Migraines....

Sawyer

...anyone else get these sons of bitches...the weather changing in the good ol Chicagoland area is killing me....plus I havent had my eyes checked since high school...I'm 30....probably time to do that.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Sawyer wrote:

...anyone else get these sons of bitches...the weather changing in the good ol Chicagoland area is killing me....plus I havent had my eyes checked since high school...I'm 30....probably time to do that.

Imitrex...

End of problem...

Hub.

I have the same problem.

I remember, when, as a teenager, I went to the hospital to have my eyes checked: they said I was slightly long-sighted, and it could possibly be the cause.

A few years later, I finally discovered it was because I was too nervous.

Fortunately, ibuprofen works on me.

_

Yep. :( Since I was 13 (so for 20 years). It's a big problem for me. And I've had my eyes checked & they're fine.

Whizbang

As most people do, I had to look for a cause for mine before I could treat them. For what ever reason, my hormone balance changed at 30 and I started getting them monthly (my favorite - not only would I be a bloated hormonal psycho, I'd have an ice pick stuck in my eye for 15hrs. how's that treating my social life?? ). I found dehyrdration played a large role as well so I started drinking 24oz of water every morning during that week plus some IB. Avoided 90% of them. Bonus was that I wasn't nearly as bloated (still a hormonal psycho but hey no one's perfect). I keep up with the water daily and Excedrin Migraine works better for me than IB now.

Hub.

Yep! But now, you've got another problem: you can't stop going to the bathroom.

Whizbang

Hub. wrote:

Yep! But now, you've got another problem: you can't stop going to the bathroom.

howl!
I hear that...but I'll take it over the ice pick in my eye.

Who Princess

Like Whizbang, mine first started as a monthly visitor. I was 28. By the time I was in my 30s I was having 3-4 a month and it got worse from there. Now I'm 55 and I still have them, although not quite as frequently.

Some of the most helpful things you can do when you start having migraines is learning what your triggers are. You can control some of them, others you can't. Many people react to different foods (or the additives in them), different scents, or changes in their schedule. Things you can do that tend to help are going to sleep and getting up at the same time. Too much sleep or too little can be a problem. I can't skip meals without getting a headache. Being in a room that's too warm or too cold is also a problem. Common foods are chocolate, processed meats, cheese. Also red wine. Common smells that can trigger a migraine are perfume, tobacco smoke, and gasoline. Perfume and smoke are killers for me.

There will also be things that you can't control. Changes in the barometric pressure, hormonal fluctuations (one of the reasons that 75% of migraine patients are women), severe allergies. That's why treatment is so important.

If I could give you any advice it would be DON'T WAIT to see a doctor about it. You may have trouble finding a doctor that knows much about them. In my experience most migraineurs (the classy term for those of us afflicted ) know more about migraines than a typical doctor. But see a doctor and get something for them. Most people avoid this step for a long time and there are some great treatments out there now. As Speedy said, Imitrex is the go to drug for most people. It stops the attacks or at least greatly relieves them. Imitrex is one of whole class of drugs called triptans. I take Zomig ZMT, which is similar to Imitrex. The triptan drugs were first available in the U.S. in the early to mid 90s. They are LIGHT YEARS in improvement from what used to be available. Some of the older treatments like Cafergot made you sicker than the migraine did. I've also found that Excedrin Migraine sometimes helps at the early stages of an attack.

If you have frequent migraines, as I do, you may consider taking a prophylaxis for them. There are quite a few out there and I think I've tried em all! They each have their pluses and minuses. You just have to find the one that works best for you with the fewest side effects.

One other thing: If you have migraines, get used to people telling you "You just need to manage your stress!" Stress will aggravate migraines, just as it will aggravate any chronic condition. But you are not some kind of wimpy nut case just because you have migraines. They have an organic cause and if you check you'll probably find that someone in your family has them too. There was a theory in the early 20th century about a "migraine personality." Medically, it's a crock of shit. But there are still people who will smugly suggest that you're bringing this on yourself. As a doctor once told me, unless you have migraines or you live with someone who does, you have no comprehension of how debilitating those suckers can be.

Whizbang

whoprincess wrote:

As a doctor once told me, unless you have migraines or you live with someone who does, you have no comprehension of how debilitating those suckers can be.

Exactly!
My mother, brother and sister have always had them. My aunts get them. I never had a clue until I got one and found myself puking because it. Awful, awful.

I was never diagnosed with them but did discover my triggers. Given my family history, I will be going straight to a doctor at the first sign of any regular migraines that I cannot control through my current methods.

Who Princess

Whizbang wrote:

whoprincess wrote:

As a doctor once told me, unless you have migraines or you live with someone who does, you have no comprehension of how debilitating those suckers can be.

Exactly!
My mother, brother and sister have always had them. My aunts get them. I never had a clue until I got one and found myself puking because it. Awful, awful.

I was never diagnosed with them but did discover my triggers. Given my family history, I will be going straight to a doctor at the first sign of any regular migraines that I cannot control through my current methods.

I'm embarrassed to say that even though my mom had migraines, I still didn't appreciate how bad they were until I started having them. I used to wonder why a coworker would have to leave a couple hours early "just because she had a headache." :oops:
My sister also has them and one of her kids started having them when he was about 5. I thought that really sucked.

Heatherj43

I get bad migraines. They tried all those meds that are just for migraines and none of them worked. Now I take something called Stadol. It has its downfalls, but when I hurt that bad, I don't care.

yellowporch

Whizbang wrote:

whoprincess wrote:

As a doctor once told me, unless you have migraines or you live with someone who does, you have no comprehension of how debilitating those suckers can be.

Exactly!
My mother, brother and sister have always had them. My aunts get them. I never had a clue until I got one and found myself puking because it. Awful, awful.

I was never diagnosed with them but did discover my triggers. Given my family history, I will be going straight to a doctor at the first sign of any regular migraines that I cannot control through my current methods.

+1!
They're horrible! My mom has always gotten them, ever since she was a kid, and then i began getting them right before going into highschool. They were the main reason i missed alot of school, and my teachers never got it, they just thought i had headaches. They've gotten better now that I'm older, but i used have lay down in a dark room with a heatpack on my head for hours just to try to ease the pain. migraines suck :evil:

Claireack

Could try an alternative therapy? Feverfew has worked for a few people I know.

TravisTheSky

Pain is always caused by something. Remove the cause, and you are cured!

Some possibilities:

1. Candidiasis: Read books/websites about candida. Try some anti-fungal drops.

2. Food allergy/intolerance: Go on an exclusion diet each week for one of the common allergenic foods like wheat, dairy, egg, corn, soy, etc. (I get a mild headache when I eat anything containing soy ingredients.)

3. Chemicals: Switch to organic food, beverages, and super-purified water. Use baking soda instead of poisonous deodorant and toothpaste. Never drink anything with aspartame. That is one of the most common headache inducers.

4. Malnutrition: Take at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 every day. Load up on Omega-3 Fatty acids. Common fish oil supplements are contaminated with PCBs. Try organic flax seed (linseed) oil instead. Get vitamin C in a non-acid form. A tablet of "ascorbic acid" in a base of talc or magnesium stearate is almost useless. The body can't utilise it.

---

Were you the one asking about blood pressure meds? Add 4 whole stalks of organic celery to your diet every day for two weeks, and see if your pressure improves.

Who Princess

TravisTheSky wrote:

Pain is always caused by something. Remove the cause, and you are cured!

I agree with many of your suggestions. Also, learning your individual triggers and avoiding those things can go along way toward preventing migraines.

BUT--
There is no "cure" for migraines. They are a chronic condition. At best, they go away with age. As I said above, there are some triggers that can't be avoided such as changes in barometric pressure and women's hormonal shifts. Also, sometimes you can't avoid your triggers. Perfume is a terrible one for me. If I'm stuck riding in a car with someone who's wearing perfume, you can write me off. I also no longer go to clubs because I react severely to tobacco smoke. Back when people still used to smoke in the workplace, I had a pretty rough time.

Telling people they can cure migraines is like telling them they can cure diabetes. With changes in your lifestyle, you can manage them much better. Believe me, I would LOVE to be free of these things that have made me miserable for 27 years.

Starfall

If you live in a state where medical marijuana is legal, it's a highly effective treatment.

Just sayin'.

dcfaithful

Yup, I've had migraine attacks since I was 13. That's the age I can recall my first memory of one.

They're insanely painful and distracting. I find it possible to continue with a small headache, but a migraine just immobilizes you. I usually experience aura ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(symptom) ) shortly before my migraine sets in. It's almost like a warning sign telling me that the rest of my day is going to be useless. If I'm at work, I pretty much have no choice but to tell my boss that I'm coming down with a migraine and I'm going to be wasted space. Also, I've found that oddly enough, the one thing that makes me feel better is vomiting, and then sleeping for hours.

Never had an eye prescription until last September. I finally realize how unfocused my vision was. I have astigmatism, and since wearing a prescription I have not had a migraine since. I think that attributed to the problem quite a bit.

Damn migraines. :evil:

dcfaithful

Starfall wrote:

If you live in a state where medical marijuana is legal, it's a highly effective treatment.

Just sayin'.

Care to supply anyone in UT?

Just sayin'.

dcfaithful

TravisTheSky wrote:

3. Chemicals: Switch to organic food, beverages, and super-purified water. Use baking soda instead of poisonous deodorant and toothpaste. Never drink anything with aspartame. That is one of the most common headache inducers.

I noticed improving my diet helped reduce my migraines before I got said eye prescription.

Enkidu

The aura thing is really weird - I read somewhere there was an art exhibit of people who painted what they were seeing when they were having the auras. I usually remember that when I'm having a migraine so it's useless to try to look it up.

Fiorocet works for me.

Who Princess

Enkidu wrote:

The aura thing is really weird - I read somewhere there was an art exhibit of people who painted what they were seeing when they were having the auras. I usually remember that when I'm having a migraine so it's useless to try to look it up.

Fiorocet works for me.

A couple of years ago I read an article about people who get visual migraines. They don't get the pain of the headache but their vision is so drastically affected that they can't function for a period of time. It's a very rare type of migraine.
I wish I could remember where I read about it. Really interesting article.