Why you should be Concerned about Your Migraines

Brian Wangila began experiencing headaches in 2008, which gradually progressed into migraines. Despite his best efforts, the tremendous agony and suffering he experiences due to his neurological disease persists.

In migraine, a devastating headache occurs on one side of the head and can last anywhere from a few minutes to several days or weeks, depending on the severity. Chronic migraines are defined as headaches that occur more than 15 days in a month.

Headaches have plagued Wangila for the past fifteen years, and he was diagnosed with chronic migraines ten years ago. His migraines had plagued him for so long that he could not recall a day when he was free of discomfort.

Wangila, like most people, thought a migraine was merely a severe headache until he had one himself. However, even after he explains to them what he goes through, most people still have this perception.

Wangila defines a good day as 0–4. In most cases, four is the threshold at which most individuals consider a headache to be quite severe and call in sick. He can have a conversation, laugh, and make jokes on these occasions. He’ll also be able to get some work done, go for a walk, check his email, and do other things.

A 5–7 represents a poor day. This will keep him primarily indoors, either in bed or in a quiet chair as he sees it.

Conversations are strictly limited to the essentials. Because Wangila is frequently exhausted, his range of motion is restricted. He is nauseated and has lost his appetite.

In Wangila’s estimation, 8–11 is a very awful time of day.

Wangila became depressed and desperate because of the frequently terrible agony. He would try to get rid of it as long as he could, no matter how irrational it was.

It came with a significant financial cost. To no avail, an entire panel of Kenyan neurologists sat together to examine his situation and come up with a solution at some time.

She saw psychiatrists and psychologists who believed the headaches were a symptom of some deep-seated emotion, but it didn’t work either. She sought more treatment in India, which helped for a time when they performed a Botox operation.

Wangila has undergone four Botox treatments in Kenya to manage migraines, with varying degrees of success, but the most recent one simply did not work.

Wangila claims he has been duped by doctors who have tried alternative treatments such as acupuncture and laser therapy but have failed.

Wangila would always exhaust his medical coverage in quest of a long-term solution, forcing him to dig into his funds for therapy. Because the local insurance options were restricted, he had to hunt for overseas insurance.

Thankfully, in 2019, he has prescribed a new prescription that helps him minimize the severity of his headaches and migraines while causing no side effects, unlike his previous medications, which caused nausea, dizziness, and lethargy, among other things. It’s in the form of an injection that he has to import every month and costs him money.

Migraines have also afflicted MickReen Adhiamba, a gender and development practitioner. She had no recollection of a time in her life when she was free of the agony she was currently experiencing.

Adhiambo says she had been trivializing it until 2018 December, when she was admitted three times that year and was diagnosed with migraines. She thinks it would have been tough if she did not have a medical cover. For her, it has been challenging, crazy and painful.

Adhiambo says she had been downplaying it until she was hospitalized three times in 2018 and was diagnosed with migraines, which she maintains she had been doing so until then. It’s been difficult, crazy, and heartbreaking for her. She believes that things would have been much more difficult without medical insurance.

A journalist named Sarah Wairimu also suffers from migraines. Headaches and migraines have caused me misery, agony, and financial hardship for the past 21 years.

She needs to call in sick and stay indoors when it reaches level six. She turns off the lights and lies still because doing anything else aggravates her headaches.

Her doctor has prescribed her a medication that requires her to travel to the hospital. It’s overwhelming and expensive for her. She relies on a codeine-based medication that is no longer readily available.

Because of the codeine content, it was removed off retail shelves and restricted to usage by those with a doctor’s prescription.

Wairimu estimates that each medication costs Sh25 and that she must take two pills twice daily in the morning and evening.

Wairimu also takes drugs for migraines, which she says are also expensive. Sadly, she’s out of luck and will have to pay out of pocket.

There is a one-pill charge of Sh500. In general, she takes it about four times a month, but she may take it up to 10 times a month.

Wairimu adds that buying a single medication is impossible. Thus, she has to buy it in packs. A single package costs Sh2,000.

Due to the risk of resistance and dependence, she limits her use to no more than ten times a month. One of the drugs she takes, according to her, is even more expensive.

Every time she has a bad headache or a migraine, she must take medication and undergo an MRI scan, which exhausts her. The fact that physicians haven’t figured out what’s wrong with her is the most upsetting part.

Headaches should not be ignored by anyone who suffers from them on a regular basis, says neurologist Dr Samson Gwer. He recommends that we obtain a complete physical exam to rule out any underlying conditions like vision problems, tumours, or infections as the source of our headaches and migraines.

Gwer believes that the financial aspect might be a challenge as well. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment or preventative plan. Depending on how severe your headaches or migraines are, you may have to spend more or less on therapy.

This may be as simple as taking Panadol and staying away from the trigger, or it may require admission to a hospital and the use of high-end medication.

Migraine sufferers who are genetically predisposed to the ailment should engage with a specialist to help reduce their symptoms.

He advises that you begin with essential medications prescribed by your doctor before moving on to the more potent and pricey ones. Additionally, it would be best to avoid stimuli such as too much light, too much noise, or too much activity. In addition, make sure you get adequate sleep and stick to a regular bedtime schedule.

He also recommends migraine diaries to understand the underlying causes of migraines better. We can use a journal to track when they happen, how often, what treatments work, and what foods to avoid.

According to him, there are apps available that can keep track of your migraine attacks. Identifying and avoiding the triggers will help you avoid the pain before it occurs.

Migraines are ranked as the world’s sixth-most incapacitating disease by the WHO.

Unfortunately, there is no remedy for a migraine. It is the first thing you learn from a migraine expert if you go in for treatment. In addition, there is no medication available that is intended to keep the attacks at bay.

There are a number of other illnesses that can be treated with preventive drugs, including hypertension and depression. Only around half of people benefit from the medication, and the side effects, including weight gain, weariness, and trouble thinking and speaking effectively, are common.

Personal anguish, diminished quality of life, and financial costs are all associated with headache disorders.

A person’s relationships with their family, friends, and work suffer when they are plagued by frequent headaches and the anxiety that goes along with them.

Chronic headache disorder sufferers may be more susceptible to other illnesses as a result of their ongoing struggle to manage their condition. Migraine sufferers are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than the general population.

Adults around the world are predicted to have a 50% prevalence of present headache disorder (symptomatic at least once in the recent year).

Half to three-quarters of persons aged 18–65 worldwide had had a headache in the previous year, with 30% or more reporting migraine.

In the world’s adult population, between 1.7% and 4% of people suffer from chronic headaches for at least 15 days each month. People from many walks of life are affected by headache disorders, regardless of their age, ethnicity, income, or location.