Archive for October, 2007

Love and Hate Chocolate

Published on October 28, 2007 in Diet and Triggers. 5 Comments

Ah chocolate! Nearly every living person loves chocolate. I think were safe in the assumption that those who do not are in a negligible minority for sure. If you consult a dictionary, it will describe chocolate something like this:

“a food preparation in the form of a paste or solid block made from roasted and ground cacao seeds, typically sweetened”

I identified it as a primary trigger.

Vat of Chocolate Chocolate City Big Hershey’s Kiss

Sudden and Horrific

Published on October 24, 2007 in Migraine Attacks. 0 Comments

The aura went almost unnoticed as I traveled home from Wichita. It had been a couple of weeks since my last migraine attack, a record for me in recent years. After a few strange flashes of light and noises I recognized it as a warning of intolerable pain. Within minutes I had been overwhelmed with pain, dizziness and nausea. All I had with me was Maximum Strength Excedrin which is only effective for the most minor of migraines. In an effort to beat the pain I went ahead and took four. It was not fast enough, the rise from nearly unnoticeable to completely unbearable took all of ten minutes.

The triggers are still unknown to me, I had not done anything out of he ordinary other than the short two day trip to Wichita. My diet had not changed and my sleep schedule was only slightly modified, neither had been a factor before.

Aura

Published on October 1, 2007 in Neurology, Symptoms and Terms. 4 Comments

An aura is the perceptual disturbance experienced by some migraine sufferers before a migraine headache, and the telltale sensation experienced by some people with epilepsy before a seizure. It often manifests as the perception of a strange light or an unpleasant smell.

An aura does not necessitate the onset of either a migraine or a seizure and not everyone who suffers from migraines or seizures will experience auras. Though auras tend to be an unpleasant and irritating sensation, they can be beneficial. Most injuries from seizures occur when there is no warning. Auras allow epileptics time to prevent injury to themselves. The time between the appearance of the aura and the onset of a migraine or seizure can be anything from a few seconds up to an hour.

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