Migraine prevention is one of the most important aspects of successfully managing migraines. With migraine prevention, you effectively nip migraine headaches in the bud without having to rely on prescription headache drugs, many of which don’t provide any real relief, and instead contribute to chemical dependency.
If it seems like you spend half your time trying to prevent or get rid of migraines, then your migraine headaches are chronic. For optimum health, migraine prevention is crucial. Migraine painkillers were not meant to be taken every day, as they can have a toxic effect on your body, while doing nothing to prevent migraines. Over time, analgesics and opiates build up in your body, causing harmful side effects life fatigue, brain fog (disorientation), memory loss, hypertension, and rebound headaches. To prevent toxicity from painkiller overuse, incorporate migraine prevention tactics that involve specific migraine preventive medications, diet, exercise, and natural supplements into your daily schedule.
Successful migraine prevention includes a variety of medications and lifestyle changes, tailored to meet your special needs. With your doctor’s help, you can create a migraine prevention plan that fits into your lifestyle and significantly reduces the number of migraines you get each month, and also lowers their frequency, duration, and severity.
Examples of migraine prevention tactics include:
- Prescription migraine preventive medications- scientists have noted interesting correlations between chronic migraines and symptoms of other illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, and epilepsy. Using this knowledge, your doctor may “borrow” prescription drugs such as anticonvulsants (antiepileptics) and beta blockers (for heart disease) and implement them into your migraine prevention plan to reduce headaches and other symptoms of migraines.
- Migraine trigger avoidance- researchers have compiled a list of over 100 factors that increase your likeliness of getting migraines. By preventing or reducing your exposure to certain foods and scents, you improve your chances for lifelong migraine prevention. Migraine triggers include foods like chocolate, red wine, or cheeses, in addition to environmental factors like strong scents, bright lights, and certain weather patterns. Keeping a migraine diary is a good way to determine your specific migraine triggers and learn how to prevent them.
- Migraine diet- many migraine sufferers have learned to prevention migraine headaches just by following a restrictive diet. What works for one, may not work for others, but there are several to choose from. Examples of popular migraine diets include gluten-free, vegan, and dairy-free dieting.
- Exercise- It may seem like the last thing you want to do when you suffer from chronic migraines, but thirty minutes of low-impact, gentle exercise could be the most important thirty minutes of your day for preventing migraines. Scientists have noted fewer migraines, improved mood, and overall good health in migraine patients who make time for workouts like yoga, tai chi, swimming, or walking.
- Natural alternative medicine- numerous studies focusing on migraine prevention found that migraine patients who implemented certain vitamins, minerals, and herbs into their migraine management plan experiences superior results, compared to a placebo. Natural ingredients used in most studies included riboflavin, magnesium, butterbur, and coenzyme Q10.