Friday, February 25

Migraines And Migraine Art Drawn By Patients

By Sarah Chapman

Those of you that have experienced real migraines know that the terrible side effects can make normal functioning in daily life hard, if not impossible to deal with.

Classic migraines start with a warning sign called an aura. The aura often changes the way you see things. You may see flashing lights, or temporarily lose some of your vision, such as your side vision.

This is what an aura is like to one migraine sufferer.

You may also feel muscle weakness on one side of your body. You may have trouble talking or feel depressed and irritable. You could feel restless.

Auras last about 15 to 30 minutes and may occur after, before or even overlap the pain of a migraine itself. The head pain of a migraine may occur on one side of the head or both sides.

Common migraines don't start with an aura. They last longer and interfere with daily activities more than classic migraines. Usually, these are on one side of the head. The pain can last from 4 to 72 hours.

A person having a migraine may have trouble eating normal foods they usually like or keeping food down during an attack. Light and sound bother them. If you want to know more Migraine Action is a good place to start and get help if you need it.

Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice In Wonderland had classic migraines. He also had a syndrome named after him because he suffered from a very rare type of migraine aura called Alice In Wonderland Syndrome.

Now doctors are finding out that by looking at drawings done by patients having classic migraines they can learn a lot about these terrible headaches and get an insight into what migraines might be like to each patient. These stunning pictures are from different artists who experience migraines.



 


























Classic migraine art takes place during the aura which changes the way a patient see's and feels things. Doctors are continuing to study this type of art to better understand migraines and how patients feel when they have one. This way new and better migraine medicines are being made to relieve the side effects of auras and migraines.

Only 1% of us escape headaches altogether. 16 to 17% of people get a migraine headache sometime in their lives. There are over 20 million migraine attacks happening every day. Some migraines are mistaken for sinus headaches. (These numbers change each year.) 

People with migraines will look at these pictures with recognition, as they know how they suffer. I hope migraine patients get some relief from these studies that are being done. New therapies are being discovered every day.

I find the art troubling yet it's beautiful too. One can pick out similar threads that each patient feels in the artwork.

I am lucky to be in the small percentage of people who don't have headaches often and I've never had a migraine that I know of. When I do have one it makes me miserable. Mine are usually from my sinuses.

The holidays are here and there's no escaping them so I hope no one is having headaches of any kind right now! Enjoy your Friday!

One more example of aura's from a patient's point of view.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Bekkie, your blog photo's are so accurate, it nearly gave me a migraine looking at them..LOL I had a really bad attack a couple of months ago, when I had four in the space of a week. I suspect it was one long one that didn't want to go.
    I always get the zig/zag lines or stars, I know when I'm about to get that as I can only see half of something, I quickly take pain killers (and always carry some) so I dont get the headache, but still have to suffer the visual disturbance for about an hour. I was going to go to the doctors that week if I had a 5th one, but I didnt get another...so far. Thanks for posting an important piece of information.smiles across the miles :) Summer Breeze

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed my blog, I just hope you didn't get too sick looking at the images. Thanx for your comment and smiles to you my friend!

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  2. Well, I am hoping that you do not experience these often. I tend to get the odd one every now and then, The ONLY thing that works for me, is I take two tylenol, two caffeine pills and rub vicks vapor rub on my forehead. I get in a dark room with a hot towel across my forehead and eyes and relax.
    Yes, those images are quite profound.

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  3. Summer I'm so sorry to hear you suffer from migraines! I hope you can keep them under control most of the time, but those pictures really are something aren't they? Luv you Summer and have a great start of the week. ♥

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  4. Hey Seth, it's really good to hear from you cause it's been a long time! You sound good too which is awesome! I don't belong to WordPress so I can't leave you comments there, but if you have an account here I can leave them here or at WL. Which is better Seth? No, I don't get migraines at all, but I'm interested in art and thought the article was very interseting for a blog. Plus, Lewis Carroll had them and you know how much I love AIW! Lol! Sounds like your migraine treatment works good for you. Glad it does and I'm sorry for anyone who has migraines! Luv you and take care! ♥

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  5. I'm glad you enjoyed my blog, I just hope you didn't get too sick looking at the images. Thanx for your comment and smiles to you my friend!

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Bekkie's Wonderland has been around for decades now, it used to be at MySpace until I moved it to Blogger. I've covered a plethora of subjects but due to its longevity and changes in the internet it's age is showing (as is mine.) I hope you will enjoy as I gently bring it up to date moving towards the uncertain future.