Can Nootropics Treat Headaches and Dizziness? Neurologist Answers
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Nootropics are natural or synthetic drugs used to restore cognitive functions, including those impaired due to ischemia, trauma, and respiratory hypoxia. Healthy people are often prescribed nootropic drugs for psychoemotional stress and to improve mental performance. Currently, more than 10 nootropic drugs have been synthesized, the most popular of which is piracetam (nootropil).
So, if nootropics improve blood circulation in the central nervous system and “charge” the brain, can they help get rid of headaches? According to Natalia Gaivoronskaya, in 80% of cases, headaches are caused by migraines or tension pain. Clear treatment regimens have long been developed for these conditions, but nootropics are not mentioned in either Russian or foreign recommendations.
"Incorrect treatment of headaches with nootropics instead of effective therapy leads to the depletion of one's own pain-relieving system, and the headache becomes chronic"
If in addition to such "treatment" a large number of painkillers are taken, a person risks getting a particularly severe form of headache - abuse headache, that is, caused by long-term use of medications. It is characterized by high intensity and can provoke depression, anxiety and panic attacks. It is very difficult to cure this condition.
To save your time and money, we have collected all the information about what conditions require contacting this specialist.
Read the articleThe most common causes of dizziness are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and persistent postural-perceptual vertigo (PPPV), explained Natalia Gaivoronskaya.
With BPPV, a person suffers from "helicopters" - a sensation of intense rotation when turning the head. This condition is treated with positional maneuvers or Epley exercises, during which the specialist changes the position of the otolith crystals located in the vestibule of the inner ear by turning the patient's head. This method of treatment is the most studied and has proven its effectiveness, and it only takes a couple of minutes.
But if you try to treat this type of dizziness with nootropic drugs, the otoliths will constantly provoke new attacks, which will become a real torment for the patient.
“A person will think that he is seriously ill, will take useless nootropics twice a year and still suffer from dizziness”
As for PPPG, this disorder often occurs against the background of anxiety and depressive disorders. It is treated with special vestibular gymnastics, psychotherapy and antidepressants. But if you "prescribe" nootropics, dizziness will haunt you for years and even decades.
Elena Gaivoronskaya noted that both headaches and dizziness are almost never caused by vascular pathology, even if tortuosity or hypoplasia are found on ultrasound. This means that stimulating blood circulation in these conditions is at least useless.
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