Migraine is best known for its excruciating headaches. These headaches will make some people try almost anything. They are especially eager to find migraine prevention that will reduce the number of migraine, or eliminate migraine altogether.

Trileptal for migraine prevention is sometimes “just what the doctor” prescribes. At other times, it is completely ineffective.

What Trileptal Is

Trileptal is a brand-name anticonvulsant, oxcarbazepine. Oxcarbazepine is a drug that affects the nerves and brain, decreasing nerve impulses. It was never intended for migraine prevention when developed, but that is true of all medications prescribed for treatment or prevention of migraine.

Success of Trileptal for Migraine Prevention

Doctors have had limited success in treating stubborn migraine or achieving migraine prevention with Trileptal. The response rate is reported at about 50 percent. The two abstracts that indicate this are: Johnson et al, 2002; Nett and Krusz, 2002.

Ooxcarbazepine as migraine prevention has not been approved by the FDA.

Common Side Effects

The most common side effects of Trileptal (oxcarbazepine) are:

* abdominal pain
* abnormal gait
* abnormal vision
* ataxia - inability to coordinate voluntary muscles
* dizziness
* double vision
* drowsiness
* fatigue
* indigestion
* nausea
* tremors
* vomiting

Age-related side effects: If you are over 60 years of age, your likelihood of experiencing side effects from Trileptal may be more likely. Your doctor may prescribe a lower dose or special monitoring during treatment.

Since many of the common side effects are the very reasons you are seeking migraine prevention, you may want to reconsider Trileptal.

Other Side Effects

Serious skin reactions: Both in children and in adults taking Trileptal, serious skin reactions have been reported. These skin reactions may be life-threatening.

Alcohol Interaction: You should not drink alcohol while taking Trileptal since it could well increase the drowsiness or dizziness caused by oxcarbazepine.

Birth Control: Trileptal may decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills. If you want to endure protection from unintended pregnancy, you must use a second, back-up method of birth control while taking Trileptal as migraine prevention.

Pregnancy: The FDA has classified oxcarbazepine as a C category drug. This means it is not known whether oxcarbazepine will harm an unborn baby. If you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment, do not take Trileptal for migraine prevention without first talking to your doctor.

Nursing: Trileptal passes into breast milk and may harm an infant that is nursing. If you are breast-feeding a baby, do not take this medication without first talking to your doctor about it.

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 Trileptal and migraine prevention.

I ate a migraine trigger food: how long before a headache will hit? If you have never spoken those words aloud, chances are you have thought them if you know your personal migraine headache trigger foods.

I ate a migraine trigger food isn’t the whole story, though. Most migraine headaches occur for no apparent reason. Migraine headaches usually result from an interaction of factors that you may or may not recognize.

The trigger food you eat today may give you a migraine headache because you are also experiencing stress. On another day, the same trigger food may not give you a migraine headache. Some women get a migraine headache if they drink red wine and are having a period, but when the two are not combined, they experience no migraine.

Is It Really a Trigger Food?

Many people do blame foods as triggers, but foods are not thought to be common triggers. If you keep a food diary, and believe a certain food is a trigger, test it. See if you always get migraine headache after eating that food. If so, cut out that food entirely, and see if you still have migraine headache.

There are lists of so-called trigger foods, but never assume any specific food on the list is a trigger food for you. The very assumption can make it so, since our minds can take suggestions quite literally. It is better to assume you have no trigger foods for migraine headache.

How Long Before a Headache Will Hit?

But getting back to our question. I ate a migraine trigger food: how long before a headache will hit?

If the food you ate normally triggers a migraine headache in you, you can expect a migraine, but the time lapse varies from one individual to the next. How quickly your migraine headache will hit depends on several things.

1. A trigger food might seem to bring on an instant migraine headache.
2. A trigger food might cause a migraine headache only when combined with another trigger, as described above.
3. If a trigger food is going to cause a migraine headache, it will usually do so within 6 hours. However, trigger foods sometimes result in a migraine headache 2 days later.

Possible Trigger Foods

The following foods may or may not cause a migraine headache for you. If you remove them from your diet as a test, do so for only a few weeks. Keep an accurate diary, and discuss it with your physician.

* anchovies
* avocados
* bananas
* beans (some) broad, Italian, lentil, lima, peas, and soy
* beer caffeine in any form
* champagne cheeses (aged)
* chocolate
* dairy products
* MSG (monosodium glutamate)
* Nuts including peanuts / peanut butter
* processed / dried meat
* red wine
* sauerkraut
* soups, canned or packaged
* sourdough breads
* vermouth
* yeast

Tip: Most items on the list are highly processed or manufactured food products. Eating fresh produce and preparing your meals “from scratch” is often the best way to prevent migraine headache food triggers.

Migraineurs suffer a variety of migraines. Some seem typical, following the stages most people have come to understand about migraines. Others seem strangely out of place, as though the migraine has slipped from the head to another part of the body.

Defining Abdominal Migraine

Abdominal migraine is one of those that attack other than the head. It consists of pain, nausea, and vomiting. It is usually seen in children, although some adults suffer abdominal migraine. Girls are more likely than boys to suffer abdominal migraine.

Diagnosing Abdominal Migraine

Abdominal migraine is usually diagnosed when family history links the child’s attack to adult migraine sufferers. Your physician will also look for things such as these in diagnosing abdominal migraine:

1. At least 5 attacks that involve 2 through 4 below.
2. Abdominal pain is midline in location, is dull, and moderate to severe.
3. During abdominal pain, the child has at least 2 of these: loss of appetite, nausea, paleness, vomiting.
4. Whether left untreated or treated, attacks of abdominal pain last between an hour and 72 hours.

In addition, your physician will want to be sure the abdominal pain is not attributed to some other medical concern.

Abdominal Migraine Is Painful

Like other migraine, abdominal migraine causes severe enough pain to interfere seriously with normal activities. A child suffering abdominal migraine will not want to play or move about. She will not be able to go to school or engage in other common activities. She may not be able to tell you whether she is nauseous or has lost her appetite, but may vomit repeatedly. She will likely have a very pale face with dark shadows under the eyes. She will probably be fatigued or sleepy. Some children suffer migraine headache with abdominal migraine, while others have only the abdominal migraine. Most people who suffer abdominal migraine in childhood will develop migraine headache in adulthood.

Treating Abdominal Migraine

As with other migraine, no sure treatment is available for abdominal migraine. Your physician may prescribe a triptan drug such as Imitrex, Zomig, or Maxalt. You may also get a prescription for medication to curb the nausea and vomiting.

You should realize that abdominal migraine, like other migraine, can be triggered by foods or other substances. They may also be triggered by stress.

If you believe someone is experiencing abdominal migraine, contact your physician for advice. It is important to rule out other causes, and to treat the pain appropriately.

The author is not a trained professional, and the advice given here is for educational purposes only.