Migraines Treatment
Treatment for Migraines in Naples, FL
What are Migraines?
Migraines are severe headaches. These headaches affect the entire nervous system and often include various symptoms, like nausea, vision disturbances, light or sound sensitivity, and vertigo. Often, persistent pain and severe accompanying symptoms escalate to a debilitating level preventing many from working or completing daily activities.
There is no known singular cause for migraines. Medical professionals suspect several issues that may trigger a migraine, such as alcohol, changes in temperature and atmosphere, stress, hormonal changes, brain chemistry alterations, and specific food additives. But ultimately, the cause remains a mystery.
What Are the Symptoms of Migraines?
Migraines are a debilitating form of chronic pain. People that suffer from migraines recognize the onset immediately. The lifespan of this intense pain can be broken into four phases:
Prodrome
Sometimes, warning signs of a migraine attack will appear a day or two ahead. These signs can be:
- Cravings
- Stiffness in the neck
- Challenging bowel movements
- Significant mood changes like depression or euphoria
- Increased thirst or feeling like you need to urinate
- Repeated yawning
Aura
Auras are also known as revocable indicators of the nervous system. They are primarily visual but may include other disruptions. The symptoms start gradually, build for several minutes, and persist for 20 minutes to an hour. Here are some examples of migraine auras:
- Visual cues – seeing bright spots, shapes, or flashes of light
- Temporary loss of vision
- Tingling sensations in the leg or arm
- Weakness or numbness in one side of the body or the face
- Trouble speaking either words or whole sentences
- Hearing music or noises
- Unruly jerking or wild movements
Attack
Migraine attacks last anywhere from four hours to three days if untreated, but the duration varies based on each person. Migraines might happen rarely or occur many times a month. With a migraine, you may experience the following:
- Excruciating pain on one or both sides of your head
- Ache that pulses or throbs
- Sensitivity to sound, light, and sometimes touch and smell
- Sickness and vomiting
Post-drome
People often report feeling exhausted, bewildered, and wiped out for a whole day following a migraine attack. Abrupt head movement can cause the pain to resurface.
Ketamine Treatment for Migraines
A 2016 study in the Journal of Headache and Pain demonstrated significant short-term improvement in all participants with chronic refractory migraine after a single subanesthetic dose of intravenous ketamine. Over the past 20 years, ketamine has demonstrated powerful antidepressant effects and benefits for other mental health chronic pain conditions. Initially an effective sedative on the battlefield with a wide safety margin, ketamine has become an invaluable resource for various physical and mental issues, known for its transformative power and speedy results.
Ketamine interacts with multiple aspects of our psychology and physiology. It is highly effective in treating specific chronic pain syndromes and many treatment-resistant mental health and eating disorders, including migraines.
The Science of Ketamine Treatment For Migraines
Recent evidence points to ketamine’s inhibitory effects on the NMDA receptor in the lateral habenula. The lateral habenula is a brain region primarily responsible for encoding negative rewards or anti-reward cause-and-effect relationships. Those with depression and anxiety show an overactivity of burst firing in the lateral habenula. As a non-competitive NMDA antagonist, ketamine prevents glutamate from activating the NMDA receptor.
The inhibition of the NMDA receptor may cause a build-up of free glutamate, which then activates the AMPA receptors. When surplus glutamate activates the AMPA receptor, it releases a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) chemical. BDNF, in interaction with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), promotes new neural growth. This new growth may reroute the brain from hyperactive areas associated with negative reward signals, thereby providing long-term relief from mental health conditions and chronic pain conditions.
In short, ketamine blocks the neural excitation pathways likely responsible for migraine pain.
Getting Treatment
If you suffer from migraines and want symptom relief, turn to Dura Medical in Naples, Florida, for exceptional care. Behavioral health specialists Stephen Durand, CRNA, APRN, Kathryn Hart, APRN, PMHNP-BC, CPNP-PC, and their expert team offer ketamine therapy to treat migraines. Call the office to learn more about this revolutionary treatment, or book an appointment online today.
