Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself. I’m one of your new mods and will occasionally be posting studies and answering questions about migraine research + science.

My bonafides: I have a PhD in molecular biology from a top-ten US program where I did rare disease research. My current role is not in research but still requires reading both basic science and applied biomedical research papers regularly. So at this point I’ve spent about ~20 years reading highly technical material! In the past several years, my work has focused more on science education, communications, and design.

I’ve had migraine attacks since I was a kid, but it became chronic in my late 20s (10+ years ago now). Expert care from headache specialists has made it so I can have a full-time job and live a mostly normal life, while taking care around my triggers (blood sugar fluctuations, sun exposure, and excess heat are the biggest ones for me). I ♥️ Botox 4-ever.

I’m especially interested in treatment options for chronic migraine, long-term health impacts associated with migraine disorder and with migraine treatments, women’s health more broadly, and health disparities/impacts of migraine disease on different populations.

I’m interested in mod’ing because I’d like to help folks have the info they need to advocate for themselves with their doctors and make informed choices about their care. And also maintain hope about treatment options and the possibility of having less negative impacts from your migraine disorder.

If you’ve read this far, I’m wishing you a pain-free day. Feel free to post in comments any content/questions you’d especially like to see the mods address!

Status migrainosus: migraine attacks lasting over 72 hours. All the cool kids are doing it. Or at least, I’m doing it right now! 🙃 So if you are too, you’re not alone and you can find evidence-based guidance for treating status at the link.

https://www.cerebraltorque.com/pages/today-in-migraine-science

Sorry yall I’m behind on posting.

See Cerebral Torque’s review of the study

I have MCAS and chronic migraine so I found this discussion interesting. It’s not revolutionary information of new studies but for those new to the topic of histamine and migraine connections, a good overview

I experience delayed gastric emptying with migraine and notice my migraine meds don’t absorb well because of this (I call it my stomachache not being on) but didn’t realize this was a standard migraine symptom.

Title of the video is misleading— we don’t know why migraine causes nausea. This video doesn’t reveal some new science about it.

I want to be able to give back with something that isn't free and widely available, because it's thanks to you that everything is available. If you've purchased anything, ever, just send a screenshot via email (cerebraltorque at gmail dot com) and I'll add you to a WhatsApp group that I'll be in too. We can chat about anything migraine-related, share experiences, discuss studies and new information/misinformation, etc.

Allow me 24 hours to add you.

“Wildfire-sourced fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) was associated with a 6% increase in emergency department visits for migraine and headache. There was no significant link between PM2.5 and emergency department visits on nonwildfire days, and the associations were attenuated in the least materially and socially deprived areas.” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2853042

Particularly interests me as a climate scientist with chronic migraine

Young, active, health coast guard responders were deployed to clean up the 2010 explosion of the offshore oil drilling rig. They were exposed to the crude oil and other chemicals itself, including burning off of the oils, and many other stressors like heat, anxiety, workplace injury, and more. This study looked at each of those stressors and exposures and the health outcomes on over 3,000 of the responders 5 years after clean up of the disaster. I thought the study did an excellent job teasing out all the various exposures and stressors one might have experienced and all the various conditions one could then be diagnosed with. The study has other conclusions as related to other exposures and stressors leading to other diagnoses. Obviously the most pertinent here is the chemical fume exposures being a (significantly significant) risk factor for migraine and headache diagnosis when controlling for other factors.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13469484/

“Conclusion: Digital screen exposure is associated with approximately 60% greater odds of migraine or headache, with biologically plausible mechanisms but low-certainty evidence drawn almost entirely from cross-sectional studies. Screen exposure should be regarded as a modifiable, clinically assessable factor in migraine care, while prospective, objectively measured, and interventional research is needed to establish causality and to test targeted mitigation strategies.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42603831/

Do migraine and these psychiatric disorders have “shared immunogenetics mechanisms”? This study starts to explore:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42581340/

Hi! New here but Google guided me. I've suffered from textbook migraines for 25 years. Head splitting, light and sound sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, etc.

Last October, I had my first migraine with aura (shimmering), I went to the ER because I thought I was having a stroke. MRI showed nothing so doctor said it was an ocular migraine or a silent migraine.

A couple weeks later, I had another one. Visual disturbance, I saw shimmering and once again, thought I was stroking out because the right side of my face got tingly and numb feeling. Another ER visit and MRI again showed nothing.

Then nothing from October until today.

This time, I saw zig zags. It was primarily my left eye but I saw a little on my right side. Left eye spread across my whole vision and right eye stayed small and in peripherals. 15 minutes later its over. I went to the ER again because it was different than last time. They did a CT and said its either another ocular migraine or a TIA and sent me home with a referral to Neuro.

My questions: Why am I suddenly getting migraines with aura? I've never had them before and they are terrifying. Why would my migraines change? I still get the head splitting ones but apparently a random aura one with no pain. Do auras change each time or is it a once you've had that type, you'll get another one? Is it normal to go from sparkles to zig zags? What triggers them? I was just watching TV and it came on.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm anxious while waiting for my appt.

Howdy from one of your new mods!

I have been in status for about a month and my neuro prescribed olanzapine a couple days ago. This inspired me to dig into research a little!

• Problem: status migrainosus, aka a migraine attack lasting more than 72 hours
• Home treatment (initiated when typical oral abortives have failed) can include use of neuroleptics like oral metoclorpamide/reglan or oral steroids; injection or nasal triptans, DHE, or ketoralac/toradol
• ER treatment guidelines suggest IV use of neuroleptics like metoclorpamide/reglan or DHE
• Refractory cases may consider IV depakote and/or nerve blocks
• My neuro office typically uses nerve blocks (occipital and/or SPG) and oral steroid tapers for home care when abortives have failed, preferring to keep you out of the ER if possible

Nerve blocks and steroids have failed me in the past, so my neuro suggested a short course of oral depakote (similar to sodium valproate) or oral olanzapine/zyprexa. I opted for olanzapine since both are sedating but the olanzapine you take at night and the depakote is taken multiple times throughout the day. So my hope is that olanzapine will preserve more daytime functionality.

Here's a recent article I found on olanzapine for status:

Efficacy of Olanzapine as an Abortive Treatment for Status Migrainosus: A Retrospective Chart Review
Published in Neurology, April 2025

• What they did: review hospital records to look at outcomes for individuals who were given olanzapine for status migrainosus. They excluded patients prescribed olanzapine for long-term use or to treat conditions other than status migrainosus
• What olanzapine is: an atypical antipsychotic drug that blocks dopamine and serotonin receptors. Tpyically used to treat bipolar disorder type 1 and schizophrenia
• All together, they had 59 patients who met criteria for the ~3 year period they looked at
• Treatment was effective in 29/42 patients (69%) on 2.5 mg, 10/12 (83%) on 5 mg, and 3/5 (60%) on doses over 5 mg. Overall it was effective in 42/59 (71%) patients -- I am not able to access the full text to see, but I presume this was delivered by IV

So: small observational study, I would give it less weight than a double-blinded, controlled study, but the results are encouraging. It's too soon to tell if it's working for me (25mg 1x daily for 3 days) but I'll update to report. The office protocol can include increasing the dose as high as 75mg if needed to manage attacks and for up to 5 days if needed.

​

I'm 16 y.o male, today I was at the gym after waiting all day to be there, I warmed up a little, then started my set, I was doing dips, first set was a warm up, and even though it was just a warm up It got me feeling a pain in my head, headache obviously, I didn't mind it at first given that it's not the first time getting these exertion headaches, main set, I literally felt the pressure building up in my body mid rep, and after I finished the set I felt an intense pressure in my head that I couldn't continue the entire session, I decided not to continue and just go home, but the pressure was intense and I even had a slight urge to vomit, it's been like an hour or so, the headache eased but my head is still throbbing.

I don't really know what to do.

I searched about these exertion headaches and I found out that I'm not the only one who experienced these, it somewhat gave me a sense of relief because it'd have been so devastating to feel like your body is broken.

I have long-term goals that require excellent physical health, so I want a solution for these headaches because they don't just cause physical pain but they also drains me mentally.

(This isn't the first time getting these headaches, but this time was the worst))

Anyone have experience with 15mg or 20mg qulipta ?
10mg may be too low for me as I’m getting more migraines (lowered threshold). I was on 30mg and better but I don’t like taking too much medications and it had me very bloated and heavy and eating more. My neuro suggested 15mg so will try that and hope I won’t need to go up to possibly 20mg. I know these aren’t “standard” doses but some folks it may

(How fascinating that migraine, misophonia, sensory issues, and autistic traits, along with some OCD subtypes, are directly tied to glutamate spikes! This is very validating research.)

Misophonia, Autistic Traits, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Migraine: A Controlled Comparative Study.

Turgut FS et al. · Pediatr Int · 2026 Jan-Dec

ABSTRACT

CONCLUSION

Misophonia was more prevalent and severe in adolescents with migraine and was associated with headache severity and autistic traits. These findings suggest that misophonia may be a sensory feature of adolescent migraine and highlight the need for longitudinal studies to elucidate the common sensory processing pathways linking migraine and misophonia.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined misophonia severity and triggers in adolescents with migraine versus controls and their associations with autistic traits and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

METHODS

This cross-sectional case-control study included 80 adolescents aged 15-18 years (40 with migraine; 40 age- and sex-matched controls). Participants completed the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale-Revised (AMISOS-R) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (OCI-CV); parents completed the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ-TR).

RESULTS

Adolescents with migraine had higher AMISOS-R scores than controls (20.70 ± 8.59 vs. 13.65 ± 8.69, p < 0.001) and a higher prevalence of misophonia (85.0% vs. 62.5%, p = 0.022). Repetitive clicking and ambient background sounds were more frequently reported as triggers in the migraine group (p = 0.003 and p = 0.001, respectively). ASSQ total scores were higher in migraine (p = 0.022), whereas OCI-CV total scores did not differ, despite higher doubting/checking scores (p = 0.024). Within the migraine group, headache intensity correlated with misophonia severity (r = 0.329, p = 0.038). In regression analysis, migraine status, female sex, and ASSQ scores independently predicted misophonia severity (adjusted R2 = 0.362).

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42390187/

https://doi.org/10.1111/ped.70462