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Long lasting migraine headaches. Status Migrainosus: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention of Long-Lasting Migraines

What are the symptoms of status migrainosus. How is this severe form of migraine treated. What preventive measures can be taken against prolonged migraine attacks. Discover comprehensive insights into managing this debilitating condition.

Understanding Status Migrainosus: A Prolonged Migraine Experience

Status migrainosus is a severe and persistent form of migraine that lasts for more than 72 hours. This condition can be incredibly debilitating, significantly impacting a person’s quality of life. Unlike typical migraines, which usually resolve within a few hours to a few days, status migrainosus persists, often requiring specialized medical intervention.

Status migrainosus can develop from a regular migraine attack under certain circumstances:

  • Delayed or inadequate treatment of the initial migraine
  • Ineffective treatment methods
  • Overuse of headache medications

Recognizing the Symptoms of Status Migrainosus

The symptoms of status migrainosus are similar to those of a typical migraine but may be more intense and prolonged. Key indicators include:

  • Persistent headache lasting over 72 hours
  • Visual disturbances or aura
  • Severe nausea and vomiting
  • Cognitive difficulties
  • Heightened sensitivity to light and sound

Can status migrainosus lead to other health complications? Due to its extended duration, this condition can result in dehydration and sleep deprivation, particularly if accompanied by prolonged vomiting and severe pain.

Effective Treatment Strategies for Status Migrainosus

Managing status migrainosus often requires a multifaceted approach, addressing both the migraine itself and its associated complications. Treatment typically involves:

Intravenous Therapies

Intravenous (IV) treatments are often necessary to combat dehydration and deliver pain relief medications more effectively. Common IV treatments include:

  • Fluid replacement to address dehydration
  • Pain management medications
  • Anti-emetic drugs to control nausea and vomiting

Specialized Migraine Medications

Certain medications are particularly effective in halting status migrainosus:

  • Dihydroergotamine (DHE-45, Migranal)
  • Sumatriptan (Imitrex, Onzetra, Sumavel DosePro, Zecuity)
  • Valproate

How are these medications administered? They can be given as nasal sprays, injections, pills, or skin patches, depending on the specific drug and the patient’s condition.

Corticosteroids

Corticosteroids such as dexamethasone and prednisolone may be used to alleviate symptoms of status migrainosus. These medications can help reduce inflammation and provide relief from persistent pain.

Preventive Measures for Recurring Migraines

For individuals experiencing frequent migraine attacks or those at risk of developing status migrainosus, preventive strategies are crucial. These may include:

Preventive Medications

Several classes of medications can be used prophylactically to reduce the frequency and severity of migraines:

  • Seizure medications
  • Blood pressure medications (beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers)
  • Certain antidepressants
  • CGRP inhibitors

Botox Injections

Botulinum toxin (Botox) injections have been FDA-approved for the prevention of chronic migraines. These injections can help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks in eligible patients.

Natural Supplements

Some natural supplements, such as magnesium, have shown promise in migraine prevention. However, more research is needed to establish their efficacy conclusively.

Innovative Devices for Migraine Management

Several innovative devices have been developed to help manage and prevent migraines:

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Devices like SpringTMS or eNeura sTMS use transcranial magnetic stimulation to disrupt abnormal electrical activity in the brain associated with migraines. How does TMS work? The device is placed on the back of the head for about a minute, releasing a pulse of magnetic energy to alleviate migraine symptoms.

Transcutaneous Supraorbital Nerve Stimulation

The Cefaly device uses transcutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation. It is worn as a band on the forehead and activated daily for 20 minutes to help prevent migraine development.

Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation

GammaCore is a noninvasive vagus nerve stimulator that delivers mild electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve in the neck, aiming to relieve migraine pain.

The Impact of Status Migrainosus on Daily Life

Status migrainosus can have a profound impact on an individual’s quality of life. The prolonged nature of the symptoms can lead to:

  • Extended periods of missed work or school
  • Social isolation due to inability to participate in activities
  • Increased risk of anxiety and depression
  • Financial strain from medical expenses and lost productivity

How can individuals cope with the challenges of status migrainosus? Developing a support network, including family, friends, and healthcare providers, is crucial. Additionally, learning stress management techniques and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help in managing the condition.

Emerging Research and Future Treatments

The field of migraine research is constantly evolving, with new treatments and management strategies emerging. Some areas of ongoing research include:

Genetic Studies

Researchers are investigating the genetic factors that may predispose individuals to migraines and status migrainosus. This research could lead to more personalized treatment approaches in the future.

Neuromodulation Techniques

Advanced neuromodulation techniques are being explored as potential treatments for intractable migraines. These may include more sophisticated forms of nerve stimulation or brain stimulation technologies.

Novel Pharmacological Approaches

New classes of drugs are being developed that target specific pathways involved in migraine pathophysiology. These may offer more effective and targeted treatments for status migrainosus and other severe migraine types.

What role does patient involvement play in advancing migraine research? Active participation in clinical trials and sharing experiences with healthcare providers can contribute significantly to the development of new treatments and management strategies.

Lifestyle Modifications to Support Migraine Management

While medical treatments are often necessary for managing status migrainosus, lifestyle modifications can play a crucial role in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Some key strategies include:

Stress Management

Stress is a common trigger for migraines. Implementing effective stress management techniques can help reduce the risk of migraine attacks:

  • Regular exercise
  • Mindfulness and meditation practices
  • Adequate sleep hygiene
  • Time management and prioritization skills

Dietary Considerations

Certain foods and dietary habits can trigger migraines in some individuals. Keeping a food diary and identifying personal triggers can be helpful. Common dietary considerations include:

  • Avoiding known trigger foods (e.g., aged cheeses, processed meats, alcohol)
  • Maintaining regular meal times to prevent low blood sugar
  • Staying hydrated
  • Limiting caffeine intake

Environmental Factors

Managing environmental triggers can also play a role in preventing migraine attacks:

  • Using blue light filters on electronic devices
  • Maintaining consistent sleep patterns
  • Avoiding strong odors or perfumes
  • Using sunglasses to reduce bright light exposure

How can individuals identify their personal migraine triggers? Keeping a detailed migraine diary that includes information about diet, sleep, stress levels, and environmental factors can help pinpoint specific triggers and patterns.

The Importance of a Comprehensive Treatment Plan

Managing status migrainosus effectively often requires a multidisciplinary approach. A comprehensive treatment plan may include:

Regular Follow-ups with Healthcare Providers

Consistent communication with healthcare providers is crucial for managing status migrainosus. This allows for timely adjustments to treatment plans and early intervention when symptoms worsen.

Combination Therapies

Many patients benefit from a combination of treatments, which may include:

  • Preventive medications
  • Acute pain relief strategies
  • Non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., acupuncture, biofeedback)
  • Lifestyle modifications

Patient Education and Self-Management

Empowering patients with knowledge about their condition and self-management strategies is essential. This may include:

  • Understanding the early warning signs of a migraine attack
  • Learning proper medication use and timing
  • Developing coping strategies for pain and associated symptoms
  • Participating in support groups or educational programs

Why is patient involvement crucial in managing status migrainosus? Active participation in treatment decisions and self-management can lead to better outcomes and improved quality of life for individuals living with this challenging condition.

The Role of Support Systems in Managing Status Migrainosus

Living with status migrainosus can be challenging, and a strong support system is invaluable. Key aspects of a supportive environment include:

Family and Friend Support

Education and understanding from family and friends can significantly impact a person’s ability to cope with status migrainosus. This may involve:

  • Learning about the condition and its impact
  • Providing practical assistance during severe episodes
  • Offering emotional support and understanding

Workplace Accommodations

For many individuals with status migrainosus, workplace accommodations can be crucial. These might include:

  • Flexible work schedules
  • Adjustments to lighting or noise levels
  • Options for remote work during severe episodes

Support Groups and Online Communities

Connecting with others who experience similar challenges can provide valuable emotional support and practical advice. Support groups and online communities offer:

  • Shared experiences and coping strategies
  • Information about new treatments and research
  • A sense of community and understanding

How can individuals build and maintain a strong support system? Open communication about needs and limitations, educating others about the condition, and actively seeking out supportive resources are key steps in creating a robust support network.

Status Migrainosus: Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention

Written by Eric Metcalf, MPH

  • Status Migrainosus Symptoms
  • Status Migrainosus Treatment
  • Status Migrainosus Prevention

Migraines are a type of headache that tend to cause other symptoms, too, such as nausea and vision problems. They can last for a few hours to a few days. But a migraine that lasts for more than 72 hours is called status migrainosus.

A typical migraine can sometimes turn into status migrainosus if:

  • You don’t get treatment early enough after the attack starts.
  • You don’t get the right treatment.
  • You use too much headache medicine.

The warning signs of status migrainosus are similar to those of a typical migraine. Along with pain in your head, you might also feel:

  • Sensation of sparkling lights or other vision changes (aura)
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Trouble thinking clearly

Because the condition lasts for at least 3 days, you’re also at risk for dehydration and sleep loss because of prolonged vomiting and pain.

If you need to seek urgent treatment for status migrainosus, doctors may need to treat other problems the migraine causes as well as the migraine itself. Doctors treat dehydration by giving you fluids through an IV. They may give you drugs through an IV to control pain, as well as medications for other symptoms.

Drugs that stop vomiting include:

  • Chlorpromazine
  • Metoclopramide (Metozolv, Reglan)
  • Prochlorperazine (Compro, Procomp)

A common medicine for halting status migrainosus is dihydroergotamine (DHE-45, Migranal). You can take it as a nasal spray or through a shot. Another drug, sumatriptan (Imitrex, Onzetra, Sumavel DosePro, Zecuity), comes as a shot, nasal spray, pill, or skin patch. Valproate, given by vein, can also be used.

People with certain medical problems should avoid these medicines though.

The corticosteroids dexamethasone (Dexamethasone Intensol, Dexpak) and prednisolone can also relieve status migrainosus.

If you don’t respond to other treatments and you have 4 or more migraine days a month, your doctor may suggest preventive medicines. You take these regularly to make the headaches less frequent or less severe. These include seizure medicines, blood pressure medicines (like beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers), and some antidepressants. CGRP inhibitors are a new class of preventive medicine that your doctor may recommend if other medicines don’t help.

Botox, though better known as a treatment for wrinkles, has also been approved by the FDA to prevent recurring migraines. Natural options such as magnesium may work, but we need more research to know which of these treatments are effective.

There are a couple of devices designed to interrupt abnormal electrical activity in the brain associated with migraine. A device called SpringTMS or eNeura sTMS uses a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Place it on the back of your head for about a minute, and it releases a pulse of magnetic energy. Similarly, Cefaly uses transcutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation and is worn as a band on the forehead and turned on daily for 20 minutes to prevent migraine from developing. There is also a noninvasive vagus nerve stimulator called gammaCore. When placed over the vagus nerve in the neck, it releases mild electrical stimulation to the nerve’s fibers to relieve pain. 

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Status migrainosus: Symptoms and treatment

Status migrainosus is a type of intractable migraine. It is a migraine attack that lasts longer than 72 hours. The symptoms may be more severe than in other types of migraine.

A person’s usual migraine treatments may not relieve status migrainosus. But a number of options are available to help manage it.

The episodes can interfere with everyday life and become debilitating. To break the cycle of symptoms, a person may need treatment in a hospital.

In this article, we look at what causes status migrainosus, how it differs from other types of migraine, and what can relieve symptoms.

Share on PinterestThe symptoms of status migrainosus last longer than those of a typical migraine episode.

Status migrainosus is a severe migraine episode lasting more than 72 hours. A person may experience the same symptoms that characterize their typical migraine episodes, but the symptoms may be more intense.

The main feature of status migrainosus is that the headache and other symptoms are long-lasting. The usual ways of managing symptoms, including rest and medication, often do not work, and hospital treatment may be necessary.

Most migraine episodes follow a distinct pattern. This may begin with a warning period, which may feature visual disturbances or other types of aura.

Next, during the attack phase of a migraine episode, a person may experience a headache and:

  • nausea and possibly vomiting
  • fatigue
  • sensitivity to light and noise

As these symptoms start to fade, the person may experience a migraine “hangover,” which can last hours or even days.

The sequence of symptoms can help a person distinguish a migraine episode from other types of headache.

In status migrainosus, the headache phase lasts longer than usual — at least 72 hours, or 3 days.

For some people, the pain and nausea of status migrainosus are so debilitating that they have to spend time in a hospital.

The symptoms are similar to those of other types of migraine, but they last longer and can be more severe.

Also, migraine symptoms can vary from person to person and episode to episode, but they often appear as follows:

Prodrome phase

A person may experience mood changes, food cravings, nausea, difficulty sleeping, trouble concentrating, sensitivity to light and sound, and other issues. These may last a few hours to several days.

Aura

If a person experiences this phase, they may have vision changes — lights or unusual formations may form in the field of vision. A person may also experience numbness and tingling on one side of the body.

This phase may last from 5 minutes to 1 hour.

Headache phase

The headache may be intense and throbbing. It is often on one side of the head but may spread to the other.

For a diagnosis of status migrainosus, the migraine must include:

  • a headache that lasts longer than 72 hours
  • pain that is debilitating, rather than just troublesome

A person with status migrainosus may also experience:

Changes in consciousness: These may involve difficulty concentrating and communicating, confusion, and sleepiness.

Nausea and vomiting: A person may be unable to take in food or drink, increasing the risk of dehydration and additional symptoms.

Other symptoms: These may include weakness and tingling, nasal congestion, pain and stiffness in the neck, anxiety, and low mood.

The pain may temporarily improve with medication, rest, or both.

There is no definitive test for migraine. Regardless of whether a person sees a doctor during or after an episode, the doctor may:

  • ask about symptoms
  • take a medical history
  • perform a physical examination
  • do other tests to rule out, for example, a stroke or brain injury

Status migrainosus only occurs in people who have migraine.

To help decide whether a person has status migrainosus, a doctor may consider whether the person’s medical history includes:

  • at least five previous migraine episodes that each lasted 4–72 hours and occurred without an aura
  • two previous episodes of migraine with an aura

They may also test neurological performance or request an MRI to rule out other issues.

No treatment can cure migraine, but medications can shorten the duration of status migrainosus symptoms.

Standard treatments focus on relieving pain, nausea, and other symptoms. Options include:

  • oral medications
  • nasal sprays
  • intravenous fluids and medications

Dehydration can be a trigger for migraine and worsen symptoms, so it is important to prevent vomiting.

In an emergency setting, a doctor may use specialist drugs to help break the cycle of symptoms. These treatments can include:

  • triptans, which tighten the blood vessels
  • anti-seizure medication
  • antihistamines
  • steroids
  • muscle relaxants
  • antipsychotics
  • in rare cases, opioids

If the person is vomiting, the doctor can inject these medications.

There are ways to prevent migraine episodes and status migrainosus. There are also ways to reduce the frequency or severity of episodes.

Options include:

  • antihypertensive drugs
  • antidepressants
  • anti-seizure drugs
  • Botox injections
  • calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP, pathway monoclonal antibodies

Some nondrug options may also help, including acupuncture, biofeedback, and relaxation techniques.

Living with migraine can be difficult, especially for people who are prone to status migrainosus.

Beyond the immediate symptoms, migraine can have long-term social, financial, and psychological effects.

Anxiety about an episode occurring, frustration about unfulfilled plans, and a range of other challenges can make life with migraine difficult.

Support groups may help. They also provide opportunities to share and learn new ways of managing symptoms. One example is the American Migraine Foundation’s Move Against Migraine online community.

Counseling may also help a person manage the effects of pain and anxiety that can accompany a chronic medical condition.

Find more tips for coping with migraine here.

Avoiding triggers

Many people with migraine notice that specific factors can trigger episodes.

A person can learn to identify their triggers by keeping track of what occurred in the lead-up to a migraine episode, including dietary, emotional, and environmental factors. The next step is to find ways to reduce exposure to these triggers.

Common triggers of status migrainosus include:

  • hormonal imbalances
  • stress
  • changes in medication, such as antidepressants or birth control pills
  • injuries to the neck or head
  • changes in sleeping or eating patterns
  • weather changes
  • infections, such as a cold or the flu
  • surgery on the head or face

Remaining hydrated and getting enough rest may help reduce the frequency of episodes. People should aim to drink at least 60–80 ounces of water per day.

Can changes to the diet help prevent migraine? Find out here.

Status migrainosus can be frightening and painful. Understanding what causes these episodes and taking steps to avoid triggers can help ease any anxiety and prevent the issue from returning.

Also, a specialized treatment plan may help prevent episodes or reduce their severity.

After experiencing status migrainosus, a person may wish to consider seeing a neurologist who specializes in migraine for further assessment and advice.

HEADACHE – Hadassah Medical Moscow

Traditional migraine therapy consists of behavioral therapy, relief of an already developed attack and preventive treatment aimed at preventing attacks. Behavioral therapy, a necessary step in effective patient management, is carried out during a conversation with the patient and includes: explaining the benign nature of migraine, dissuading the presence of an organic disease, discussing the role of attack triggers and the need to avoid them, risk factors for migraine chronicity (taking a large number of painkillers, stress , psycho-emotional states), as well as the rationale for treatment tactics (mechanisms of action of prescribed drugs).

Treatment of a migraine attack is prescribed depending on its intensity and the degree of maladaptation of the patient. With infrequent attacks of mild or moderate intensity, simple or combined analgesics are indicated; with severe nausea and vomiting – antiemetics. With a high intensity of pain and significant maladaptation, triptans are prescribed.

New drug groups have been approved worldwide for the treatment of migraine attacks. This, in turn, enables doctors to treat their patients more effectively, and for patients to reduce the number of days with a headache, improve quality of life, sleep, mood and performance.

Lasmiditan is a selective serotonin 1F receptor agonist that does not have vasoconstrictive activity. The role of lasmiditan in clinical practice has not yet been determined, but it is probably best suited for patients with relative contraindications to triptans due to cardiovascular risk factors.

In October 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lasmiditan oral tablets for the treatment of acute migraine in adults. The drug is currently not registered in the Russian Federation.

CGRP antagonists ( Rimegepant and Ubrogepant) Monoclonal antibodies directed against the CGRP receptor or ligand. These are oral options available for the acute treatment of migraine in patients with insufficient response or contraindications (eg coronary artery disease) to triptan treatment.

Ubrogepant received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of acute migraine in adults in December 2019year, and rimegepant received a similar FDA approval in February 2020. This group of drugs is not registered in the territory of the Russian Federation.

prophylactic therapy is aimed at reducing the frequency, duration, intensity of attacks, the number of doses of painkillers and improving the quality of life of patients.

The main indications for course treatment: the frequency of days with GB > 4 per month, the lack of effectiveness of drugs for the relief of migraine attacks, the presence of risk factors for migraine chronicity (abuses, depression), prolonged aura (> 60 min). The duration of the course of treatment is from 3 to 12 months (an average of 4-6 months for episodic, 8-12 months for chronic migraine), then an attempt is made to gradually withdraw the drug (s) or reduce their dosage.

CGRP antagonists is a human monoclonal antibody that binds to and inhibits the calcitonin gene-related receptor (CGRP) CGRP and is a therapeutic target in migraine due to its putative role in mediating the transmission of trigeminovascular pain and the vasodilatory component of neurogenic inflammation 9 0003

Large molecules in the form of monoclonal antibodies directed against the CGRP receptor or ligand are given by injection to prevent migraine. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the CGRP antagonist monoclonal antibodies erenumab, fremanezumab, and galcanezumab in 2018 and eptinezumab in 2020 for the preventive treatment of migraine. In 2020, two drugs (erenumab, fremanezumab) were registered in the Russian Federation.

“The disease of the great”: how to cope with migraine and other types of headaches

Posted on Wed, 03/04/2020 – 17:03 by nproekt

Migraine is called the “disease of great people”, because it is known for certain that military leaders Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, writers Lewis Carroll, Guy de Maupassant, and Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, naturalist, suffered from migraine attacks Charles Darwin, philosopher Sigmund Freud, physicist Alfred Nobel and many other great people.

In general, headache is one of the most common ailments that torments people to one degree or another and to which we often do not pay due attention. Lyubov Tkachenko, a neurologist of the Diagnostic Center, tells about the types and consequences of headaches, and most importantly, about prevention and treatment:

– What types of headaches are encountered?

– All types of headaches are divided into two main groups: primary headaches, when it is not possible to identify the organic cause of the pain, and secondary, that is, those that have an anatomical or physiological cause. The frequency of secondary (symptomatic) forms is only 2-5%. Secondary headaches are associated with head and / or neck trauma, with vascular lesions of the skull and cervical spine, non-vascular intracranial lesions associated with a reaction to various drugs or their withdrawal, infections, homeostasis disorders. Headaches and facial pains can also be caused by damage to the structures of the skull, neck, eyes, ears, nasal cavity, sinuses, teeth, mouth or other structures of the skull and face, as well as mental illness. Most often, of course, we are dealing with primary headaches, among which the most common types are tension headaches and migraines.

– If a person has a headache, how to determine the type of headache?

– Tension headache is the most common form of headache for which patients turn to neurologists and general practitioners. It has a characteristic clinical picture – it is bilateral, compressing or pressing non-pulsating in nature, often in the form of a “hoop” or “helmet”, many patients describe the pain as “girdle around the temples”. The pain may appear shortly after waking up and is present throughout the day, sometimes intensifying, sometimes weakening. Often the attack begins in the afternoon after hard work or stress.

– One of the most common types of headache is migraine. Tell me, is this a congenital or acquired form of headache? Are there cases of heredity?

– It must be said that migraine is a disease of young people. Most often migraine occurs in people 35-40 years old. The role of heredity in the origin of migraine has long been of concern to researchers. Very often, migraine occurs in several generations of the next of kin. If both parents had migraine attacks, then the risk of the disease in children is 60-90%. If only the mother suffers from migraine, then the risk of morbidity is 72%, if only the father is 20%. Today it is clear that migraine can develop as a result of a genetic defect, but its role has not yet been clearly defined.

– Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov described a classic migraine attack on the example of Pontius Pilate in the novel “The Master and Margarita” and did it brilliantly: at the same time, he was well aware of the futility of such a procedure. It was impossible to move or shake your head, and you had to sit still, assuming a position in which the throbbing pain did not bother so much. It was difficult to speak, almost without moving my lips.

– There is a version that the writer Mikhail Bulgakov also suffered from migraine attacks and therefore “rewarded” his literary hero with this particular disease, since he himself knew the exact description of the attacks. The great Russian writer very accurately described the classic migraine attack. Migraine is, as a rule, very pronounced in intensity, one-sided throbbing headache, which is accompanied by a feeling of pressure on the eye, nausea, vomiting, photo and sound fear, a person wants to lie down, close in a dark room.

Sleepiness is common in children and young patients, and the headache often disappears after sleep. Migraine pain is aggravated by normal physical activity, such as walking or climbing stairs. In 10-15% of cases, the attack is preceded by a migraine aura – a complex of neurological symptoms that occur immediately before or at the beginning of a migraine headache. The most common visual or “classic” aura is manifested by various visual phenomena: flies, flashes of light, one-sided loss of the visual field, a flickering spot or a zigzag luminous line. There is an olfactory aura, when a person feels a certain smell, and then a migraine attack occurs. There is also an auditory aura, for example, a person hears a sound or a certain melody and this is followed by a migraine attack.

– Are there effective ways in the XXI century to cope with migraine?

– Today you know how to stop a migraine attack with the help of special drugs, and there are also several really working drug methods for migraine prevention. About 40% of migraine patients need preventive treatment, which is selected individually for each person. Among these methods, botulinum therapy is popular. A special substance – botulinum toxin, widely used in cosmetology, is injected into the muscles that spasm during a migraine attack, the muscles relax for a period of up to several months, and we achieve a decrease in the frequency of migraine attacks and their intensity.

– What external factors provoke headaches?

– Most often, migraine attacks are triggered by emotional stress, weather changes, hunger, lack of sleep or excessive sleep, certain foods (chocolate, citrus fruits, bananas, fatty cheeses) and alcohol (red wine, beer, champagne). Tension headaches are provoked by prolonged static stress, emotional experiences, sleep disturbance.

– People are used to dealing with headaches on their own in everyday life. Are there situations, signals of real danger, in which you need to urgently call a doctor or an ambulance?

– There are a number of symptoms in which you should immediately consult a doctor or call an ambulance, these include:

  • thunderous headache (intense, with an “explosive” or sudden onset) is characteristic of a subarachnoid hemorrhage;
  • increasing headache, worsening for several weeks or more;
  • sudden onset of a new, unusual headache for the patient;
  • the presence of changes in the sphere of consciousness (drowsiness, confusion or loss of memory) or mental disorders;
  • presence of focal neurological signs or symptoms of systemic disease (fever, arthralgia, myalgia)

– How to avoid a headache? Are there any preventive measures?

– Tension headache can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle, doing sports, exercise therapy, strengthening the muscles that hold the spinal column, getting enough sleep.