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Headache
A guide to headache causes and treatments
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How is lifestyle affected?
Eating and drinking
The minority of people who are sensitive to cheese, chocolate, alcoholic drinks and other related substances are aware of the need avoid these and there is no reason for people to change their diet if they have not already made these links for themselves.
Stress
Stress tends, if anything, to relieve migraine as migraines frequently occur when stress is suddenly lifted, such as at weekends or on the first day of a holiday. Some people find that maintaining a constant level of stress throughout the week (rising early at the weekend, for example) can be of value. Stress is a necessary component of everyday life and most doctors feel that it is better to offer drug therapy to suppress the effects of such stresses in patients rather than to advise anyone to withdraw completely from stress. There is little, if any, use for tranquillisers in the treatment of migraine as these are now shown to be addictive.
Changing habits
An important general principle in migraine management is to have regularity in one’s lifestyle. Becoming tired, sleeping in, skipping meals, over-eating, too much exertion or no exertion at all, are all extremes to be avoided. Regular sleep, diet and exercise are good practice for most migraine sufferers.
Female hormones
The role of the contraceptive pill has already been discussed. Combined pills are probably more likely to trigger headaches than the progesterone only (mini) pill, and women affected by headaches should consider stopping the pill, particularly if they have visual or other aura symptoms.The Mirena coil may often be useful.
A large number of women who are not on the pill experience migraines around the time of their period. This is believed to be triggered by the falling oestrogen levels which themselves trigger the period, and a trial in France has shown that some women benefit from a little boost of oestrogen at the very end of their cycle. Alternatively, women may discuss with their doctor taking two or three pill cycles consecutively without a break to avoid menstruation for two to three months.
Oestrogen levels remain constant throughout pregnancy and most, but unfortunately not all, women find that headaches are reduced during pregnancy, though they may recur afterwards. Many women find that their headaches settle down after the menopause, though others seem to start developing significant headaches at this time, probably because of the hormonal changes. In general, hormone replacement therapy is more likely to worsen than improve migraine; if it is essential to suppress unpleasant symptoms such as hot flushes a relatively low dose may be less likely to make the migraine problem worse.
Work
Anyone who misses work on a regular basis or whose abilities at work are impaired by headache should seek advice aboutbetter treatment, whether pain-killing or preventative. It is unlikely to be possible to avoid all stress at work, though simple adjustments to the way work is organised may be helpful.
Driving
This is seldom an issue in migraine as the symptoms come on slowly enough for people to be able to pull over to the side of the road if they judge this to be necessary. No-one should be driving if their eyesight is affected or with a headache bad enough to interfere with their concentration.
The minority of people who are sensitive to cheese, chocolate, alcoholic drinks and other related substances are aware of the need avoid these and there is no reason for people to change their diet if they have not already made these links for themselves.
Stress
Stress tends, if anything, to relieve migraine as migraines frequently occur when stress is suddenly lifted, such as at weekends or on the first day of a holiday. Some people find that maintaining a constant level of stress throughout the week (rising early at the weekend, for example) can be of value. Stress is a necessary component of everyday life and most doctors feel that it is better to offer drug therapy to suppress the effects of such stresses in patients rather than to advise anyone to withdraw completely from stress. There is little, if any, use for tranquillisers in the treatment of migraine as these are now shown to be addictive.
Changing habits
An important general principle in migraine management is to have regularity in one’s lifestyle. Becoming tired, sleeping in, skipping meals, over-eating, too much exertion or no exertion at all, are all extremes to be avoided. Regular sleep, diet and exercise are good practice for most migraine sufferers.
Female hormones
The role of the contraceptive pill has already been discussed. Combined pills are probably more likely to trigger headaches than the progesterone only (mini) pill, and women affected by headaches should consider stopping the pill, particularly if they have visual or other aura symptoms.The Mirena coil may often be useful.
A large number of women who are not on the pill experience migraines around the time of their period. This is believed to be triggered by the falling oestrogen levels which themselves trigger the period, and a trial in France has shown that some women benefit from a little boost of oestrogen at the very end of their cycle. Alternatively, women may discuss with their doctor taking two or three pill cycles consecutively without a break to avoid menstruation for two to three months.
Oestrogen levels remain constant throughout pregnancy and most, but unfortunately not all, women find that headaches are reduced during pregnancy, though they may recur afterwards. Many women find that their headaches settle down after the menopause, though others seem to start developing significant headaches at this time, probably because of the hormonal changes. In general, hormone replacement therapy is more likely to worsen than improve migraine; if it is essential to suppress unpleasant symptoms such as hot flushes a relatively low dose may be less likely to make the migraine problem worse.
Work
Anyone who misses work on a regular basis or whose abilities at work are impaired by headache should seek advice aboutbetter treatment, whether pain-killing or preventative. It is unlikely to be possible to avoid all stress at work, though simple adjustments to the way work is organised may be helpful.
Driving
This is seldom an issue in migraine as the symptoms come on slowly enough for people to be able to pull over to the side of the road if they judge this to be necessary. No-one should be driving if their eyesight is affected or with a headache bad enough to interfere with their concentration.
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Page 10 of 13
Contents
- Introduction
- Headache is a symptom
- What are the different types of headache?
- How is the diagnosis made?
- What causes headache?
- Migraine
- Tension-type headache
- Cluster headache
- What about the future?
- How is lifestyle affected?
- Conclusion
- Other organisations that may be able to help
- Your feedback on Headache
