Migraine Headaches

Filed in archive General Health on February 19, 2007

I've suffered from migraine headaches ever since I was a kid. I can remember getting one at school, so bad I couldn't see the teacher's face. She took pity on me an d told me to go home.

This was a country school, and I had three miles to travel on a gravel road riding my bicycle. When I looked at the road, it was split in two, one half higher than the other. I couldn't balance my bike and ended up stumbling home, wheeling the thing.

This effect is called a migraine aura. The Magical Mystery of Migraines explains it this way:

Auras typically last 5 to 20 minutes and involve symptoms such as vertigo (motion sickness or dizziness), imbalance, confusion or numbness; but most auras consist of visual disturbances such as partial vision loss, the appearance of "special effects" and distortion of objects. Sometimes the visual effects can be dramatic, says Dr. Mays-flashing lights, complex color patterns and shapes (e.g., triangles and dots), and floaters (the perception that some tiny foreign object is floating across the eye). An individual might also see shimmering or zig zag lines in the peripheral vision and blurriness in central vision.

There was talk of a brain tumor, but when all the tests were done, the conclusion was migraine. The migraines were really bad when I was pregnant and every month when my menstrual cycle rolled around. As I grew older, they tapered off, but I still have the occasional migraine. Sometimes I see the aura and get only a mild headache. Other times, no aura, but the severe headache lays me low.

Teri Robert, writing at Help for Headaches and Migraine tells us that many Migraineurs also suffer from major depressive disorder. Another comorbid health condition associated with migraine is Thyroid disease. Ms. Robert writes:

Thyroid diseases, including hypothyroidism, are among the conditions now know to often be comorbid with headaches and migraines. A strong connection has been found between hypothyroidism and new daily persistent headache (NDPH) and chronic migraine.