More than a migraine?

Written by: Roanne Weisman
Published: July 30, 2008
Reviewed by: Kevin Zacharoff, MD

For many people, migraine does not happen in a vacuum. You might notice accompanying changes in your body — including sleep problems, widespread joint or muscle pain (as in fibromyalgia), high blood pressure, or feelings of sadness, hopelessness or depression. Experts don't really know whether migraine is a cause or an effect of these conditions. But we do know that there is often a higher-than-normal-incidence of these kinds of problems in people who also have migraine. One study, for example, found that while depression affects 17 percent of the general population, it occurs in 47 percent of people with migraine. In the words of the study author: "It seems logical Migraine patients would be depressed because of their pain, but it goes the other way too -- depressed patients are more likely to have Migraine. We think the two disorders must have a common neurobiology."

What you will learn in this article

• What conditions are commonly associated with migraine?
• Why is it important to discuss all of your medical and emotional symptoms with your health care provider?

What conditions are commonly associated with migraine?

As we learned earlier, depression affects nearly half of all people with migraines, although the cause and effect relationship is not known. In addition to depression, other conditions are associated with migraine. These include endometriosis, fibromyalgia and TMJ (jaw pain), as well as Raynaud's Disease (reduced blood circulation in hands and feet), hypertension (high blood pressure), and irritable bowel. It may be that some of these disorders have a common root, since they are related to blood vessels that are extra-sensitive in certain conditions. While these conditions are associated with headaches, they may not necessarily be migraine headaches, which brings us to the next point of this article.

Why is it important to discuss all of your medical and emotional symptoms with your health care provider?

It is not your responsibility to figure out the connections between your migraine and any other problems you are having. That is the job of your health care provider, who should take your complete medical history to diagnose not only the type of headache you have, but also any other medical conditions that may be present.

But you can do your part by not leaving anything out when your provider asks you about your health, even if you think the problem is not related to migraine. This is because conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease or depression may affect your treatment. There may also be increased risk of heart attack or stroke associated with migraine, so if you don't discuss everything that is going on in your body with your health care provider, it is a missed opportunity to treat all of these conditions. It may be, for example, that treating your high blood pressure or insomnia may provide some relief from your migraines with the same medication. Or, it may be necessary to combine medications and treatments. In addition, some conditions such as high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease may affect your migraine treatment plan, since some medications may not be appropriate..

In addition to alerting your provider to any other health risks that you may have, open discussions will also allow your provider to help with any problems with your quality of life, your work, your relationships with friends and family, your feelings, and your mood. Certain lifestyle modifications, such as reducing caffeine, eating regularly and getting enough sleep may help with a variety of health problems, including migraine.

The bottom line

Because migraine can be associated with other health problems, as well as depression and other emotional disorders, such as anxiety and even panic attacks, it is important to share all of your symptoms with your health care provider. Equally important: Do not try to treat yourself, because you may not have significant information about drug interactions and the effect of drugs on certain conditions. So seek medical help, don't ignore what is going on in your body, and discuss everything with a health care provider whom you can trust and with whom you can build a long-term relationship.