Migraine is sometimes thought to be a synonym for excruciating headaches. Not every migraine has such severe headaches, however. Minor headaches are often migraine, and call for migraine prevention measures.

Migraine Prevention Tips

Migraine prevention tips are many. Some help one person, and some help another. For some, avoiding certain foods works well as migraine prevention. For others, food seems to be unrelated. Their migraine prevention needs to focus on other things. One or more of these migraine prevention tips may work well for you.

1. Break Time: When working, take regular breaks. Explain to your employer or superior that you need more frequent breaks for migraine prevention. Migraine prevention is in their best interests, since it will avoid downtime for you. This migraine prevention tip applies to work around the home, too – or even relaxation. When your eyes are involved in activities such as sewing, knitting, computer work, or close woodwork, the tension can lead to migraine.

2. Light Up: Not a cigarette, of course. This migraine prevention tip involves the lighting in any room where you are working. Choose proper lighting that is neither too dim nor too bright. Never try to do reading or close work by the light of a TV or computer. Make sure your light comes over the shoulder.

3. Sit Up: Posture can affect migraine susceptibility. For the best migraine prevention, always sit up when reading or working on close work. Sit erect, and try to hold your head upright, neck straight. If you are looking at a book, needlework, or craft, hold it up.

4. Eyesight: Poor eyesight may also trigger minor migraine. See an eye doctor and have your eyes checked. This one step of migraine prevention could result in total freedom from migraine.

5. Quit Smoking: It has been shown that tobacco has an adverse affect on the body. Serious attempts at migraine prevention are worthless if they do not include abstinence from smoking.

6. Front Seat Driver: If you have a tendency toward motion sickness when riding as a passenger in a car, ask for the front seat. Looking at moving scenery from a side window can cause more than motion sickness. For migraine prevention, sit in front, and don’t try to read maps or other material while moving.

7. Be Happy: There’s much to be said for maintaining a happy attitude. Part of that “much” relates to migraine prevention. Train yourself to spend most of the time thinking on “happy” things. Try to turn stress around and see the other side of it.

Practice these migraine prevention tips, and you may reduce your number of migraine as well as the severity of migraine episodes.

For many people, the word migraine is best defined as a seemingly excruciating headache that other people get from time to time. For others, the word conjures up sights, sounds, and feelings that make them shudder. Those in the second group are migraineurs - people who suffer migraine.

Migraine prevention is a priority for migraineurs. For many years, however, prevention was not even a possibility. Then Topamax appeared on the market.

What Topamax Is

Topamax (topiramate) is an anti-epileptic drug that has been around for a while. In 2005, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Topamax for migraine prevention in adults. No one knows exactly how Topamax works for migraine prevention, but it appears to affect neuronal hyperexcitability, which is thought to be a factor in migraine development.

Effectiveness for Migraine Prevention

Migraine prevention with topiramate has been studied in patients ranging between ages 12 to 65 who averaged 5.5 headaches per month.

1. Approximately 22 percent of patients taking 3-7 placebo (sugar pills) daily experienced migraine prevention about half of the time.

2. Between 37 and 54 percent of patients taking 50 mg of topiramate twice daily experienced migraine prevention about half of the time.

In the study, migraine prevention began about 1 month after patients began taking the medication.

Side Effects of Topamax Migraine Prevention

While topiramate appears to be relatively safe, many people find it difficult to tolerate. Common side effects include: nausea, fatigue, paresthesia, anorexia, diarrhea, weight decrease, and taste alteration. Serious adverse effects include: lowering of bicarbonate levels in the blood; blurred vision or ocular pain; decreased sweating and increased body temperature; difficulty thinking; psychiatric/behavioral problems including suicidal thoughts or behavior; and drowsiness.

Cost of Topamax for Migraine Prevention

Migraine prevention should be less costly. A one month supply of Topamax will cost you approximately $210 USD. That is $3.50 per tablet. This high cost coupled with the relatively frequent adverse side effects is cause to consider other approaches to migraine prevention. Ask your physician about beta blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, or riboflavin for migraine prevention.

CAUTION: The author is not a medical professional, and presents the above material for educational purposes only. Please see your doctor for more information about Topamax and migraine prevention.

Treatment for migraine is commonly by prescription, but your physician has a choice of prescription medications. You trust your physician, but should that rust be blind faith?

Treatment for migraine differs greatly, it has been found, depending on whether the prescribing physician is a general practitioner or a neurologist. In an early 2007 survey of migraine patients, 20 percent reported that their doctors prescribed potentially addictive medications in their treatment for migraine. Such medications, containing opioids or barbiturates, are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Migraine Relief.

Many did not know that their treatment for migraine was potentially addictive. The survey mentioned involved 502 patients. Their prescribed treatment for migraine was in the hands of 201 primary care physicians and neurologists. Of the 502 migraine patients, 53 percent were taking triptans as their primary treatment for migraine. However, 20 percent were taking prescribed opioids or barbiturates. The remaining 27 percent were taking other medications.

Who Prescribes Addictive Treatment for Migraine

There are not many physicians who prescribe opioids or barbiturates when they begin treatment for migraine. However, if migraines do not respond, a general practitioner is more likely than a neurologist to prescribe opioids next. While only 7 percent of neurologists in the survey would prescribe addictive drugs, 25 percent of participating general practitioners would do so.

These drugs seem to be an effective short-term treatment for migraine. However, using them long term is not recommended because of addiction / abuse potential. Doctors say that detoxification from over-use may require hospitalization.

Avoiding Addictive Treatment for Migraine

You need to be thoroughly involved in your treatment for migraine if you are to avoid taking potentially addictive drugs. Here are some things you can do.

1. When your headaches are diagnosed as migraine, tell your physician you want treatment for migraine that doesn’t involve prescription drugs.

2. Keep a migraine journal, and try to determine what triggers the migraines. Self-management is a personal treatment for migraine that may help you avoid prescription drugs altogether.

3. Consider trying treatment for migraine that does not involve any kind of drugs: acupuncture, biofeedback, or relaxation training.

4. If the headaches persist, ask your doctor to prescribe the least powerful drug in the first phase of treatment for migraine.

5. Ask questions about any drug that is prescribed. Ask specifically if it is a barbiturate or opioid. Ask if there is a danger of addiction. Ask if the USFDA has approved it as treatment for migraine.

6. If an addictive drug is prescribed, request a different prescription. Research “triptans” and request treatment with such.

7. A physician who prescribes an addictive drug should probably not be giving you treatment for migraine. You may want to seek out a neurologist.

Take charge of your own treatment for migraine, and be sure you are not paying for things you do not need - or should not use.