more about migraines

Did you know that approximately ten percent of the population suffers from migraines? It's not the same for everyone, obviously, with some patients having it far worse than others. I have read about some people who go through daily migraines, although that's a strange way of describing it too, because migraines don't last only a few hours with most people. They usually last anything from 3-4 hours to several days and there are records of migraines that have lasted for a week and longer even! My heart goes out to those of you who suffer from several migraines a week, essentially being affected by this disorder at all times. That is truly a disability. I am sure that such people would find it extremely difficult to hold a job or carry on a relationship, and that's sad. These are the people that truly need to try every treatment there is out there to combat their condition.

Fortunately, these cases are relatively rare, so it seems. Most people have a lesser frequency to their episodes. I have read that the average frequency of episodes is 1.5 a month. In other words, once every three weeks or so. That is pretty much what I am going through myself, albeit a bit less these days then what they used to be several years ago. The length of the episode plays a role, obviously, in determining how long a person is unavailable for participation in everyday life. The official migraine definition talks about episodes which lasts 4-72 hours each. You can do the math here for yourself.

Of course, determining how long an episode lasts really depends on which stages you're counting in. With many patients the early signs can last for a quite a while, even a day or two, and include things like mood changes and overall irritability. Then you have the actual bout of an active migraine, with or without an aura, which I think is what they count there in the 4-72 hours period. For me, and apparently for many other sufferers, there is then the cool-down phase after the episode. While there is no actual pain usually, there is an overall sense of disorientation in various degrees and other neurological symptoms are still apparent.