Migraines can cause debilitating pain

There are certain things people do that can bring on a headache such as drinking alcohol, getting irregular sleep, high periods of stress followed by crashing, certain foods. So we recommend an "even-Steven" lifestyle to avoid rocking the boat. Obviously, there are some things that are unavoidable such as some stress or menstruation.

There also are medications we can give the patient to take when the headache begins; these are effective in shutting off the pain. And if the headaches are sufficiently frequent, we can give medication every day to prevent the headaches. There are about a dozen options for prevention and a dozen to take when the headache is beginning.

What do you typically tell your patients about migraines?

We can manage them, but we cannot cure them. They are part of you; you either have them or not. They can be annoying and disabling, but they are not dangerous.

We try to pick a medication that makes sense for each patient. We customize the medication and try to make it a team decision. It is hard to tell someone to take a medication every day if they only get headaches once a month.

Holly Selby is a former reporter for The Baltimore Sun.

IF YOU GO

Dr. Jason Rosenberg will speak about migraines at the 14th annual "A Woman's Journey" symposium, sponsored by Johns Hopkins Medicine, on Nov. 15. Go to hopkinsmedicine.org/awomansjourney.