Discovering the best strategy to control your migraine is a personal experience; what helps one person may not help another. Though it’s tempting to jump in and try a promising new treatment that others are swearing by, keep in mind that there are many misconceptions about migraine, some of which could cause more damage than benefit.
Always keep your doctor part of your migraine control strategy. Never alter your course of action prior to consulting your doctor.
Myth 1: Every migraine starts with light sensitivity.
Although some people find light to be a migraine trigger, light sensitivity is usually a warning indicator that an attack has started already. In these situations, the prodrome stage of a migraine attack really consists of light sensitivity. This could mean some brightness levels or colors of light cause pain or discomfort, or it could mean you find yourself reacting more than usual to some kinds of lighting—like sunlight, glare, or fluorescent lights.
Therefore, even if light sensitivity could well indicate that a headache is just around the horizon, this does not entail that light is the cause of the approaching attack.
Myth 2: Chocolate will set off a migraine episode.
The foods that cause migraines vary from person to person and could even change for the same person between one episode. While some people find chocolate a headache, chocolate cravings can also accompany the migraine prodrome stage. Like light sensitivity above, when prodrome symptoms include food cravings, it might be easy to confuse such indicators of an imminent attack with the cause itself.
Track your meals and snacks in a journal rather than eliminating all foods said to be migraine causes. This will enable you to identify foods that really aggravate your migraine attacks. This can also enable you to be alert for other elements that might set off an attack, such as stress and sleep deprivation.
Myth 3: One can “ride out” a migraine attack to prevent requiring medication.
For those who often suffer from migraines, headaches brought on by drug overuse are a very real worry; yet, this does not mean you should avoid using acute medicine when you most need it. Furthermore, aggravating things over time and causing more severe symptoms are the undertreatment of migraine attacks.
This implies that letting oneself go through constant agony during a migraine attack will actually raise your future attack risk.
Myth 4: I could as well not bother treating my migraine if I neglect to address it right away.
Although early on, when your pain is still modest, is the ideal time to treat a migraine attack, this does not mean you cannot do anything to ease symptoms in later stages.
Though some may probably work better than others, most treatment choices will still be effective throughout the later phases of a migraine episode. For patients who suffer GI symptoms as part of their migraine, for instance, non-oral treatments such as nasal sprays and neuromodulation devices may be more successful in addressing later phases of an attack.
Learning the typical misconceptions about migraines will enable you to identify a treatment strategy that suits you faster. Always discuss your migraine treatment strategy with your doctor; if you are unsure about a migraine treatment, ask questions.