Basilar artery migraine is a condition that arises because of a disorder affecting the basilar artery located in the brainstem. This condition is more commonly seen in children than in adults. Since the basilar artery is the visual center of the brain, a person suffering from basilar artery migraine would undergo vertigo, physical imbalance, double vision and other visual disturbances.

An individual suffering from this disorder has severe headache usually lasting from 5-60 minutes but can continue up to days in severe cases. Aura symptoms are common in basilar artery migraine and on certain occasions the aura is so strong that it causes temporary blindness. The main characteristic that separates this type of migraine common migraine is that in this type of migraine the patient experiences headache pain on both sides of the head whereas in a common migraine there is only one sided headache.

Causes of Basilar Artery Migraine-

Lifestyle: Issues like stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, irregular diet and overindulgence in sex are factors that provoke a basilar artery migraine.

Medication triggers: Birth control pills and heartache relievers are the most common medicinal culprits known to trigger this type of migraine.

Environmental triggers: Weather changes, altitude changes and other factors that constitute environmental changes can also trigger these migraines.

Diet triggers: Including foods such as chocolate, pork, fermented and processed foods in your daily diet can also lead to the occurrence of basilar artery migraine.

Symptoms of Basilar Artery Migraine

• Severe headache on both sides of the head
• Visual disturbances like double vision and erratic movement of the eye.
• Problems with coordination of the muscles.
• Giddiness
• Ringing in the ear
• Hypersensitivity to light and sound
• Problems in critical thinking, judgment and analysis.

Treatment for Basilar Artery Migraine-

The various medicines used to treat this type of migraine are:

• Tri-cyclic antidepressants: Amitriptylene
• Beta-blockers: Propranololis
• Anti-convulsants: Depakote
• Calcium channel blockers