Fluorescent lighting triggers

[SLPinNY]

Good afternoon.  Since starting at her present college, my daughter has been experiencing migraine headaches not long after sitting down in her classes each day.  She has noticed that the headaches are very, very bad with accompanying dizziness and feeling of being "out of it"; however the symptoms subside once she has been out of class for several hours.  She says she almost feels as though there are little brain zaps occuring when the headaches start. Relpax helps, but she doesn't always take the medicine quickly enough, and often needs 2 pills in order for the headache to go away.  She does not get headaches on the weekends.  After seeing her doctor twice, we have come to the conclusion that the lighting in the classrooms is trigerring these episodes.  Other than takin gsome sort of daily medication to keep the headaches away, are there any other solutions for her?  We will talk to the school about changing bulbs, but I'm not sure how they will respond to such a request.  Your opinion?

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Brain zaps are usually associated with changing serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain and can be modulated by various medications like Effexor.
Is your daughter taking any medication for depression or anxiety?
Ocular migraines can also cause brain zaps. They are also seen in people who are more susceptible to anxiety and depression.
At the moment it seems to be unrelated to the TBI. I would suggest you to consult a neurologist about it. Take care!

[SLPinNY]

Thank you for your response.  We know that the headaches are not due to eye problems (she has seen her eyeMD) and she is very good about eating every few hours and drinking water.  She reports that when these headaches start, she often feels as though she is having little brain zaps and gets tired along with the headache.  She says that she feels like she is almost unable to communicate when her brain gets into this mode.  She had a mild TBI 5 years ago with post concussive syndrome.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Good afternoon. Thanks for writing in.
If the headaches are being triggered only in the classroom it is quite possible that the lightsource is the trigger.
However it is important to make sure that these are migraine headaches and not headaches due to poor eyesight or low blood sugar levels and dehydration.
If these are indeed migraines the best treatment is avoidance of trigger. It would be best if you can somehow convince the school to change light bulbs.
There are migraine preventive medications available like Topamax and beta blockers which however need to be used with caution. Apart from these magnesium supplemsnt and Migravent which is a natural supplement have shown good results.
Take care!