How to Manage a Complex Migraine

Complex migraines include more than just a searing pain inside a head that already feels like it is in a vice. They can include problems with speech, vision, hearing, comprehension, and movement. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and removing the mystery and uncertainty can help calm nerves and allow the patient to help his or her physician find the right kind of treatment. The following steps should help those suffering from complex migraine cope.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Determine that the problem is in fact a complex migraine. The same symptoms that many migraine sufferers report for their complex headaches can also be attributed to several other medical problems. If you have not already done so, contact a physician or neurologist to have your migraine properly diagnosed. This may involve extensive testing over a lengthy period of time.

2. Provide your physician with as much detailed information concerning your symptoms as possible. Therefore, your doctor may ask you to chart your symptoms through a migraine diary. The information that you chart for your physician will allow him or her to better serve you, treat your symptoms, and find medication or other treatments for your migraines.

3. Follow your physician's instructions to the letter. Take any medication provided to help prevent your headaches, alleviate your symptoms, or lessen your pain. Also follow any relaxation techniques, exercise programs, or other treatment plans outlined for you.
   
   Failing to follow treatment as outlined will skew your results and keep your physician from determining what may or may not work for you.

4. Find your own ways of coping with your headaches. Many migraine sufferers find that they must lie down in a cool, dark room until the headache passes. Others have to use a heat or ice pack on their neck or head. Still others must find a quiet place to go because sound sends them over the edge. No two complex migraines are the same. You have to determine what works for yours.

5. Do not panic at the onset of new symptoms. My first complex migraine symptoms were numbness on the left side of my body. Everyone, including me thought I'd suffered a stroke at the age of 36. As it turns out, however, the symptoms were related directly to my migraine. When my headache dispersed, so did they.

6. Typical symptoms for complex migraines can include, but are not limited to numbness, blurry vision, ringing or buzzing in the ears, or loss of the ability to verbalize what you are thinking. Knowing what to look for and what is typical for these types of headaches can keep you from pushing the panic button.

7. Research migraines in general and complex migraines in particular. The more you know, the better off you will be. You can never know too much.

8. Join a migraine support group. If possible, join one that is dedicated to those suffering from complex migraines. When you know that you aren't alone in your pain, uncertainty, and fear it helps to alleviate some of the anxiety. Some groups even pair members as buddies to support each other through extensive testing and treatment. They also become an extra emergency contact when needed.

9. Get a second, third, or even fourth opinion. It took years for me to find a neurologist who knew enough about complex migraines to really help me find the proper treatment. Once I found an informed doctor and the right treatment, my migraines were well controlled and I seldom needed pain medications or other drastic treatment like hospitalization.

10. Find relaxation techniques that will help alleviate your migraine symptoms. Relaxation alone won't often cure a migraine headache, but they really do work if you find the right ones for you. Stress can create a migraine. Relieve the stress and you just might also relieve the migraine.
    
    Many complex migraine sufferers swear by bio-feedback techniques. Those don't work well for me. However, yoga and self-hypnosis does. My sister, on the other hand, actually does certain types of exercises to help relieve her headaches. You have to find the right relaxation techniques for you. A physician or psychologist can make recommendations but they can't do the work for you.

11. Don't give up or give in. It may take a while to find the right treatment for your complex migraine and you may encounter resistance along the way. Although the medical community today knows more about migraines that ever before, they still don't have all of the answers. Unfortunately, there is no single treatment that will work for everyone. Just like with any medical problem, treatment has to be personalized to the individual.

12. Don't dismiss the possibility that a psychologist can help you with your headaches. Migraines are often kicked off or continued because of stress. If you can learn to better handle the stress, you may be able to abate at least some of headaches. There is no guarantee that it will work, but don't limit any potential assistance.

13. Share your experiences and your support. Every day, new people are experiencing their first complex migraine. Some of them are children and the elderly; two groups not always associated with complex migraines. They are frightened, uncertain, and maybe even a little concerned about their sanity.
    
    Sharing your personal experiences and support to other migraine sufferers will not only help them, but will also help you. I can't tell you the number of parents who have thanked me for believing what they and their children had to say. Sometimes, people just need to be heard. I find that listening and sharing helps my years of suffering through complex migraines make at least a little bit of sense.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep accurate notes about any changes in symptoms, intensity, or length of your complex migraines. You may stop keeping your diary regularly after your headache is diagnosed, but that doesn't mean you should stop noting changes that might occur.
• Even if you don't want to go to formal migraine support group, have family members or friends who can help you if you lapse into a migraine and can't communicate, drive, or otherwise help yourself. It can be dangerous to be on your own.
• Certain foods can trigger migraines. If you find one or more that you even suspect might set off your headaches, avoid them altogether and find an alternative.
• If you get off of your preventative migraine medication for some reason, contact your physician to determine how to get back on the right dosage. You may need to double up for a period of time.
• Never take another individual's migraine medication. Pain medication can be specialized to the individual in question. It isn't interchangeable.
• Never take more medication than noted. Pain medication, in particular, can be tricky to handle. However, any prescription can be dangerous if taken incorrectly. Stick to the dosages noted or contact your physician for approval to change it.

[bizewriter]

on 1/31/2008 I'm glad I no longer have migraines.