I am an NHS GP with a specialist interest in Headache, who works in South London. I have three major passions in my life: exercise (or… Read more “About Me”
Hormonal migraines
Changes in hormone levels are a potent trigger for migraine attacks but only less 10% of suffers are classified as having “menstrual migraine”. This can mean that any woman who suffers with migraine has the potential to have an attack around menstruation or at other points in the cycle where hormone levels fluctuate.
Anxiety and Depression
Are we all getting more depressed? Depression is the third most common reason for people to visit the GP, with anxiety being the most common psychiatric disorder… Read more “Anxiety and Depression”
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Cramping abdominal pains, bloating, diarrhoea or conversely bouts of constipation: these are all common symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It’s a pretty common problem thought to affect 10-15% of the population with only 10-20% of sufferers ever going to see their GP.
Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) – detoxing
Medication overuse headache happens when people take painkillers too often to treat a migraine and can actually cause more headaches instead of treating them.
Migraine – Preventative Medication
I like to think of preventative medication as a sort of “reset” button: they make you less likely to have a migraine. Essentially the aim of any preventative treatment is to reduce both the severity of the migraine and the frequency of attacks.
Migraine Triggers
Triggers can be internal or external and are essentially any change or event which causes a migraine to occur.
Treating Migraines (acute treatment)
So you’ve established you suffer with migraine. So what do you do?
Sleep
Insomnia affects one third of the UK population. That’s a staggering number of people who suffer with difficulties sleeping. Insomnia is defined as a difficulty getting to… Read more “Sleep”
Getting into exercise
Fitness is the new “hot-trend”. You just have to scroll through Instagram to see a plethora of posts dedicated to home-based workouts, HIIT regimes, Weight Training, Running, swanky new exercises classes… the list is endless.
Migraine
“I’ve come to see you about my headache.” It’s a phrase that leaves many GPs with a feeling of dread. Headache is a bit of a nightmare. Most people with a severe or new headache are terrified about the worst case scenario: Cancer. Doctors worry about missing other critical headaches and, once they’ve been ruled out, trying to reassure the patient that the headache is unlikely to be sinister but…what do they do about it? What’s the diagnosis?
