**By Dolores Devers **
Among the many "joys" of being a woman we are also more likely to suffer from debilitating migraines more than men. Studies show that 3 out of 4 chronic migraine patients are indeed women. Migraines have various symptoms such as sensitivity to light, one-sided head pain, nausea and vomiting. Migraines can be caused by hormonal issues, stress, sleep pattern changes and food among several other possibilities.
Many doctor's dismiss migraine patients as "drug seekers" or "mental cases" which of course adds to the agony of being a chronic migraine sufferer. Although there are many new medications to prevent medications there are still a large percentage of patients that require narcotics to abort a migraine. A lot of patients have to resort to narcotic IV drugs or injectables administered in an emergency room setting. Patients who are only able to get relief with this method are sometimes treated unfairly by the medical profession and dismissed as a "drugy" or "headcase". If you indeed suffer from this condition you should make it a point to educate yourself on causes, triggers and treatments. You can learn more about migraines at WomensHealth.Gov.