h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Migraines are apparently more common among people with epilepsy than the general population, and vice versa. Some anti-epilepsy drugs are also used to treat migraine. People wih either condition can experience auras. I don't know if the link is strong enough to warrant mentioning it, though.

Hed

Hi! I have asked this question before, too. I am a 4th-generation migraineur and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy (or complex partial seizures) when I was 24. Every doctor I have ever spoken to just says this is a coincidence. I think it all goes back to stress and hormones.

1) Having seizures is stressful - I wouldn't doubt that it could bring on a migraine.

2) Hormones - it's well known that migraines are more common with women and also that epilepsy is affected by the levels of estrogen in your bloodstream.

3) I think that if you have a genetic predisposition to epilepsy, you'll probably have a predisposition to migraines.

A final thought... has anyone ever noticed that there is a high degree of red hair in families with migraineurs? Now, don't look like that! I'm not kidding. There is red hair on both sides of my family .. and both sides suffer from migraines. Plus, I have talked to a lot of migraineurs who either have red hair or are related to someone with it.

Think about it.

In Ireland, one in every 5 people has a red-haired gene. But I don't think Migraine is any more common here than anywhere else.