Migraines and ME/CFS - Discussion on how they may be related

[Ryan31337]

People say they're triggers because they confuse the consequence of the craving with the thing that really triggered it.

I relate to that.

For decades I also assumed that I was foolishly "triggering" migraine the next morning by staying up too late, where I'd have an unusual boost of energy and want to work late - I've come to realise that energy boost was just a prodrome too.

Lack of sleep is a trigger for migraine, but for me that takes a few consecutive late nights, not just one without any other stresses.

 

[Mij]

When I entered menopause 11 years ago, I experienced bizarre episodes of turning purple/red all over my body, The tingling sensation started on the top of my head and moved downwards, I didn't feel hot or sweat. I looked in the mirror and I appeared severely sunburned. I called the emergency health nurse because I was panicked and thought I had an infection. My body returned to normal after 40 minutes, and it felt exactly like post-migraine without the headache /aura. I felt very sleepy and post-sickness migraine.

This occurred once/twice a year for 7 years. The exact same onset and same recovery period. The only difference was the red skin discolouration migrated differently, it was mostly around my joints, knuckles, knees, and ankles, back, nose and ears. I also felt a mild itchy sensation.

I haven't found any information online about this bizarre occurrence, and my GP told me, "I've never heard of that before" when she was in practice for 35 years. Seriously, I can't be the only person on earth who experienced this.

I haven't had a migraine in over 11 years since menopause. Did something switch off in the hypothalamus?

 

[hotblack]

The new genetic study revealed evidence that mutations in the gene SCN2A — which was previously associated with epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder — can also cause both familial and sporadic hemiplegic migraine

Nothing much going on in DecodeME LocusZoom for SCN2A sadly

 

[hotblack]

The links between occurrence, symptoms, hormones and sex differences are really interesting. And wow @Mij that sounds like quite an experience!

I only experienced migraines since getting me/cfs, onset and worsening of which included periods of severe headaches and nausea but only had a period of auras after being ill for some years. My mum started getting them when she was about my age and they’ve continued throughout her life, with and without auras, she doesn’t have me/cfs but does have PD so more potential neurological intrigue! (Or coincidence).

But that people seem to grow into or out of them perhaps is interesting.

 

[forestglip]

I don't think this thread has anything about comorbidity between ME/CFS and migraine yet, so here are two studies that say having one increases the risk of having the other. Disclaimer that I've only read the abstracts.

Increased risk of chronic fatigue syndrome in patients with migraine: A retrospective cohort study (2015, J Psychosom Res.)

After adjustment for the covariates, the risk of CFS was 1.5-fold higher in the migraine cohort than in the comparison cohort (52.72 vs. 28.85 per 10,000 person-years). Intriguingly, the risk was most prominent in the oldest group (≥ 65 years), with a 2.11-fold increased risk (95% confidence interval 1.31-3.41) of CFS. In addition, the adjusted cumulative incidence of CFS in the follow-up years was higher in the migraine group (log-rank test, P < .0001), and CFS incidence appeared to increase with the frequency of migraine diagnoses.

Migraine headaches in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): comparison of two prospective cross-sectional studies (2011, BMC Neurol)

Migraine headaches were found in 84%, and tension-type headaches in 81% of Cohort 2 CFS. This compared to 5% and 45%, respectively, in HC [healthy controls].

CFS subjects had higher prevalences of MO [migraine without aura] and MA [migraine with aura] than HC

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

I don't think this thread has anything about comorbidity between ME/CFS and migraine yet, so here are two studies that say having one increases the risk of having the other. Disclaimer that I've only read the abstracts.

I don't think the data gathering methods in either of those is reliable.
One really needs a population-based cohort and precise clinical assessment. I don't know whether the CureME cohort reported on migraine.

 

[forestglip]

One really needs a population-based cohort and precise clinical assessment. I don't know whether the CureME cohort reported on migraine.

But CureME wouldn't be population-based, would it?

For the first 2015 paper, it at least looks like basically a random sample of the entire Taiwan population:

The NHI [Taiwan National Health Insurance] cover rate has reached over 99% of the 23 million residents of Taiwan since 1998. The Taiwan government entrusted the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) to manage all reimbursement claims data from the NHI and to establish the National Health Insurance Research Databases (NHIRD).

The study population was constructed from a subset of the NHIRD called the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID). The LHID was built from one million randomly sampled insured individuals from 1996 to 2000.

The outcome definition might not be precise though:

An instructive study outcome was the occurrence of CFS (ICD-9-CM code: 780.71).

780.71 is "chronic fatigue syndrome".

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

I was talking of the east UK general practice based cohort in the UK ME Biobank.