The Five Stages Of Chronic Migraines And How To Deal With Each Stage Properly

Migraine headaches are seriously painful headache occurrences that take place with the addition of other symptoms and affect nearly 35 million individuals in the United States alone. Even though so many individuals are affected by migraine headaches the “migraine” still remains under-diagnosed, under-treated, and often times highly misunderstood.  There is a way to change that statistic though, if individuals, physicians, as well as friends, family, and loved ones can become more knowledgeable about how the migraine is presented and can be treated then more individuals can get the proper care and relief when they need it. One of the ways that individuals can become more knowledgeable about migraines is to understand the migraine stages and how to deal with each individual of the migraine stages in order to get the quickest and most effective relief possible.

1. Prodrome Stage – this is the first of the migraine stages and is often referred to as the “premonitory stage”. This phase can begin hours or days prior to the onset of the second stage. Characteristics that are common during the prodrome stage are sleepiness, irritability, as well as other changes in mood. When studies, it has been shown that nearly half of all migraine sufferers reported a consistent awareness of this first of the migraine stages. This is important, because prevention is the key to treating migraines and if the first of the migraine stages, the prodrome stage, can be identified then the hope is that treatment can take place before any of the other migraine stages can begin. For the other half of migraine sufferers who were perhaps not aware of the first of the migraine stages they can learn to detect this first of the migraine stages (the prodrome stage) by beginning to keep a migraine journal and learning to recognize what their own personal triggers and warning signs are that often precursor a migraine attack. Some of the most common symptoms that take place during the prodrome stage are: Tiredness

• Irritability
• Intense Hunger
• Yawning
• Slightly Slurred Speech
• Feelings of Less Coordination
• Loss of Concentration

1. Aura Stage – this is the second of the migraine stages and can often accompany the headache phase or sometimes can occur in isolation.  A common misconception is that all migraine headaches will have the aura stage, however this is not true. In fact studies have shown that migraine with aura is relatively less common than migraine occurrences without aura. However, because about 30 percent of migraine sufferers will experience his stage it is included in the migraine stages. If an aura stage occurs it generally develops over a period of 5 to 20 minutes and usually last less than an hour. An aura is not harmful and will result in no permanent damage; the symptoms of an aura are changes in vision, skin sensations, or even language problems. If an aura occurs it will most commonly disappear before the third of the migraine stages takes place.
2. Acute Pain Stage – this is the phase of the migraine stages that is most commonly thought of as a “migraine headache”. In this stage the headache pain is severe and other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and/or sound, as well as an aversion to strong odors can take place. There are many symptoms which are commonly associated with the acute pain stage but the most common are the severe head pain along with some form of autonomic symptoms.
3. Postdrome Stage – or the post headache phase of the migraine stages it a period of time where diminished function takes place after the acute pain stage has subsided. Often times migraine sufferers will experience the autonomic symptoms or “non-headache” symptoms anywhere from 24-48 hours after the acute pain stage has subsided. Symptoms that commonly occur in the postdrome stage include fatigue, lethargy, muscle soreness, lack of appetite, or poor concentration.
4. Interictal Stage – or the phase of the migraine stages that occurs between migraine attacks. The common symptom of this phase is more emotional in nature, because many individuals will have fears of dread about the migraine occurrence that will take place next. In order for this stage to be properly dealt with knowledge about each of the migraine stages should be understood and preventative measures should be taken Prevention can be attained in the forms of therapies such as massage, acupuncture, or chiropractic care, or supplemental treatments which can prevent a future migraine attack.

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