Health News: June is Migraine and Headache Awareness Month

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - If you find yourself with a pounding headache several times a month, it could be something more serious. June is Migraine and Headache awareness month. There is help for people who suffer from this complex neurological condition.

“I thought it was just a regular headache.”

Andrea Green says it was much more.

“Nauseated, dizzy, blurred vision.”

Turns out she was suffering from migraine headaches.

“I would say about 15 days with those type migraine episodes I was like something is absolutely wrong.”

She made an appointment with her primary doctor, who recommended she see a neurologist. Green was put on daily prescription medication. She says the medicine helped but she didn’t want to depend on it to control her migraines. Green then made an appointment with Dr. Belinda Savage Edwards, a Neurology specialist in Huntsville.

“I decided to keep what I call a migraine episode journal. I wrote down everything that triggered an episode,” said Green.

Dr. Savage-Edwards and Green worked together to develop a plan to avoid what triggered the headaches and help bring Green off the medication.

“I got rid of sugar in like 98-percent of my diet. I got rid of chocolate and dairy products. I love cheese but I limit it,” said Green.

June is National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. Migraine headaches impact a staggering 40 million people in the United States. It’s the number 2 cause of disability.

“Unless you have or experience the pain and disability of the disease of migraine you would not understand,” said Dr. Belinda Savage-Edwards, board certified Neurology Specialist.

Dr. Savage-Edwards experiences migraines too so she knows the pain her patients go through.

“We haven’t had treatment, acute treatment for migraine disease or migraine attacks in over 30 years.”

There’s no cure for migraines but more advances have been made in migraine treatment in the last 2 years. That includes new drugs such as nasal sprays and needle injections that work better with fewer side effects. Gregory Friel is also a patient of Dr. Savage Edwards. He’s lived with the pain of migraines for more than 20 years.

“It feels similar to a knife stabbing you through here and into your brain. I ate Ibuprophen like candy to try and help out. I had no real preventative way to deal with my migraine attacks,” said migraine sufferer Gregory Friel.

Friel went through a clinical trial that he says helped control his migraines.

“Once the trial concluded and the medication was available they prescribed it for me. My quality of life is much better now. Even if I do start to get a migraine the effects are much more reduced.”

Giving patients peace of mind when it comes to controlling migraine attacks.