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When Taking a Shower Hurts: Migraine and Depression

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Taking a shower can be pretty painful for some people during a migraine attack. And I’m not necessarily referring to migraine pain. I’m talking about allodynia.

When taking a shower HURTS!Allodynia – in this case, cutaneous allodynia, is a strange discomfort and/or pain on the skin, for no normal reason. The slightest touch can cause this pain – wearing jewellery, even standing outside on a windy day – or taking a shower.

It’s a fairly common symptom of migraine, affecting about 2/3 of us, and more common in women (although I have had the dubious pleasure myself).

Sometimes, allodynia is a warning sign, coming before the headache phase of the migraine attack. Repeated episodes of allodynia may also signal a future worsening of migraine, from episodic to chronic.

Researchers in Korea studied 332 patients to find out what other issues may be comorbid with allodynia – what did patients with allodynia have in common?

They found that fewer Korean patients seemed to suffer from allodynia than expected, but there was still a large enough group to draw some tentative conclusions.

As with previous studies, they confirmed that the symptom was most common in women. But they also found that allodynia frequently went along with major depressive disorder. Chronic migraine was also present in many patients, as well as sensitivity to light.

Depression continues to be a tricky thing to understand when it comes to migraine. Although certainly migraine symptoms may make you depressed, there seems to be something else going on that makes the depression worse than expected in some people. The commonality of allodynia and depression may give us further clues into the connection.

As we continue to study, be sure to mention as many symptoms as you can to your doctor. Depression, allodynia, and other symptoms and conditions may help her treat you better. Although some medications may better help patients with allodynia, it’s important to treat migraine – and depression – as a whole, in order to get rid of this possibly disabling symptom.

For more on cutaneous allodynia, check out My Hair Hurts! Migraine and Allodynia.

Also see the study abstract here: Cutaneous Allodynia and Its Risk Factors in Korean Patients with Migraine: A Survey of Two Tertiary Care Hospitals. Another in-depth article on allodynia: Cutaneous Allodynia in the Migraine Population

Sore Muscles? The Migraine, Headache and Depression Connection

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A recent study published in the Journal of Headache and Pain should remind doctors and patients that that we need to pay attention to related symptoms in patients with headache.

When we say that “migraine isn’t just headache”, it’s hard to know how to say simply just what it is. After all, some migraine patients never have a headache. But most have headache plus many other symptoms. And those symptoms are different with every patient.

Major depression, also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, has a complex connection to migraine. It is likely that there are underlying biological and genetic factors that are behind both in some people (although some people with migraine are not depressed).

Muscle soreness and migraineA recent study investigated a third symptom that tends to go along with both major depression and migraine – muscle soreness or pain.

Patients with major depression and anxiety were followed up after two years, and their symptoms were evaluated, including headache, migraine, and muscle pain.

Headache and migraine were strongly associated with pain in the muscles of the neck, shoulder, back, upper limbs, and lower limbs. The researchers suggested that treatment of headache, as well as depression, could help alleviate muscle soreness as well in these patients.

Other studies have suggested that when migraine patients have pain other than headache, they are at further risk to end up with chronic migraine (see Warning Flag: Do you have non-headache pain?).

When patients deal with major issues such as intense migraine attacks and uncontrolled waves of depression, they often don’t even think about the fact that their shoulders are sore. Many symptoms are missed because we are trying to deal with the big ones. But the more symptoms we can get rid of, the better quality of life will be overall.

Do you suffer from muscle soreness or pain, as well as a headache disorder? Have you ever discussed it with your doctor?

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