Many people face problems with balancing and feel like they or the objects around them are moving. But actually, there is nothing moving. It is a medical condition called Vertigo. People get spinning sensations and find it hard to maintain proper balance while walking or moving. The vestibular migraine is an episode of Vertigo, and the vestibular is the system in your ear controlling the body balance. Commonly, migraines include severe headaches. But the vestibular migraine is different, as it does not include headaches. One may feel off-balance, dizzy, and light-headed due to vestibular migraine. Even children can face such conduction called “benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood” that may turn to migraine in later life.

So, it is essential that you take care of yourself from childhood and diagnose such conduction on time. Don’t know how to diagnose vestibular migraine? Here is a complete guide for you.

How to Diagnose Vestibular Migraine?

There is no clear-cut test to analyze the vestibular migraine. So, it can be tricky to diagnose it. Also, your doctors will discuss the symptoms and history, considering the International Classification of Headache Disorders guidelines. Some of the pointers that you need to look for in order to diagnose the vestibular migraine are as follows:

1. Experiencing moderate or severe vertigo episodes lasting minutes to hours.

2. Getting migraine previously or still with or without an aura.

3. There are 50% chances that you may experience any of the following vertigo episodes:

• Do you face painful sensitivity to light or sound? [known as photophobia and phonophobia, respectively]
• Are you sense any visual aura?
• Do you suffer a severe headache?
• Is your headache centered on one side of your head?
• Does your headache feel like pulsating?
• Is the intensity of your headache moderate or severe?
• Does routine physical activity worsen your headache?

4. Any other condition that can help you explain your symptoms better.

So, these are the various ways that can be helpful to diagnose vestibular migraine. Although there is no test, you can know about it with these diagnoses. There are numerous reasons that cause vestibular migraine. Hence, here are some listed; so, keep in mind and try to avoid such circumstances.

Causes of Vestibular Migraine

There can be various reasons that cause vestibular migraine. Hence, 10 Most common causes that you should look for are as follows:

• Exercise
• Noise
• Menstruation
• Menopause
• Changes in Weather or Barometric Pressure
• Stress or Anxiety
• Too little or too much sleep
• Hunger by missing meals
• Hormonal changes in teenagers
• Dehydration by not taking enough water

Some of your foods and drinks can be a great trigger of vestibular migraine. Hence, here is a complete list of foods you must avoid as they can cause vestibular migraine.

• Coffee
• Chocolate
• Red Wine
• Aged Cheeses
• Dietary triggers
• Processed Meats
• Sodas With Caffeine
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

So, these are the various causes of vestibular migraine that you should keep in mind. Also, you should know the signs, noticing which you should reach the doctor for the best treatment. Here are some symptoms of vestibular migraine enlisted for you.

Symptoms of Vestibular Migraine

The vertigo episodes can be the main symptoms of a vestibular migraine happening spontaneously. The most-known symptoms of vestibular migraine are as follows:

• Neck Pain
• Lightheadedness
• Nausea and Vomit
• Sensitive to Sound
• Vision Problems
• Problems in Balancing
• A Numb or Tingling Feeling
• Disorientation or Confusion
• Pressure in the Head or the Ear
• Tinnitus or Ringing in the Ears
• Light, Sound, or Smell Sensitive
• Disturbances in Visual, Such as Flashing Lights, Spots, or Blurring
• Complete Loss of Vision
• Unsteady Feeling, Like Sitting in a Rocking Boat
• Long-Lasting Dizziness [More Than a Few Minutes]
• Feeling Dizzy Looking At Moving Objects Such as Cars or People Walking
• Motion Sickness [Sickness or Dizziness While Moving Head, Eyes, or Body]
• Discomfort Turning, Bending Down, or Looking Up

So, these are the various symptoms that you may experience while suffering from a vestibular migraine. Hence, here are some treatments you can consider for vestibular migraine.

Treatment of Vestibular Migraine

You can get relief from vestibular migraine with drugs prescribed for vertigo. Moreover, you can treat the vestibular migraine with some changes in your lifestyle and remedies. Here are some most advised changes and medications you may use to treat such conditions.

Changes in Lifestyle to Treat Vestibular Migraine

• Get enough sleep and rest

• Regularly do some exercises

• Drink a lot of water

• Take activities like meditation and gardening for stress reduction

• Take a water pill and avoid salty foods if menstruation is a cause of your migraines.

Drugs As Per Doctor Prescription

Tricyclic Antidepressants

• Amitriptyline

• Nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor)

Beta-Blockers

• Atenolol (Tenormin),

• Metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL)

• Nadolol (Corgard)

• Propranolol (Inderal XL, Inderal LA, and InnoPran XL)

Calcium Channel Blockers

• Verapamil (Isoptin)

Triptans

• Sumatriptan (Imitrex)

Anti-Seizure Drugs

• Lamotrigine (Lamictal)

• CGRP Antagonists

• Erenumab (Aimovig)

• Gabapentin (Gralise, Horizant, Neurontin),

• Topiramate (Qudexy XR, Topamax, Trokendi XR)

• Valproate (Depakote, Depakene, Stavzor)

SSRIs

• Citalopram (Celexa),

• Escitalopram (Lexapro),

• Fluoxetine (Prozac, Rapiflux, Sarafem, Selfemra),

• Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva) and sertraline (Zoloft)

SNRIs

• Duloxetine (Cymbalta, Irenka)

• Venlafaxine (Effexor)

So, these are the various advised changes in lifestyle and drugs prescribed for vestibular migraine. Also, here are some of the devices you may find helpful to treat vestibular migraine.

Devices with the possibility of getting relief

Technology is developing in order to ease the treatments of various health conditions. Just like that, several devices can be helpful to treat the symptoms of vestibular migraine. Hence, 4 Devices are as follows:

• Cefaly
• SpringTMS or eNeura sTMS
• gammaCore
• Nerivio [remote electrical neuromodulation]

So, these are the devices you can consider to treat vestibular migraine. You can see good improvement in your health with this guide.

Hence, here is an overview of the vestibular migraine with causes, symptoms & treatment. You can get relief from such conditions by consulting with an ear specialist.

Hope, you will find this article beneficial to know the various causes, symptoms & treatment of vestibular migraine.

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