Lately, on this third time I go for a field assignment at this Seismic project, I had this migraine. I don’t really think this was a hard condition. But then I realize that this half headache is very annoying every activities I did. And at the present time when I feel this left side of my head has that condition, I really can not think very nicely. If only man are the same as a computer, then my brain is a processor which is just got downgrade by a half speed from before, because I think very slow.. even I use a very bad English when I had this migraine.
You know what a migraine is?
Well ok… We might all know that migraine is when you have a headache but it was only a half of your head. BUT, more than that, migraine is more than only a headache, it’s a neurological disease that can cause a wide range of symptoms during an attack, and it is right that the most commonly thought of symptom is headache. More about it is that migraine usually causes episodes of severe or moderate headache, which is often one-sided and pulsating, and it could last for several hours to three days… wow! and… it could be accompanied by gastrointestinal upsets, such as nausea and vomiting, and a heightened sensitivity to bright lights (photo-phobia) and noise (phono-phobia). Around one third of people who experience migraine get a preceding aura.
Here, aura has the meaning of the perceptual disturbance experiences by the sufferers before the migraine attacked. It often manifest as the perception of a strange light or an unpleasant smell. An aura sensation can might include visual changes: bright light; zigzag lines; distortions in the size or shape of object; scintillating scotoma i.e Shimmering, pulsating patches, often curved and tunnel vision; scotoma i.e Blind or dark spots in the field of vision, Curtain like effect over one eye, Slowly spreading spots; Kaleidescope effects on visual field; Total temporary monocular (in one eye) blindness (in retinal migraine), auditory changes: Hearing voices or sounds that don’t exist; Modification of voices or sounds in the environment, Strange smells, feelings of numbness or tingling on one side of the face or body, feeling separated from one’s body, feeling as if your limbs are moving independently from your body, anxiety or fear, nausea, weakness, being unable to understood or comprehend spoken words during and after the aura, being unable to speak properly (despite your brain grasping what you’re trying to verbalize), and sometimes feeling of power or sense of euphoria.
And so, it’s not an easy things and we should very careful if we found that we had a migraine.
Migraines secondary characteristics are inconsistent. Triggers precipitating a particular episode of migraine vary widely. The efficacy of the simplest treatment, applying warmth or coolness to the affected area of the head, but remember, this treatment are varies between persons, sometimes it could worsening the migraine. A particular migraine rescue drug may sometimes work and sometimes not work in the same patient. Some migraine types don’t have pain or may manifest symptoms in parts of the body other than the head.
The signs and symptoms of migraine vary among patients. Therefore, what a patient experiences before, during and after an attack cannot be defined exactly. The four phases of a migraine attack listed below are common but not necessarily experienced by all migraine sufferers. Additionally, the phases experienced and the symptoms experienced during them can vary from one migraine attack to another in the same migraineur.
Prodromal symptoms occur in 40 to 60% of migraineurs. This phase may consist of altered mood, irritability, depression or euphoria, fatigue, yawning, excessive sleepiness, craving for certain food (e.g., chocolate), stiff muscles (especially in the neck), constipation or diarrhea, increased urination, and other vegetative symptoms. These symptoms usually precede the headache phase of the migraine attack by several hours or days, and experience teaches the patient or observant family how to detect that a migraine attack is near.

For the 20-30% of migraineurs who suffer migraine with aura, this aura comprises focal neurological phenomena that precede or accompany the attack. They appear gradually over 5 to 20 minutes and generally last fewer than 60 minutes. The headache phase of the migraine attack usually begins within 60 minutes of the end of the aura phase, but it is sometimes delayed up to several hours, and it can be missing entirely. Symptoms of migraine aura can be visual, sensory, or motor in nature.
Visual aura is the most common of the neurological events. There is a disturbance of vision consisting usually of unformed flashes of white and/or black or rarely of multicolored lights (photopsia) or forma­tions of dazzling zigzag lines (scintillating scotoma; often arranged like the battlements of a castle, hence the alternative terms “fortification spectra” or “teichopsia”). Some patients complain of blurred or shimmering or cloudy vision, as though they were look­ing through thick or smoked glass, or, in some cases, tunnel vision and hemianopsia. The somatosensory aura of migraine consists of digitolingual or cheiro-oral paresthesias, a feeling of pins-and-needles experienced in the hand and arm as well as in the ipsilateral nose-mouth area. Paresthesia migrate up the arm and then extend to involve the face, lips and tongue.
Other symptoms of the aura phase can include auditory or olfactory hallucinations, temporary dysphasia, vertigo, tingling or numbness of the face and extremities, and hypersensitivity to touch.

The typical migraine headache is unilateral, throbbing, moderate to severe and can be aggravated by physical activity. Not all of these features are necessary. The pain may be bilateral at the onset or start on one side and become generalized, and usually alternates sides from one attack to the next. The onset is usually gradual. The pain peaks and then subsides, and usually lasts between 4 and 72 hours in adults and 1 and 48 hours in children. The frequency of attacks is extremely variable, from a few in a lifetime to several times a week, and the average migraineur experiences from one to three headaches a month. The head pain varies greatly in intensity. The pain of migraine is invariably accompanied by other features. Nausea occurs in almost 90 percent of patients, while vomiting occurs in about one third of patients. Many patients experience sensory hyperexcitability manifested by photophobia, phonophobia, osmophobia and seek a dark and quiet room. Blurred vision, nasal stuffiness, diarrhea, polyuria, pallor or sweating may be noted during the headache phase. There may be localized edema of the scalp or face, scalp tenderness, prominence of a vein or artery in the temple, or stiffness and tenderness of the neck. Impairment of concentration and mood are common. Lightheadedness, rather than true vertigo and a feeling of faintness may occur. The extremities tend to be cold and moist.

The patient may feel tired, “washed out”, irritable, or listless and may have impaired concentration, scalp tenderness or mood changes. Some people feel unusually refreshed or euphoric after an attack, whereas others note depression and malaise. Often, some of the minor headache phase symptoms may continue, such as loss of appetite, photophobia, and lightheadedness. And this is call the Postdrome phase.

And so, according to the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Encyclopedia, Migraine attacks may be triggered by:

1. Allergic reactions
2. Bright lights, loud noises, and certain odors or perfumes
3. Physical or emotional stress
4. Changes in sleep patterns
5. Smoking or exposure to smoke
6. Skipping meals
7. Alcohol or caffeine
8. Menstrual cycle fluctuations, birth control pills
9. Tension headaches
10. Foods containing tyramine (red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and some beans), monosodium glutamate (MSG), or nitrates (like bacon, hot dogs, and salami)
11. Other foods such as chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, avocado, banana, citrus, onions, dairy products, and fermented or pickled foods

so, I have the risk for number 2 (on the field), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 11.
That’s right, I have a very high risk to have migraine… well, this makes me undarstand more and more… but, did you know that if I push my self to think very hard, instead of only stay and feel the pain, the pain is gone, just like when I wrote this post. I did not feel any pain from the migraine, but when I stopped doing the activity, the pain is back… huh… what a weird head of mine…

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