Hey guys you're probably here because you want to know all about migraines
why we get them? who gets them?treatments and loads more
well I'm going to answer that question along with many other questions in this
week's responding to your comment where we look at fun questions
we look at science-based questions but most importantly we always look at the
evidence m make a video on migraines i have a lot
of problems with it please ritesh thank you for your comment this
was a comment from a story that i did and of course i'm going to try my best
to help you this is going to be quite a long video
we're going to look at the causes of migraines we're going to look at
treatments we're going to look at when you should
see medical attention and loads more so what i'm going to do
is i'm going to leave a chapter sort of breakdown in the description below so
you can look at look at it at any point whilst i'm
talking in the video if you want to find any specific information
there's a break down there so feel free to use it okay so let's begin with the
common symptoms of a migraine so it's usually an
intense headache on one side of the head typically on the front of the head
where it can be on both sides or it can start on one side
and spread to both sides the pain is usually a moderate or
severe throbbing sensation and it gets worse as we move which is why it's so
debilitating having a migraine because it stops you from doing all your normal
activities now in addition to these you may also
experience other symptoms like feeling sick having an increased sensitivity to
sounds and lights sweating having poor concentration by
the way this list goes on so what i'm going to do is i'm going to leave a full
list in the description below in fact there's
going to be loads more information about everything that we speak about
in the description below too now an important fact for you to remember is
that yes some people may get these additional symptoms that
we just spoke about with their headache but some people may not even get a
headache they might just get the additional symptoms that we just
spoke about with their migraine so what i'm trying to say is
we're all different everyone's different and everyone reacts differently and has
different symptoms with their migraines the symptoms of a migraine can last
between four hours and three days and you may
feel really tired and shattered for up to a week afterwards so if you're
not someone who suffers from migraines and you're now learning about
it i hope you realize just how debilitating they can be
now one in three people with migraines have a temporary warning symptom
known as an aura before a migraine they develop over five minutes
and last up to an hour now the symptoms of an aura are different for each
individual some people experience visual symptoms
such as blind spots flashing lights and other people experience symptoms
like pins and needles and loads more the list is quite vast so once again i'm
going to leave loads more information about it
in the description below so we now know about the symptoms of a migraine we know
about auras but what causes the migraine well the
exact science is actually unknown where it's thought to be a
result of abnormal brain activity which affects the nerve signals blood
vessels and chemicals within the brain so it's not quite clear what's causing
this abnormal brain activity but it's thought
that our genes can make us more susceptible to migraines
from triggers and there's loads of different triggers that can potentially
cause migraines from hormonal to emotional to dietary to environmental
to medicinal there's loads of different causes and if we go through all them
right now we're going to be here till tomorrow
so once again i'm going to leave more of the causes and triggers in the
description below for you now let's move on to treatments there's currently
no cure for migraines but we do have treatments for symptomatic relief of
them and what i mean by there's no cure for
migraines is let me give you an example let's say for example
you have a bacterial respiratory tract infection and you get prescribed
antibiotics and then the antibiotics kill the
bacteria so you're cured so with migraines we don't have that
cure and instead we have symptomatic relief which is why it can take some
time to find out the best treatment for you
so it might mean one treatment it might need a combination
to give you the best symptomatic relief so let's work through it step by step
and please remember certain techniques may work for you and
it may not work for others and vice versa
because migraines are quite unique to the individual so i guess it all comes
down to a bit of trial and error now at the start of a migraine attack the best
thing that you can do is either go to sleep or lie down in a
quiet darkened room this is one of the best things that you
can do at the start of an attack but i do appreciate this is quite idealistic
because you never know where you're going to be when you're having an attack
you could be at work or you could be at home so if you're at
home this is a good thing to know other people find that eating a little
something makes them feel better and some people find that once they've been
sick they feel much better now let's move on
to painkillers many people who suffer from migraines
find symptomatic relief from painkillers that you can get over the counter
for example paracetamol or ibuprofen but please remember before taking
any medication always speak to your pharmacist first so they can check that
you're safe and suitable to use that medication and
always read the information leaflet that comes with it this is one of the most
important things that everyone should do now whilst we're on the subject of
painkillers there's two things that i want you to remember
one take the painkiller as soon as you get those symptoms of a migraine
the ones that we spoke about earlier as soon as you get your first symptoms of a
migraine you need to take your painkiller this is
going to give it time to absorb and get into your bloodstream and start
working two don't wait until it's too late if
you're gonna take your painkiller once your migraine symptoms are fully there
it's probably not gonna be effective so we now know that with painkillers
speed is probably one of the most important factors about getting the most
symptomatic relief because it's gonna absorb into your bloodstream
quicker and it's going to have an effect sooner also bear in mind
it might be worth speaking to your health care professional about getting
soluble medication soluble medication actually absorbs faster than a tablet or
a capsule will so it's going to have that onset effect
a lot faster but please bear in mind soluble medication
well it tastes really bad it's also worth mentioning because i know there
will be people watching this video who vomit quite regularly when they have
a migraine now if you are one of those people and if you're taking a painkiller
orally and you're throwing up then that painkiller doesn't have enough time to
absorb so it's not really going to work properly
now an option for someone who vomits quite often when they have a migraine
would be to get painkiller in a suppository version
that way you're not really worried about throwing up because it's still going to
absorb now painkillers can be effective but
please remember that taking any painkiller too
often can actually make migraines worse we call this a medication overuse
headache so what i'm going to advise you all to
do is to speak to your healthcare professional if you feel like you're
having to take your pain for this quite frequently
or if you feel that over-the-counter painkiller just aren't being effective
so i did tell you this is going to be a long video i hope you're getting on okay
with it now let's say for example those
over-the-counter painkillers or any painkillers you've been prescribed and
not helping you've made that appointment to speak to
your healthcare professional they're going to talk to you about different
treatment options they may talk to you about different
treatment options for example prescription medication like tryptans or
antimatics anti-sickness tablets basically so let's
quickly run through them and find out a bit more information
about them so let's begin with tryptans these are a specific medication for
migraines and it's thought that it reversed some
of the changes in the brain that cause migraines so for example
if you remember earlier we said one of these changes was the fact that blood
vessels widen around the brain now these
tryptans it's thought that they constrict these blood vessels
another option that your healthcare professional may discuss with
you are anti-sickness tablets or antimetics which we call them in the
healthcare world now they're very good for symptoms of
sickness and vomiting and nausea that you get with migraines
but please remember that these antioxidant treating migraines so even
if you're not getting sickness the feeling of sickness or nausea or
anything like that they can actually be quite useful for the other symptoms of
migraines as well so it's useful for you to know that but
please once again remember you will have to discuss all of these
with your healthcare professional and always remember to read the
information leaflet that comes with any medication
and speak to your pharmacist or your doctor to check that it's safe and
suitable to use any of these combination medicines are
also another option to discuss certain combination medicines can be
purchased from your pharmacy once you've had a chat with your
pharmacist they usually contain things like a painkiller
and the anti-sickness i do think combination medicines do have a
convenience factor because they're a lot easier to take
but there are a lot of products out there so it's really important that you
speak to your pharmacist so they can check your symptoms and
recommend the best product for you and also make sure once again that
you're safe and suitable to take that medicine and like i always
say with any medicine always read the information leaflet that
comes with it i am really talking a lot in today's video but this is a really
big topic and i'm trying my best to summarize it to the best of my ability
for you now let's move on to complications which
is probably one of the most important parts of this video
and i really want you to try and remember as much as you can from it
okay so i think the best way for me to give you this information is to just
list through them so let's begin if you're having migraines for more than
five days a month you need to speak to your healthcare professional
and get those symptoms reviewed also even if your symptoms are being
controlled medicines you still need to make an appointment
with your healthcare professional and get the migraines reviewed
migraines are also associated with a small increased risk of ischemic strokes
so this means if you have any of the following symptoms
you need to call an ambulance straight away paralysis or weakness
in one or both arms or one side of the face
slurred or garbled speech a sudden agonizing headache resulting in pain
which is so severe that you've never experienced before a headache along with
a high temperature stiff neck mental confusion seizures
double vision and a rash these symptoms can be a sign of something much more
serious like a stroke that i've just mentioned
or even meningitis so it's very important that you remember
them and if they ever happen if you ever get any of these symptoms
you need to dial for an ambulance straight away and get emergency help
i will also leave loads more information about these in the description below
so please read them and please remember them thank you for your comment ritesh i
really hope this information helps you and it helps anyone else who's watching
i did also make a video not long ago all about how to prevent headaches and
migraines and some really useful tips on there
so if you haven't seen that video i will leave a link to it up here and in the
description below and if you have any of your own tips on
how to treat a migraine and what helps it
please leave a comment below too because i'd love to read it and i'm sure
everyone else watching this video would too
now usually in responding to comments we would now go on to the next comment but
i feel like this video is going to be so long and to be quite honest with you
i'm so tired now after this video i've just had to change the battery as well
so we're going gonna stop it there if i didn't get back to your comment if i
didn't get back to your question i'm really sorry leave another comment
and i will try my best to get back to you in a future episode of responding to
your comments always remember that you are awesome and
i will see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's
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