BODY SIGNAL ALERT: HEADACHE WITH SENSITIVITY TO LIGHT, NAUSEA, AND VOMITING
Description and Possible Medical Problems
If you have a headache, feel nauseous, and are vomiting and your eyes are sensitive to light, you should see your doctor. Headaches with these three additional symptoms fall into migraine territory, and at times the pain can be quite severe, almost incapacitating.
In some people, migraines make their first appearance in childhood. For others, often women in their 30s, migraines make their debut in midlife and continue for ten years or more, usually disappearing at the onset of menopause.
If you think you have a migraine headache, you need to be evaluated by your doctor. He will take your medical history, do a physical exam, and run some lab tests, including a blood test. He might also order a GAT scan to rule out the possibility of a brain tumor, but in my experience I’ve found that most worry about tumors of the brain is needless, since they are so rare.
The first step in treating migraines is to eliminate certain foods that may be causing the headaches, commonly cheese, chocolate, and dairy products. Over-the-counter medications for pain work well for some
people, but others will need to use a strong prescription medication such as Fiorinal three or four times a day from the time the migraine starts until it clears up. Antidepressant medications such as Elavil and beta-blockers such as Inderal have also been used with some success to treat migraines, as has biofeedback.
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