Ever wondered why you get car sick or seasick more easily than others? Why despite not being very old, you feel dizzy, everything seems to be spinning, and you feel unsteady easily, and no matter how much you treat it, it never goes away? These symptoms might indicate that you have migraines.
Understanding Migraines
Migraine is a well-known type of headache that many people are familiar with. It’s a common neurological disorder that can occur from childhood to the elderly age groups. It is estimated that in Thailand, up to 12 million people suffer from migraines, and women are about three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men, due to genetic factors and sex hormones.
Causes of Migraines
The cause of migraines often comes from a combination of genetic factors and external triggers, such as:
- Genetic factors, making the nervous system more sensitive to stimuli than usual
- External factors such as environment, hormones, insufficient rest, stress, etc. These factors can trigger migraine headaches.
Some might think that migraines only involve headaches, but in reality, people with migraines may also experience:
- Other neurological symptoms such as seeing abnormal zigzag lines or spots, bright lights, having dark vision before a migraine headache occurs
- Symptoms of fatigue, yawning, difficulty in thinking which could appear up to 3 days before a headache occurs
- During a headache, it is common to experience nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and sometimes dizziness, which can occur in more than half of the cases
Dizziness and Migraines
Dizziness is found in conjunction with migraine headaches in 1 out of 3 cases, especially in the group with Migraine with aura, where dizziness is found twice as much as in the group with migraines without aura.
- Some cases may experience severe dizziness with the sensation of spinning accompanied by nausea and vomiting
- In mild cases, there may be a feeling of unsteadiness as if being on a boat, feeling off balance
- Some cannot move their head or body quickly as rapid visual movements may cause dizziness. Dizziness can occur even without a headache
- Some may notice that they get motion sickness or seasickness more easily than usual people
Dizziness can last from a few minutes to several hours. Some may notice that dizziness often occurs during a headache or when the headache worsens. Some may experience dizziness along with light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, increased smell sensitivity, and even migraine aura, such as seeing zigzag lines or spots, numbness in hands and around the mouth.
Triggers of Dizziness
Common triggers of dizziness include:
- Being in crowded places
- Fluorescent lighting
- Busy and repetitive work
- In elderly groups, migraine headaches may tend to decrease over time, but dizziness associated with migraines might still persist, or in some cases, dizziness might increase
The aforementioned dizziness can also result from other neurological abnormalities such as:
- Cerebral artery stenosis
- Cerebrovascular abnormality
- Brain tumor
- Epilepsy
- Disorders of the balance system in the ear, such as inflammation of the ear nerves, calcium deposits in the ear, Meniere’s disease, etc.
Therefore, it is essential to see a specialist for a physical and neurological examination and possibly further tests in the lab or radiology to identify the cause of dizziness and treat it correctly.
If the dizziness is due to migraines and is not severe, avoiding migraine triggers can help reduce dizziness and headaches. If the dizziness is severe or frequent and interferes with daily life, taking preventative migraine medication can effectively control symptoms and reduce the severity of the disease.
