members of society becomes a goal, not a reality.
Rebound headache can be caused by the medication that we’ve been advised to take for migraine disease. It’s a debilitating disorder, with at least 15 headache days per month, and in severe cases, daily migraine attacks. Approximately 1-2% of the world’s population experience rebound headache, yet the majority don’t know they have it and are not informed on how to prevent it.
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors represent a new class of drugs uniquely designed to treat migraine. There are two types of CGRP inhibitors: monoclonal antibodies which are designed for migraine prevention, and gepants which can be used as both preventive and acute migraine therapies. Several options are available within both categories. While these treatments are not a cure for migraine disease, they have proven to be safe and effective.
Anyone who has ever experienced an ocular migraine can probably recall their very first episode. They might have been sitting at their desk, feeling perfectly normal, then suddenly started seeing flickering lights, zigzagging lines, or a rash of colorful, kaleidoscopic waves. To say that the experience can be alarming would be an understatement. The good news is: it’s not dangerous.
Migraine, and migraine with aura, is more than just a headache. In fact, for many people it’s not a headache at all. Bouts of vertigo, waves of nausea, vision loss, and the inability to speak or walk are just some of the symptoms that those with migraine with aura can experience.
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