Healthwisery

Could depression be a cause of a migraine or is it the case that suffering from migraines is the cause of depression? People who suffer from migraine headaches are five times more likely to develop clinical depression than those who do not. On the other hand those who suffer from depression are three times more likely to become migraine sufferers.

This intertwining of depression and migraine is viewed by many scientists as a chicken and egg situation. Which came first? The two are obviously co-morbid but does one really cause the other and if so which one? There is no simple answer. Migraine, depression and not surprisingly insomnia, which is associated with both these conditions, have in common that they are all associated with neurotransmitter, or serotonin, deficiencies in the brain.

Depression and migraine headaches are thought by doctors to be related even though they both have clear causes with related neurobiology. For many years doctors thought the resultant loss of quality of life experienced by migraine sufferers was a result of depression brought on by the debilitating effect of the headaches. The link now between the two is thought to be a shared biological mechanism as opposed to psychological. Continue reading ‘Cause of a Migraine – Migraines and Depression’ »

Irrespective of the cause of a migraine many of those who are affected find caffeine helps to relieve their pain. The only problem is there are just as many who find the opposite happens and caffeine actually triggers their headaches. So the relationship between caffeine and migraines is not particularly straight forward.

The problem of caffeine is even more difficult for those who discover their daily fix of caffeine is the trigger that starts their headaches off. Withdrawal headaches are often experienced by regular caffeine drinkers when they cut back in an effort to curtail their headaches. And if they are already prone to getting headaches the headache they experience when they stop the caffeine intake is likely to be a humdinger. Ideally therefore you should reduce your caffeine intake on a gradual and measured basis so that you do not shock your body into withdrawal.

You will find that many of the specialised migraine pain relievers contain caffeine. Caffeine exerts a vasoconstrictive action which helps to relieve the pain of a migraine. When suffering a migraine the blood vessels in your head dilate for some uncertain reason. This then stretches the nerves that are wrapped around the blood vessels causing inflammation and pain. Caffeine, as a vasoconstrictor, attempts to bring the size of the blood vessels back towards their regular size which then helps to reduce the pain. Caffeine also acts as a supplement to the main analgesic and helps to boost its performance helping it to fight your migraine pain far more effectively than if there was no caffeine present at all. Continue reading ‘Cause of a Migraine – Migraines and Caffeine’ »