Treatment Options
Attack-Based Care: Timing
Have you ever woken up with a full-blown migraine attack? Sometimes I even dream that I am having a migraine, and then the pain gets so bad that it wakes me up and – voila! Sadly, it wasn’t a dream at all! Figuring out how to treat that monster, compared to treating an attack that you catch in the first few minutes, is a whole different animal. It’s a situation made more challenging by all the other symptoms that often go along with a full-blown attack such as vision impairment, dizziness, vertigo, vomiting, and more!
Read MoreAttack-Based Care and the Migraine Toolbox
Effective and comprehensive migraine treatment means individualized treatment planning, and there are no “one-size-fits-all” recipes. Having multiple treatment options in your migraine toolbox helps you better manage life with migraine, but figuring out how to treat each individual attack takes it one step further. That is where Attack-Based Care comes into the picture! As you are deciding how to treat your migraine attacks, there are a few questions you should ask yourself and your doctor. The answers you come up with, and the information in the coming blogs, will help support you with what you need to develop your attack-based care plan.
Read MoreThe Impact of Living with Chronic Migraine
Almost 40 million people in the United States are estimated to be living with migraine. Globally, that number amounts to 1 billion. When the condition is chronic, debilitating symptoms such as throbbing pain, speech changes, and nausea may manifest more often, which can have a devastating impact on a person’s daily life. This article will dive deeper into the effects of chronic migraine on different aspects of a person’s life and what patients can do to try and help mitigate the impact of this disease.
Read MoreManaging Acute Pain: Building a Migraine Comfort Plan
We’ve all had those moments. You’re going about your day when suddenly that all too familiar pain starts building as a migraine attack shows up, hell-bent on taking over. The anxiety and stress about what is to come creeps in. Often, the first step in controlling the pain is keeping calm, which is easier said than done! For times like these, it may be helpful to create a migraine comfort plan so you can be prepared and have everything you need close by in order to help you get through an attack.
Read MoreThe Migraine Treatment Toolbox: Medications
As we continue to look further into the Migraine Treatment Toolbox, today we focus on migraine medications. Finding the right medications can be a challenging and lengthy process that requires time and patience. Educating yourself on the options available and partnering with your doctor can help you find a successful treatment. Read more!
Read MoreThe Migraine Treatment Toolbox: Medical Devices
FIVE reasons to add an FDA-cleared medical device for migraine to your treatment toolbox! In a recent post, we walked through several questions to consider when building your migraine treatment toolbox. Today, we’ll take a deeper look at non-invasive medical devices for migraine. These can help block migraine pain or cluster attacks, and some even are FDA-cleared for preventive treatment to help stop attacks from starting. Currently, there are five FDA-cleared, devices for migraine available—CEFALY®, gammaCore Sapphire™, Nerivio®, Relivion®MG, and sTMS mini™.
Read MoreThe Migraine Toolbox
People with migraine often experience the most success managing their disease with a toolbox approach. This involves combining multiple different treatment options to create a well-rounded plan that can help you better manage life with migraine.
Read MoreLooking Back We’ve Come Farther Than You Think
Human nature all too often seems to be slanted towards seeing what is missing and the negative. We see what still needs to be done. We take note of what is lacking. We see the glass as half empty rather than half full. For some people, that is their general outlook on life. However, for…
Read MoreWhat’s In Your Toolbox? Migraine Friendly Products
With an often overwhelming array of “products” that either claim to help migraine or make life more manageable, it can be hard to know where to start. In fact, it’s easy to throw our hands up and say, “This is simply too much” and end up relying only on pharmaceutical options. However, with a disease…
Read MoreWhat’s In Your Toolbox? Migraine and Cannabinoids
It is interesting that with the rise in migraine research and FDA approval of multiple new treatments, there is a corresponding rise in interest in alternative treatments. Possibly seen most clearly in the area of cannabinoids, there is a growing awareness of the need for options that work but which also have few or no…
Read MoreCGRP Inhibitors and Realistic Expectations
I’ve never quite understood the fatal attraction of rollercoasters! As the mother of three boys, I spent the better part of two decades trying in any way that I could to avoid getting on one of those beautifully gut-wrenching, twisting, heart-stopping monsters! Somehow, it seems to me that trying to manage migraine isn’t so very different. There are ups and downs, twists and turns, some incredible views, but a lot of groaning and longing for the “monster” to end.
Never was this more obvious than with the emergence of the new CGRP inhibitor medications in 2018: Aimovig, Ajovy and Emgality.
Read MoreIs the Nerivio For Me?
Is the Nerivio device by Theranica really helpful for migraine? So far, it’s looking hopeful for me but the jury is still out.
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