Migraine brains 'are different'

Migraine brains 'are different'

news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists have discovered differences in the sensory areas of the brains of people who develop migraines.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Little is known about migraines. I get migraines, not as often as I used to but I still get them. I'd say I get anywhere from two to four migraines a year. Being someone that suffers from migraines, I hope they are finally learning more about them and will soon have a way to treat them.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

My mother gets them about 2 or 3 times a year, stress in her life seems to bring them on. I get one about every 3 years, and when I do I can barely keep my eyes open, the last time I went to the hospital and they gave me Demerol and a prescription for Percocet, it basically puts me on my butt for about a week.

Migraines are Bad!!!

I really can't think of anything more painful then a migraine. I pray to the gods there is nothing more painful then a migraine.

if i dont take regular doses of a painkiller,i get severe headaches.

i suffer from jaw aches,i have a back ache right now,and i am very sensitive to all forms sensual stimulation

this explains alot,thanks for posting!.

Interesting article, I haven't been keeping up with current neurological research as I've been busy with other things, but this is important. I also have migranes like most of my family members, but the only difference is that I have learned to recognize when one is about to happen and I can usually avoid the worst of it. My migranes are often triggered by claustrophobic like conditions, overheating, odd weather, or other such conditions. In fact, if I wasn't able to recognize the onset of symptoms before the migrane I would have roughly 10 or more migranes per month (at times I have had as many as 15 per month), but as is I do not take medication and have learned to control them before they happen.

I tend to go with the hypothesis that migranes have an essentially genetic characteristic in most patients as some disorders like Basilar type Migraines and Amigrainous Migraines do tend to be predisposed. Some migrane suffering patients acutally have been noted to have slight neurological damage in the Basal Pons and Medulla Oblongata region of the brainstem near the cerebellum. This taken with the fact that a good majority of people with migranes have them from an early age leads me to believe that either the neurological damage was present since birth and could therefore be genetic, or the damage came much later. The latter would make little sense in scientific terms as far as I could tell because of the isolation of the brain stem. I of course, wouldn't be so prude as to suggest that all migrane sufferers have a genetic predisposition for such, and perhaps this new research into the Somatosensory Cortex as pointed out in the article will shed further light on the issue.

I'll be curious to see where this new research leads as it will affect me as well.

Originally posted by Jazzerman
Interesting article, I haven't been keeping up with current neurological research as I've been busy with other things, but this is important. I also have migranes like most of my family members, but the only difference is that I have learned to recognize when one is about to happen and I can usually avoid the worst of it. My migranes are often triggered by claustrophobic like conditions, overheating, odd weather, or other such conditions. In fact, if I wasn't able to recognize the onset of symptoms before the migrane I would have roughly 10 or more migranes per month (at times I have had as many as 15 per month), but as is I do not take medication and have learned to control them before they happen.

I 100% agree with what your saying here, I can feel a migraine coming on about a week before the full effect takes place. Mine seems to be from stress, but if I chill and take lots of pain killers, and just have some fun, I can sometimes avoid it, but the last decade its only been so effective.

I tend to go with the hypothesis that migranes have an essentially genetic characteristic in most patients as some disorders like Basilar type Migraines and Amigrainous Migraines do tend to be predisposed. Some migrane suffering patients acutally have been noted to have slight neurological damage in the Basal Pons and Medulla Oblongata region of the brainstem near the cerebellum. This taken with the fact that a good majority of people with migranes have them from an early age leads me to believe that either the neurological damage was present since birth and could therefore be genetic, or the damage came much later. The latter would make little sense in scientific terms as far as I could tell because of the isolation of the brain stem. I of course, wouldn't be so prude as to suggest that all migrane sufferers have a genetic predisposition for such, and perhaps this new research into the Somatosensory Cortex as pointed out in the article will shed further light on the issue.

I'll be curious to see where this new research leads as it will affect me as well.

I agree with most of what you say here. Migraines run in my family, will wait and hope, so far My kids don't have them.

[edit on 20-11-2007 by LDragonFire]

this reply of mine is intended as a general resonse to all...

but in particular to Jazzerman, because with all that knowledge
of the brain...Jazz miight be overlooking the obvious....



reply to post by Jazzerman



background,
i myself used to get horrendously severe migraines more often than reasonable,
most likely because 11 years ago i had a history of 30some years of smoking and beer consumption, etc., my lifestyle, my high blood pressure, my tendency to cause high pressure on the brain itself
(say by excessive & long stints of having my head below my waist...
bending over for commercial construction tasks)
were all factors in forever getting headaches and migraines ... imo

It turnes out that i had an brain aneurism located in the brain stem, limbic region which suddenly hemorrhaged on me in 1997.


if one has a primary physician who can get you a referral to a
brain scan procedure, MRI or CAT scan are two options,
I sure would go for it even if it costs $800-1,200. as i have paid.

but....I should have gotten the scans before the hemorrhage !
as doctors nowadays can fix up a brain aneurism without dilling
into one's skull...
if that's what might be causing anybodys migraine.


thanks,

I used to have severe migraines in my teens... they were so bad that I cant eat anything. But after my 20s they stpped my itself. Dr told me that I became more active and confident in life and that may be a reson...

This is an interesting article. I've suffered from migraines since a very young age, and it seems to run through my family. I get them really severely, when they do happen, and it's usually caused by stress or too much exposure to fluorescent lights. There is medication out there which is more effective than pain killers, such as "Sumatriptan", "Naramig" and "Imigran" i think it is, amongst others. It's good to see that they are finally trying to crack this one...

St. Udio,

Many thanks for the background story, which helps to put the issue in better perspective. Being familiar with most medical issues, but not a Neurologist myself, the idea of an Aneurysm being a possible primary cause didn't even cross my mind. Excellent information and thanks for bringing it to the table!