Table of contents:
- Types of migraine headaches that cause vertigo
- Vestibular migraine
- Migraine with brainstem aura
- What are the symptoms of migraine headaches that can cause vertigo?
- How to deal with migraine headaches that cause vertigo
- 1. Taking drugs
- 2. Changing lifestyles
Migraine headaches are often associated with vertigo headaches. Indeed, the two of them can influence each other. But, is it true that migraine headaches can cause vertigo? Check out the following explanation.
Types of migraine headaches that cause vertigo
Migraine headaches are not just moderate or severe headaches, however, they are also a nervous system disorder. Migraine headaches consist of various types, some of which have symptoms of vertigo. Meanwhile, what is meant by vertigo is a group of symptoms that give a sensation as if the environment around you is spinning or moving.
Here are some types of migraine headaches that can cause vertigo.
Vestibular migraine
Usually, migraine headaches that can cause vertigo are referred to asvestibular migraine.One of these types of migraine headaches usually occurs when there is a disruption of the vestibular system, so that you continue to be affected over and over again. This means that when the migraines you experience often last for hours, your vestibular system has the potential to experience problems.
The vestibular system itself is a system that is in the ear and inner brain. This system regulates your balance and helps you understand the environment and space you are in. When this system is disturbed, you may feel vertigo, imbalance, or headaches. Generally, this condition occurs as a result of the movement you are making.
Migraine with brainstem aura
This type of migraine headache also has the potential to cause vertigo.Migraine with brainstem aura is a migraine headache that has aura symptoms, either before or when the headache strikes. This pain usually originates from the base of the brain or both sides of the brain at the same time.
When you experience a migraine accompanied by an aura, then you have a higher risk of experiencing dizziness and vertigo. What you may feel is as if your head is floating and the room you are in is spinning. These symptoms can appear before or together with the headache that hit.
In fact, when you experience this migraine, you may not feel pain in your head but feel vertigo. It is possible that if this happens, the vertigo symptoms of this migraine can last for days.
This vertigo symptom is also closely related to the condition of your inner ear. In fact, if you experience migraines accompanied by vertigo symptoms, you may also experience hearing loss such as more sensitivity to sounds and ringing in your ears.
What are the symptoms of migraine headaches that can cause vertigo?
Generally, if you experience frequent migraine headaches, new vertigo symptoms will appear when you enter the age of 40 years and over. However, it does not rule out that vertigo can also be experienced before that age. In fact, children may also experience this condition.
However, there are several other features of headaches that have the potential to cause vertigo, such as:
- Have had vertigo at least five times before, in which the vertigo caused you to feel like you were spinning. However, vertigo doesn't cause nausea-like feelings or the body feels like fainting.
- Headache conditions or migraine symptoms that you experience can last anywhere from five minutes to 72 hours.
- Symptoms are often moderate to severe. This means that you have trouble carrying out your normal daily activities. In fact, you may not even be able to do it at all.
- Symptoms of vertigo that you may experience are also accompanied by other symptoms of migraine, such as pain only on one side, throbbing feeling, getting worse with activity, becoming more sensitive to light or sound, or seeing flashes of light or aura.
- The neck hurts.
- Discomfort when turning over, bending over, or looking up.
- There is pressure on the head or ears.
- Ears seem to hear a ringing sound.
- The vision is lost partially or completely temporarily.
How to deal with migraine headaches that cause vertigo
If you want to treat vertigo, you also have to tackle the root of the problem, which is the migraine headaches you are experiencing. There are several ways that you might be able to help you deal with the migraine headaches that cause the vertigo you are feeling.
1. Taking drugs
One way to treat migraines as a cause of vertigo is to use pain medication. Usually, if your migraine headaches are severe, your doctor will prescribe you certain medications. Medicines that you can use under a doctor's prescription are triptans, such as sumatriptan. This medication is usually used to stop or relieve migraines.
However, there are also drugs that can be used as a form of prevention. For example, antidepressant drugs such as amitriptyline. There are also drugs that are usually used to treat seizures such as topiramate. You can also prevent migraine headaches that cause vertigo by using drugs used to treat high blood pressure such as verapamil.
In addition, to overcome headaches overcoming vestibular migraine as the cause of vertigo, other types of drugs can be used. Medicines that you can consume, namely vestibular supressant which can relieve headaches and sensitivity to movement or displacement. This medication will work on the balance center located in your inner ear.
2. Changing lifestyles
Overcoming migraine headaches that can cause vertigo can also be done by changing a healthier lifestyle. The reason is, there are several habits from your lifestyle that might potentially increase the risk of migraines. Therefore, it would be nice if you adopt a healthy lifestyle such as:
- Avoid eating foods that can trigger migraine headaches, such as chocolate, nuts, orred wine.
- Stop smoking.
- Avoid activities that increase stress.
- Exercise regularly.
- Pay attention to diet patterns and menus.
- Sleep on time.
However, if the migraine headaches you experience still don't go away and are even accompanied by vertigo, you should immediately consult with your doctor to find out how to treat your condition properly. In addition, you can also consult your doctor about what lifestyle changes you need to prevent migraine headaches from recurring.