It is estimated that
some 28 million people have been diagnosed as suffering
from migraines in the United States alone and one of
the different types of migraines included in that statistic
is vestibular migraine. Vestibular migraines, although
similar to many other forms of migraines, have a few
distinct features. The word “vestibular”
in vestibular migraines is derived from another word
“vestibule” which refers to a small space,
cavity or enclosure at the beginning of a canal or passageway.
In this case, vestibule is that part of our inner ear
which helps us keep our balance so that we do not sway
or fall. As there is a symptom of dizziness and/or vertigo
with vestibular migraine, this is how it came to get
its name.
Vestibular migraine symptoms
There is an overlap between dizziness and the migraine
itself. Although dizziness can be light-headedness,
wooziness or a feeling that you are going to faint,
in the case of vestibular migraine the dizziness is
a form of vertigo. The room or environment could feel
like it was spinning or you could experience motion
sickness. This vertigo could continue for anything
from a few minutes to up to an hour. In rare cases,
it could last for several days or weeks. A migraine
headache could start at the same time or before
hand or may follow after the vertigo.
There are other symptoms
or migraines which can appear with vestibular
migraines and these are:
o Ear pressure or pain
o Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
o Panic or anxiety attacks
o Phobic behavior
o Muffled hearing
o Extreme sensitivity to motion
o Unsteadiness
o Nausea
These symptoms are not always experienced in conjunction
with pain.
Vestibular migraine treatment
If you feel you might be suffering from vestibular
migraine and you go to your doctor for a diagnosis,
he will need to rule out various other conditions
that can cause similar symptoms to vestibular migraine.
These other conditions include:
o Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
o Ménierès Disease (also called hydrops)
o Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs) or small strokes
o Fluid leaks in the inner ear
o Vestibular nerve irritation
Once your doctor has established that it is indeed
vestibular migraine, he can prescribe similar migraine
medication as that used for other types of migraines.
However, the following variations may need to be made:
o For attacks of dizziness that include nausea, medication
such as meclizine is used to provide relief from the
symptoms.
o Where such attacks are frequent or cause the sufferer
to become incapacitated, medications are used such
as beta-blocking agents or calcium channel blockers.
Like all migraines, triggers play an important part
and it will be helpful if you can try to ascertain
what trigger is causing your attack – eliminating
the triggers can be an effective form of vestibular
migraine treatment.
Such triggers could be:
o Low blood sugar
o Stress and/or an altered sleep pattern
o Your diet
Unfortunately, women are more likely than men to
suffer from all forms of migraines and the symptoms
are often worse around menstruation. If migraines
run in your family, you need to be aware that they
are often passed down from one generation to the next.
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