Conditions

What you can do to cope up with the disease It is vital that you take an active role in your treatment. One key to living with lupus is to know about the disease and its impact. Being able to spot the warning signs of a flare-up can help you prevent the flare or make the symptoms less severe. Many people with lupus have certain symptoms just before a flare, such as: Feeling more tired Pain Rash Fever Stomach ache Headache Dizziness You should see your doctor often, even when symptoms are not…

There is no known way to prevent Lupus since there is no known cause as yet. You can help manage flare-ups though: Avoid known triggers such as sunlight, stress, and lack of sleep Manage your diet Get adequate exercise  

Prevention of migraine attacks ⦁    Recognise your triggers and avoid them. ⦁    Stay hydrated and get enough sleep. ⦁    Follow stress reduction techniques or relaxing techniques. ⦁   Alternately, your doctor may prescribe preventive medications like beta blockers calcium channel blockers, monoclonal antibodies etc . These drugs reduce the frequency and intensity of the migraine attack. Read more on these options here   References   1…

Symptoms of Migraine Migraine pain can vary from mild to severe. If mild, patient has a tight feeling in the head and neck. In a severe migraine attack, the patient experiences throbbing pulsatile (pulsating) pain, which spreads to the shoulder and neck, too. Pain in adults may last for 4 to 72 hours, whereas in children it lasts for 2 to 4 hours. There are 4 phases in a migraine attack. They are:   Premonitory phase: This phase is also called prodromal symptom, which includes physical…

There are various types of migraine as mentioned below: Migraine without aura – the most common type of migraine with a pulsating headache on one side of the head. Migraine with aura – headache affected by flashing or wavy lights. Older people are more prone to it. An aura can manifest as visual disturbances like flashes of light or blind spots or other symptoms such as difficulty in speaking and tingling on face or arm or leg. Chronic migraine – occurs 15 days per month over three months or…

How is Migraine diagnosed? Migraine cannot be diagnosed clearly by neuroimaging yet. Neuroimaging, like MRI, is done to exclude other conditions associated with headache, like a blood clot in the brain. Migraine diagnosis is based on history taking. The clinical criteria to confirm migraine are: Migraine without aura At least 5 headache attacks (in 15 days or more per month for more than 3 months) fulfilling 2 to 4 of the criteria given below. Headache lasting 4 to 72 hours The headache has…

Causes of Migraine Causes are multifactoral with various genetic and environmental factors playing important roles. The patient may have a history of migraine in the family. Mutations of the gene in chromosome 1 and 19 are responsible for positive family history. Disturbances in the release of certain brain chemicals called serotonin and dopamine may also cause migraine. Migraine has two parts: 1) the aura and 2) the headache. (Symptoms of aura are mentioned below.) Cerebral blood vessels…

Treatment Options for Migraine Acute medicines: taken at the time of an attack Analgesics like paracetamol for pain Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen Anti-emetics to prevent nausea and vomiting Triptans to treat an acute attack Ditans  like lasmiditan Dihydroergotamine like prochlorperazine Gepants – Ubrogepant, Atogepant and Rimegepant, these don’t cause rebound or medication overuse headache like some other drugs. Combination of these acute medicines for…

How to effectively manage migraine Patient education and trigger avoidance: The patient needs to understand the nature of the headache and what triggers it. The triggers need to be avoided. To help, the patient can keep a pain diary to record the features, duration and intensity of pain, along with trigger factors and associated symptoms. The treatment options are listed here Know your support team: Who can help General practitioners Neurologists Internal medicine specialists Specialists in…