Migraines & Insomnia, Depression & Caffeine, “The Common Links”!
Migraines & Insomnia, Depression, Caffeine ” The Common Links”:
What is Migraine? migraines
A migraine is a complex condition with a wide variety of symptoms. For many people, the main feature is a painful headache. Other symptoms include disturbed vision, sensitivity to light, sound, and smells, feeling sick and vomiting.
Migraine attacks can be very frightening and may result in you having to lie still for several hours. The symptoms will vary from person to person and individuals may have different symptoms during different attacks. Your attacks may differ in length and frequency.
Migraine attacks usually last from 4 to 72 hours and most people are free from symptoms of attacks. A migraine can have an enormous impact on your work, family and social lives.
Causes:
A Few Possible Causes are:
- Irregular and insufficient sleep patterns.
- Strong perfumes, air fresheners or incense sticks.
- Insufficient intake of healthy food.
- Long and stressful driving.
- Prolonged viewing of television or exposure to computers.
- Excessive stress.
- Alcoholic beverages.
1. Insomnia & Migraines:
A bout of insomnia will often bring on a migraine in someone prone to them. Having a migraine will often lead to insomnia. It sounds like a vicious cycle, and, for some migraineurs, it can be.
Insomnia is characterized by the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or fall back to sleep if awakened unexpectedly. Head and abdominal pain from a migraine may exacerbate the inability to sleep in people already inclined to sleep disorders.
Study:
A 2005 study published in Headache, the journal of the American Headache Society, discusses the links between poor sleep and migraines. Most of the study participants reported some form of sleep trouble and over 50% attributed migraine onset to sleep disturbances at least some of the time.
Almost 40% of participants admitted to sleeping six or fewer hours a night. These “short sleepers” experienced more frequent and severe migraines than other migraineurs. Short sleepers were also more likely to wake up with daily headaches, a condition known as transformed migraines.
Over 85% of the study participants said they chose to sleep or rest because of headache pain and 75% said the pain forced them to sleep. xxxxx
Insomnia & migraines Have something in common:
- Serotonin deficiency is linked to a number of disorders, including migraines and insomnia.
- Serotonin is a neurotransmitter thought to be an important part of the body’s regulation of sleep, mood, appetite, vomiting, and body temperature.
- It is manufactured in the gastrointestinal tract, where 90% of it is produced, and the central nervous system, and then stored in the blood.
- Insufficient serotonin levels are also associated with several gastric disorders.
- This may explain why so many migraine sufferers experience stomach problems prior to or during a headache.
- Lack of serotonin is also likely to be a major component of the phenomenon known as abdominal migraines.
2. Depression & Migraines:
Being in pain so fierce that the only recourse is to hide in a dark, quiet room until it is over several times a year would make anyone sad. Migraineurs, though, are five times more likely to develop clinical depression than people who do not have these debilitating headaches.
Conversely, people who are depressed are three times likelier than happy people to become migraineurs.
Scientists:
Many scientists view the intertwining of a migraine and depression as a chicken or egg situation. They are patently comorbid, but does one cause the other?
If so, which one starts the process, the migraine or the depression?
The answer is not that simple:
Migraines, depression, and, unsurprisingly, insomnia, a state associated with both conditions have something in common. All three are associated with neurotransmitter deficiencies in the brain.
Doctors:
Doctors believe that while they are related, depression and migraine headaches have distinct causes with a similar neurobiology. For years, doctors blamed depression in migraineurs on their resultant loss of quality of life due to headaches.
Now it looks as though the link is a biologic shared mechanism rather than psychology.
Clinically:
One danger for clinically depressed migraineurs is a possible drug interaction between their depression medication and their migraine drugs.
In July 2006 the FDA recognized one such danger, that of mixing triptans for migraines with SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or SNRIs (serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), used to treat depression and mood disorders.
Combining the drugs can lead to a condition called serotonin syndrome.
Serotonin Syndrome:
- Serotonin syndrome occurs when there is too much serotonin in the body.
- Symptoms include hallucinations, increased heart rate and body temperature, fast changes in blood pressure, and gastrointestinal upset.
- Sometimes a patient has no choice but to take these medications together, but they need to weigh their options with their doctor and be monitored closely for serotonin syndrome.
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3. Caffeine & Migraines:
- Migraineurs have a love-hate relationship with caffeine.
- For many, the vasoconstrictor helps alleviate their migraine pain.
- For an equal number, the chemical is a migraine headache trigger.
- The relationship between caffeine and migraines is anything but straightforward.
A. Caffeine Addicts:
- For caffeine addicts who discover that their daily cuppa is a migraine trigger the problem of caffeine is particularly thorny.
- People who regularly consume large quantities of caffeine often experience withdrawal headaches if they do not get their regular java jolt.
- If they are predisposed to migraines, the headache they get if they cut out the caffeine is going to be a doozy.
Facts:
- Many people think caffeine withdrawal alone can bring on a migraine.
- Regular caffeine-holics are advised to lower their caffeine intake slowly so they do not send their body into withdrawal.
- Many migraine pain relievers include caffeine.
- The vasoconstrictive action of caffeine helps relieve migraine pain for some people.
- One current theory of what exactly goes on in the head during a migraine proposes that arteries in the temple get inflamed during an attack and vasoconstriction would reduce the inflammation.
- Another possible reason to include caffeine in a migraine medication is that it acts as a supplement to the main analgesic.
Studies:
Studies have shown that many analgesics function more efficiently and pack a greater punch when paired with caffeine, though no one is sure exactly why.
Caffeine shows up in many unexpected places, so migraineurs who are sensitive to it (not all are) need to be vigilant label readers. Everyone knows about beverages, things like coffee and colas.
B. Caffeine is also found in:
- Many clear or fruit-flavored sodas Caffeine can be found in chocolate; the darker the chocolate the more caffeine it contains.
- Caffeine is in many over-the-counter analgesics, and not always clearly labeled.
- Migraineurs should be especially wary of caffeine in over-the-counter migraine formulas of regular medications.
There are so many natural migraine help and remedies that you can choose from. Aside from massage, water therapy, and aromatherapy, you can also try unwinding and perform relaxation exercises to get rid of the distressing headache symptoms.
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Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment for any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”
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