Vestibular Migraines Help

They're a form of migraine with visual disturbances or an aura, in which the aura consists of imbalance or the illusion of movement. Vertigo is the most common feature, and it's usually defined as that illusion of movement, spinning, or swaying.

The vestibular migraine is a form of migraine that is similar to many other forms of migraines. There are a few distinct differences which will be discussed throughout this article. People who have experienced the vestibular migraine often report seeing light flickers or spots and flashes of light, which is similar to the warning signs experienced during several other forms of migraines.

All of the more common symptoms of migraines exist, such as throbbing or severely painful headache usually located on a particular side of the individual’s head. Most people want to go to sleep in a very quiet, dark room due to the extreme sensitivity that they are experiencing to noise and light, and several individuals have reported vomiting or severe nausea.

Just as some people experience a visual aura with their migraines, others can have vertigo episodes and have other types of dizziness between migraines. Attacks of migraine-related vertigo can last from a few minutes up to several days. If you are affected by migraine-related vertigo, you may be motion-sensitive as well, with a history of carsickness.

Vertigo is caused by the balance mechanisms inside the inner area of the ear being affected during the vestibular migraine. The vertigo normally passes after several minutes but if it does not, there is a form of medication called meclizine, as well as an exercise that a physician would be able to instruct or prescribe.

What Causes This Type of Headache?

It is generally known that as with other forms of migraine, people inherit a predisposition to migraine. Migraines sometimes run in families, and vestibular migraines may also.

Dizziness and vertigo caused by a vestibular migraine may be provoked by common migraine triggers, such as certain foods, altered sleep, stress, or hormonal changes related to your menstrual cycle.

Beyond that, no one knows the specific cause. If you have vertigo, sometimes it's from disease in the inner ear and sometimes it's a problem in the brain stem. What probably happens with vestibular migraine is that there are changes in the brain stem not with the inner ear that give rise to the symptoms. For most people with migraine-related vertigo, the attacks of vertigo don't necessarily happen at the same time as the headache.

Can Vestibular Migraines Be Prevented?

There are medicines that can be taken daily to prevent migraine. Four drugs are approved for migraine prevention—Topamax (topiramate), Inderal (propranolol), Depakote (divalproex sodium), and Blocadren (timolol).

When deciding whether to take these medications, patients and doctors should consider whether the attacks are frequent enough or severe enough to warrant taking medicine every day. If you're having attacks three or four days a month, then it's worth it, because headaches are affecting 10 percent of your days every month.