Cluster Headache Awareness Day
March 21 is Cluster Headache Awareness Day. Cluster headache is one of the most intense and debilitating headache disorders, yet it remains widely misunderstood and under-diagnosed. Those affected often experience excruciating pain in recurring cycles, significantly impacting their daily lives. On Cluster Headache Awareness Day,…
Cluster Headache Awareness – Bridget Cucksey’s Story
Your Voice Interview Series: Bridget Cucksey’s Story Bridget Cucksey served in the military for 16 years. In 2010, while deployed in Afghanistan, Bridget started experiencing cluster headaches and migraine attacks in 2010. Initially presenting as occasional headaches, by 2018 they had become chronic. Bridget’s pain…
Migraine Canada in the News: Dr. Melinyshyn on New Canadian Guidelines
Migraine Canada’s Medical Advisory Committee member, Dr. Alex Melinyshyn, was recently featured in Healthing.ca to discuss the newly updated Canadian guidelines for migraine treatment and prevention. In this interview, Dr. Melinyshyn dives deeper into why these guidelines are an important step forward for people living…
Migraine Canada – National Women’s Show 2025
Migraine Canada is excited to be part of the National Women’s Show in Calgary on April 5-6, 2025! If you’re visiting us from the show, welcome. We are dedicated to providing trusted migraine education, resources, and support to help you take control of your health….
Ramadan & Migraine
In 2025, Ramadan is expected to start in the first week of March (based on the lunar calendar). Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims fast from pre-dawn until either sunset or end of twilight. In Canada this year, the…
Navigating Migraine and Headache Care in Canada: A Resource Guide
For Canadians managing migraine, finding effective healthcare support is essential. Navigating the system, however, requires understanding available options and identifying which providers offer genuine expertise in headache and migraine care. Here, we discuss what you can expect from primary care providers, how to identify specialists…
Mastermind
Physicians receive little training on migraine in medical school. The Canadian Headache Society (CHS) has developed an accredited online-learning platform on advancing migraine management in primary care. The program has been certified by the College of Family physicians of Canada. All physicians in Canada are…
gammaCore Sapphire Device for Non-Invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Migraine
What is it? The gammaCore Sapphire device is a hand-held device that the patient uses to stimulate the vagus nerve in the neck. How is it used? The device is held against the side of the neck on the side on which the patient has…
Gepants: preventives AND an acute treatment for migraine
I heard about gepants, Nurtec, Ubrevly…what are these new medications? First, let’s say that “gepant” is the name of a class, or a family of medications, a bit like “triptan” or “anti-inflammatory”. At present time, there are three members of this family available in the…
Canadian Update: Lasmiditan (Reyvow™ in the US) will not be coming to Canada
An announcement was recently made that lasmiditan, a new medication for the treatment of migraine attacks, developed by Eli Lilly, will not be available in Canada. This news was disappointing as more options are always welcome and needed for people with migraine. Lasmiditan acts on…
gammaCore Sapphire Device for Non-Invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Migraine
What is it? The gammaCore SapphireTM (nVNS) is a hand-held device that the patient uses to stimulate the vagus nerve in the neck. The vagus nerve is an important highway of communication between the body and the brain and plays an important role in regulating…
Migraine Talks Podcast
Dear Friends, Migraine Canada™ is proud to present its latest media production, “Migraine Talks” with Dr. Elizabeth Leroux. Migraine Talks is a series of 12 episodes which you can listen to on MigraineCanada.org, on Apple Podcast, on Google Podcast, and on Spotify! While exploring the basics…
Canadian Clusterbusters : time to unite
The worst pain of all Attacks of excruciating pain around the eye and temple, just on this one side. A hot poker pushed inside your face. Your eye tears, your nose runs. For an hour or two, you are in hell. The attack is brutal,…
A case demonstrating how a combination of Botox and erenumab can improve person’s quality of life: research from a Quebec team
Both Botox and CGRP antibodies can be effective for Chronic Migraine. Still, 50 to 50% of patients do not get this response for Botox or CGRP antibodies. What if a combination was used? A team from Quebec City reports on a 52 years-old woman suffering…
Can travelling to a higher altitude trigger migraine attacks?
For some people with migraine, the answer seems to be yes. In people who climbed a mountain in Colorado (4,300 metres high), people with a history of migraine were 2.5 times more likely to develop a headache than those who did not have migraine. They were…
Combining Botox and a CGRP antibody: should it be covered by insurance companies?
It has come to the attention of Migraine Canada™ that many insurance companies are now refusing to cover the combination of Botox and a CGRP monoclonal antibody (BTX + CGRP MAB). Currently available CGRP monoclonal antibodies are erenumab (Aimovig) and galcanezumab (Emgality). Fremanezumab (Ajovy) is…
Tips to keep your mental health for physicians…and everyone else!
Inspired from a document by the Psychiatrist Association of Quebec distributed to physicians. But hey, other people can benefit from good advice too! Living during COVID-19 is not easy. Depending on a person’s character, COVID related stressors, confinement settings, and other factors, different feelings can…
Trigeminal neuralgia
What is trigeminal neuralgia? Trigeminal neuralgia is a type of facial pain. It is caused by a problem with the trigeminal nerve, which is a nerve that is responsible for sensation in the face. The pain is typically described as sharp, brief, electrical. The pain is…
Tension Type Headache
A tension type headache is very different from a migraine. Here are a few facts about tension type headache. What does a tension type headache feel like? The pain is mild to moderate, not severe, which does not prevent you from functioning Pain on both sides…
I have sinus headaches… could it be migraine?
Patients with migraine are often falsely diagnosed as having sinus headache or “sinusitis”. Can a sinusitis cause a headache? YES. A true sinusitis can cause severe headaches, sometimes associated with facial tenderness when the areas over the sinuses are touched or when the person bends…
