Just a Headache ... Or Worse? (page 2 of 2)

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Pain Relief Is On the Way

Even with a correct diagnosis, many patients assume nothing can be done about migraines. "If someone went to the doctor ten years ago, or saw their mom or sister go and not get much help, they may not be too enthusiastic about seeking treatment," says Mannix. "A lot of people tough it out, but there are new medicines that are more effective."

One of those people is Bill Hittler. The 47-year-old Plymouth, Minnesota, lawyer and father of three teens never mentioned his migraines to his doctor, even though he had suffered through them with minimally effective over-the-counter drugs for more than eight years. "It wasn't such a big deal," he says. "It wasn't like my life was stopping or I couldn't function at all, so I just put it in the back of my mind." Nearly two years ago, he finally told his doctor about his headaches and was given a prescription for sumatriptan tablets (Imitrex).

Now, as long as he takes the medication the instant he senses an attack coming on, it usually stops his headache cold. "It's a wonderful thing," he says.

Getting a proper diagnosis can mean more than just stopping the pain, because severe headaches can affect more than your head: Migraines have been linked to a number of serious conditions, including stroke and obesity.

Stroke: A recent review of 14 studies suggests that certain migraine sufferers are more likely to have a stroke than those who don't get the headaches; those with migraine who take oral contraceptives are at even greater risk. The likely reason? Changes in blood flow to the brain during an attack, which could result in dangerous clotting.

Brain lesions: Sufferers with aura are also at increased risk of developing certain types of lesions on the brain, according to research from the Netherlands. It's still unclear what these lesions mean for migraine patients, though they have been shown in other studies to increase the likelihood of stroke and dementia.

Stomach problems: Migraine can even affect your stomach. We know about the nausea and vomiting, but during an attack, many sufferers experience gastric stasis, a condition in which the stomach empties too slowly. That, in turn, slows the absorption of pain-relieving medications into the bloodstream, prolonging the pain.

Obesity: The obesity link is less defined, but in a preliminary study from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York, Lipton and his colleagues found that the prevalence of chronic daily headache was higher in obese patients, who were more likely to have more severe and disabling headaches than those of normal weight. A group of researchers in Israel, who published related findings in the journal Headache in July, speculate that increased hormone production associated with obesity may be to blame.

"It's likely that exercise, because it improves endorphins, will decrease the frequency of migraine," states Merle Diamond, MD, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago. But she warns that many people will feel worse before they feel better.

Bottom line: It's difficult to know for sure if, or exactly how, migraine affects other conditions. According to MaryAnn Mays, MD, a neurologist at The Headache Center at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, migraine sufferers have a higher incidence of depression, fibromyalgia, endometriosis and other pain disorders. "But it's not necessarily that migraine causes those conditions, or that they cause migraine," she explains. "It's more likely that they're diseases that go hand in hand."

From Reader's Digest - November 2005

 

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• Desperate for Migraine Relief
• Actress Marcia Cross gives tips on how to beat migraines.
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