Chronic Intractable Migraines

Chronic intractable migraine, also referred to as status migraine or status migrainosus, is a severe migraine that has continued for greater than 72 hours and has been refractory to usual therapies for migraine. When a patient experiences an intractable migraine, additional treatment is often necessary to break the cycle.

Symptoms of a chronic migraine occur at least 15 days in each month and for at least three consecutive months. A chronic migraine must also involve two of the following migraine characteristics for a minimum of eight days in a month:

• Causes moderate to severe pain.
• Predominantly affects one side of the head.
• Causes a throbbing, pulsating sensation in the side of the brain affected by the headache.
• Begins or is made worse due to routine physical activity.