Emergency Rooms and Migraine Headaches

The emergency room plays an important role in the treatment of migraines: it’s usually the place of last resort when your treatments fail and the first place you should visit if your migraines present unusual or alarming symptoms.

Even if you’re following your doctor’s treatment plan carefully you may find yourself with a migraine that doesn’t respond well to medication.  First understand that this occasionally happens with migraines and adds to the complexity of treating them.

Anytime you go to the emergency room or an urgent care center for a severe migraine be sure to follow-up with your doctor as soon as possible.  Your doctor will need to evaluate your treatment plan and any medications the hospital doctor may have given you.  Your doctor will want to make sure it doesn’t cause any drug interaction problems.

Many migraine patients may feel frustrated after visiting an emergency room because emergency rooms tend to be fairly busy and treat the patients they perceive need the most immediate attention.  Because a migraine sufferer may not display any outward symptoms of traume they may be forced to wait lengthy amounts of time before being examined.  Some patients report feeling as if emergency room personnel disregard severe migraines as true emergencies.  Instead, patients feel that they’re being bombarded with questions that may imply substance abuse.

You absolutely have the right to prompt attention from emergency room personnel.  However hospital personnel are frequently overworked and must quick assess the status of many patients, some of whom may be experiencing immediate life-threatening conditions.  They must responsibly administer medications which means they must be careful not to give narcotics to suspected drug abusers.  This occurs more in larger urban areas where drug users, unable to obtain drugs on the street, visit the emergency room and fake their pain in order to receive pain killers.

If you need to visit an emergency room it’s imperative that you inform the staff that you’re under the care of a physician for your migraines.  Give them the name of your doctor and suggest that they contact him/her if they have any doubt about your condition.  Another suggestion is that you keep a copy of your treatment plan, or a receipt copy of your last doctor’s visit.  You should also keep a list of your medications with you so hospital staff can safeguard against negative drug interactions.

Although rare, permanent disability or serious health conditions can occur as the result of a very severe migraine attack.

If a migraine lasts longer than 72 hours, seek immediate medical attention.

If a migraine is accompanied by frequent vomiting or diarrhea, seek immediate medical attention.

If you experience aura, confusion, partial paralysis, or speech impairment after the migraine attack subsides, seek immediate medical attention.

If you experience visual impairment in both eyes, gait abnormalities, weakness of the limbs and dizziness, seek immediate medical attention.  You may be experiencing a migraine-related stroke.

If you’re over the age of 55 and experience a severe migraine attack accompanied by aches in the body or extremities, and visual impairment, seek medical attention immediately.  You may be experiencing a temporal arteritis headache which could lead to a stroke or blindness.

The content of this article is not meant to alarm you – instead, it’s meant to educate you so you can make more informed decisions about your situation.  As always, please discuss matters of this nature with your physician so you can receive advice that’s geared to your specific situation.

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