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Complicated migraine
If the aura preceding a
migraine attack lasts for more than a few hours or days, then it can be
an indication of a complicated migraine. Usually the migraine aura lasts
for about 20 minutes. Also it ends before the headache itself begins.
But when the aura lasts through the headache it can become a complicated
situation.
Factors like smoking, use of hormones in menopause and
birth control pills can worsen the situation by causing permanent
neurological changes. Such changes may lead to a stroke later in life
Complicated
migraine can be further classified into:-
Basilar
migraine/Bickerstaff syndrome
Basilar migraine leads to patients
doing wild and crazy stuff. And since it is mostly found in young women,
these ladies are usually thought to be intoxicated or under the
influence of drugs.
This affects the back of the brain or the
neck and results in a throbbing two-sided pain unlike the common
migraine.
It causes symptoms like dizziness, double vision,
slurred speech, confusion, fainting, disorientation, vertigo, ringing in
the ears, prickly feelings on the body and trouble thinking clearly.
Although
basilar migraine is relatively uncommon, the patients suffering from the
same are at an increased risk of a stroke. The treatment for Basilar
migraine or Bickerstaff syndrome is the same as that of common migraine.
The preventative medications include triptans, beta blockers and calcium
channel blockers.
Ophthalmoplegic migraine
Ophthalmoplegic
migraine is an unusual form of migraine where the pain surrounds the
eyeball. It can be caused due to weakness in the muscles surrounding the
eye. The pain caused by this can last from a few days to a few months.
Partial or complete paralysis of the nerves which, are needed for eye
movement, is also reported by some patients suffering from
ophthalmoplegic migraine.
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