MIGRAINEA migraine can be disabling — with symptoms so severe, all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. Up to 17% of women and 6% of men have experienced a migraine
-Moderate to severe pain, which may be confined to one side of the head or may affect both sides
-Head pain with a pulsating or throbbing quality
-Pain that worsens with physical activity
-Pain that interferes with your regular activities
-Nausea with or without vomiting
-Sensitivity to light and sound
-See sparkling flashes of light
-Perceive dazzling zigzag lines in your field of vision
-Experience slowly spreading blind spots in your vision
-Feel tingling, pins and needles sensations in one arm or leg
-Rarely, experience weakness or language and speech problems
Whether or not you have auras, you may have one or more sensations of premonition (prodrome) several hours or a day or so before your headache actually strikes, including:
-Feelings of elation or intense energy
-Cravings for sweets
-Thirst
-Drowsiness
-Irritability or depression
During a headache, serotonin levels drop. Researchers believe this causes the trigeminal nerve to release substances called neuropeptides, which travel to your brain's outer covering (meninges). There they cause blood vessels to become dilated and inflamed. The result is headache pain.
-Foods. Certain foods appear to trigger headaches in some people. Skipping meals or fasting also can trigger migraines.
-Sensory stimuli. Bright lights and sun glare can produce head pain. So can unusual smells — including pleasant scents, such as perfume and flowers, and unpleasant odors, such as paint thinner and secondhand smoke.
-Changes in the environment. A change of weather, season, altitude level, barometric pressure or time zone can prompt a migraine.
* migraine- ddx for headaches. Start having this kind of headache last week. Causes?? erm, most probably the lights..











