What’s A Migraine?

A migraine is a kind of headache that can lead to severe throbbing pain or a pulsating sensation, usually on one side of your head or the other. It’s often paired with other side effects like nausea, vomiting, and intense sensitivity to sound and light. If you suffer from a migraine attack, it can go on for hours or days, and the discomfort can be so extreme as to restrict how you perform daily responsibilities.

What’s PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health ailment caused by a horrifying event — either witnessing or experiencing it. Symptoms can manifest as flashbacks, bad dreams, and anxiety, plus uncontrollable thoughts about what happened.

Most people who survive a trauma may have temporary problems adjusting and coping but typically get better over time and with good self-care. Symptoms that worsen, persist for months or years, and inhibit your daily life, could be signs of PTSD.

Symptoms & Causes of Migraines

Even though we don’t completely understand what causes a migraine, environmental and genetic influences seem to play a part in their development. Watch for symptoms which include:

• Constipation
• Mood changes, like depression or euphoria
• Food cravings
• Visual stimuli, like seeing different shapes, brightly illuminated spots, or bursts of light
• Pain generally on one side of the head, but frequently on both sides
• Pain that pulses or throbs 
• Being physically exhausted for a day following a migraine attack

Symptoms & causes of PTSD

A traumatic event, stress, inherited mental health risks, temperament, and how one’s brain regulates chemicals and hormones can all contribute to the development of PTSD. Symptoms may include:

• Recurrent, unwanted, disturbing memories of what happened
• Avoidance of activities, people, or places that are reminders of what happened
• Negative thoughts about yourself, others, or the world
• Memory problems
• Being easily frightened or shocked
• Self-destructive behavior

Are Migraines & PTSD Related?

“Migraine is a common, often disabling disorder associated with a significant personal and societal burden. The presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may increase this disability substantially. Migraine and PTSD are up to 3 times more common in women than in men. The divergence in prevalence rates of migraine and PTSD between the sexes after puberty suggests that gonadal hormones play an important role. In addition, the preponderance of PTSD in women may be related to their higher rates of interpersonal trauma, the most common cause of PTSD. However, recent data suggest that although the odds of PTSD are increased in both women and men with episodic migraine, this association is stronger in men than women,” according to a study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Further studies by the American Headache Society reveal that “PTSD prevalence rates have been shown to be increased in those with migraine in multiple cohorts. In one general population study, the 12-month PTSD prevalence rate in migraineurs was 14.3%. The lifetime PTSD prevalence rate was 21.5% in migraineurs compared to 2.1% (12-month) and 4.5% (lifetime) in those without headache disorders. Further, the 12-month and lifetime odds of PTSD in migraineurs were noted to be greater or comparable to the odds for either major depression or generalized anxiety in episodic migraineurs. Notably, PTSD symptoms preceded migraine symptoms in almost 70% of those with migraine and PTSD.”

Many symptoms of migraine and PTSD can be effectively managed with ketamine therapy.

Diagnosis & Treatment

If you suffer from migraines, a medical doctor may perform tests, including magnetic resonance imaging or computerized tomography scans, to uncover the source of your headaches. PTSD may also require diagnosis by a medical doctor, but in some cases, you can expect to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to understand better what’s causing the symptoms. In the case of a psychiatric examination, your doctor will compare your symptoms with diagnostic criteria before making a final diagnosis.

To treat migraine or PTSD symptoms, your healthcare provider may recommend store-bought pain relievers, self-help, lifestyle changes, opioids, anti-nausea drugs, psychotherapy, or ketamine infusion therapy.

Final Thoughts

Research has shown that migraines and PTSD are inextricably related to one another. Symptoms of one can trigger symptoms of the other, and vice versa. While millions of people worldwide are affected by both, symptoms of PTSD and migraines can be effectively treated in different ways. IV ketamine therapy helps you rewrite the limiting stories you tell. Contact us today at Soft Reboot Wellness to learn more.

Reviewed by Dr. Sara Herman

Medical Disclaimer: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Ketamine therapy should only be pursued under the supervision of a licensed medical provider familiar with your full medical and psychiatric history. Individual results vary. Off-label treatments like IV ketamine for mental health conditions carry risks that should be discussed thoroughly with a qualified provider before beginning. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or thoughts of self-harm, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to your nearest emergency room.

The post Are Migraines & PTSD Related? appeared first on Soft Reboot Wellness.

What is Ketamine?

Ketamine is a medicine that originated as a surgical anesthetic in the early 1960s. Early studies found it had psychoactive properties, including creating an out-of-body sensation and feeling of unreality – making it a potential solution for anxiety, chronic pain, substance use disorder, and many other physical and psychiatric illnesses. More than 50 years would pass before a version of ketamine would receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as therapy for treatment-resistant depression.

What is Substance Use Disorder?

Substance use disorder, also called drug addiction, is an illness that affects your brain and renders you incapable of controlling the use of a legal or illegal substance like nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, or others. It can have severe consequences, leading to illegal or risky behavior, spending all your money and time on getting the substance you’re addicted to, and other physical and mental health problems.

Ketamine as a Treatment for Substance Use Disorder

In addition to being used as a pre- and post-surgical anesthetic, ketamine has also gained a foothold as a sedative and for treating symptoms of mental and physical illness, including depression, chronic pain, and problems related to substance use disorder. As is the case with many forms of treatment, no one is 100% certain as to how ketamine works, but there are many educated guesses.

At the basic level, ketamine is believed to strengthen or repair damaged or weakened neurotransmitters in the brain, like glutamate and serotonin. These chemical messengers are responsible for transmitting and receiving signs flowing between the central nervous system and the rest of the body. If glutamate and other messengers don’t work the way they should, parts of the brain responsible for controlling reward, learning based on rewards, and how we respond to pain, pleasure, and distress stop working. When that happens, people can become more susceptible to addiction and substance use disorder.

Specific areas of the brain related to addiction on which ketamine can have a positive effect include:

• The basal ganglia, responsible for constructive forms of motivation, like the pleasure you get from eating, hanging out with friends, and physical relationships, is needed for positive habits and routines in daily life. Ketamine’s effects on the basal ganglia are still being investigated in non-human test subjects.
• The extended amygdala influences anxiety, irritability, and nervousness, which may happen after you stop using an addictive substance. Afterward, feelings of elation subside – forcing you to find and use the drug again. Someone who’s addicted may react negatively in emotionally charged situations, and it’s believed that ketamine may reduce negative consequences related to amygdala function.
• The prefrontal cortex is the brain’s main hub for decision-making, planning, self-control, solving problems, and thinking. It’s believed that ketamine’s fast-acting anti-depressive effects can positively impact neurotransmitter function in the prefrontal cortex.

Though more research is needed, it appears that ketamine infusion therapy, when combined with psychotherapy, has a positive effect on people who abuse certain substances. In one trial for people with a cocaine addiction, a single dose of ketamine produced a number of significant treatment outcomes in adults undergoing mindfulness-based behavioral adjustment, like endorsing abstinence, diminishing craving, and lowering the chance of relapse.

Another study of participants with alcohol dependence also showed promising results. In this case, treatment with three ketamine infusions was well tolerated in patients and was linked to more days of abstaining from alcohol at a 6-month check-up. “The findings suggest a possible beneficial effect of adding psychological therapy alongside ketamine treatment.”

Find a Specialty Clinic Near You

If you’ve been living with substance use disorder and finally received a formal diagnosis, you know the challenge of beating addiction and regaining control of your life will be hard – but not impossible. Your healthcare provider may recommend combining different forms of treatment, like psychotherapy and certain medicine, or diet and lifestyle changes. Another option? Ask about ketamine infusion therapy, normally available at specialty clinics nationwide.

Reviewed by Dr. Sara Herman

Medical Disclaimer: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Ketamine therapy should only be pursued under the supervision of a licensed medical provider familiar with your full medical and psychiatric history. Individual results vary. Off-label treatments like IV ketamine for mental health conditions carry risks that should be discussed thoroughly with a qualified provider before beginning. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or thoughts of self-harm, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to your nearest emergency room.

The post How Does Ketamine Treat Substance Use Disorder? appeared first on Soft Reboot Wellness.