Anybody else get Migraines?

[EddieMoscone]

Since I fractured my skull and suffered a severe concussion as a kid, I get regular headaches, many bad enough that I called them migraines. Well, I will never throw around the word migraine in place of headache ever again, because last night I had what was probably my first real migraine, and it was the worst experience of my life.

First symptom:
Severe headache

Followed by:
Nausea and vomiting
Cold sweats
Blurred Vision
Sensitivity to light

Anyone else go through this kind of thing? If you have, some helpful hints on how to deal with them would be appreciated.

[Gvac]

I get them and they're awful. They come out of nowhere, but usually about every 2 or 3 months. There are prescription medications available, but they have so many adverse side effects I've never used them. I've tried Excedrin Migraine, but for some reason the Extra Strength Excedrin works better.

[Kris10]

Go to the doctor is my absolute best advice.

I suffered really bad migraines and wasn't able to do anything for sometimes days because I was in so much pain. It was going on for years before I finally couldn't deal with it any longer and realized it was a problem. I thought I needed a stronger prescription for my glasses (I don't wear them anyway, only my prescription sunglasses) but that was more serious than that so I was referred to a neurologist. After an EEG & MRI it was discovered my migraines were so bad that it was effecting my vision and was losing part of my eyesight. Now I'm on daily medication to avoid migraines and also if one starts to sneak through during the course of the day I have a blocker to stop it from getting worse.

Good luck!

[nevnut]

Does hangovers count?

Holy fuck I feel like shit today!

:glurps:

:help:

[AngelAmy]

I get them once a week and sometimes I get them upwards of 4 days in a row

I started getting them after I got a concussion after getting hit by a car 10 years ago.

I have found that prescription meds work at first and they stop working for me. Very little medication wise helps me...if anything at all.

I had MRIs and CAT scans and blood tests done to see if they could tell what is triggering it and so far they have come up with nothing.

It could be something you're eating that is triggering them. A lot of medical professionals suggest doing a food diary...I haven't done one yet because I am lazy and stubborn.

[Kris10]

It could be something you're eating that is triggering them. A lot of medical professionals suggest doing a food diary...I haven't done one yet because I am lazy and stubborn.

Very true!! I know chocolate is something that you should stay away from. I'm not a big chocolate eater but I refuse to believe it.

[shodan]

Hot and humid weather, coupled with stress always result in migraines for me. I would gladly break my leg again rather than go through a bad one again. Staying out of light has helped me in the past. Avoiding any type of flicker (such as tv) is good as well. Exedrin migraine can sometimes help. For prescription meds, Imitrex has helped me.

[Franklyn]

Oh Dude. I never even got headaches then I got into a car accident and my life has never been the same. I get the urge to rip my left eyeball out at least once a week. I wish I had a way to help but in my experience, once it starts it's gonna keep going. The nausea makes things worse because of the lack our air when you are puking. I have thought, here comes by rock star ending many a time, lol. I also feel like people who don't get it have no idea what the pain is like. Good luck man.

[razorboy]

They're awful. They started for me with a car wreck and have only gotten worse. Doctor said countless hours looking down at a console in low light certainly don't help. I hardly plan on quitting my job, so I take Zomig. It helps, but it can still be debilitating even when medicated.

[EddieMoscone]

I would gladly break my leg again rather than go through a bad one again.

Once morning came and the worst had past, I thought exactly the same thing. If a doctor came along at the moment I was feeling the worst and said that if I gave up my left arm the pain would go away for good, I probably would have agreed.

Thank you everyone for the input. The regular headaches I've been having since that accident in 1986 (shit, that was a long time ago) were nothing compared to this. I have insane stress in my life at the moment and of course my diet is shit, so it could be any number of things.

I've tried doing a food journal, but just like Amy I am too lazy to keep it up.

I've actually heard Dark Chocolate helps with migraines...

Like Uncle GVAC, I do worry about the side effect of a prescription for it. If I have another episode like last night however I would gladly trade in having some soft stool in order to be pain free.

Alway seemed silly to me to go to a doctor for a headache, but my mind has finally changed.

[Kris10]

Alway seemed silly to me to go to a doctor for a headache, but my mind has finally changed.

Headaches go away. Migraines take, what seem like, a life time to go away.

Seriously, go to the doctor.

[FUNKMAN]

i've gotten the occassional migraine where it eventually makes me nauseas but I've never thrown up. used to take tylenol but have switched to advil. my mom would get them often and what helped her was resting with a heating pad/blanket

[Gvac]

When I get them I not only vomit, but every nerve ending in my body throbs. My feet throb. Each and every hair on my head throbs. Even the loosest shirt feels like a tourniquet.

I'm currently awaiting a reply from Doctor Steve as to whether or not there have been any advancements in the prescriptions available for migraine sufferers.

[SinA]

a headache club!

I prettty much have had a chronic headache going on about 6 years now, but it's not quite the same as migraines. I don't think I ever had a non-hangover headache before, but then I got Lyme disease which caused heacahes, TMJ and photosensitity.

In the beginning it was almost unbearable, it felt like the blood in my head was boiling. Now I'd say it's mostly a dull ache that I'm so used to I sometimes forget about it (which is almost as good as not having a headache). When it rains (low barometric pressure) it gets really bad again, if I don't wear my super-cool retainer-thing it's really bad, and sometimes it comes on strong for reasons I can't explain.

Sometimes chewing gum helps, sometimes it not, but for the most part I try not to take any medication, thinking that I'd prefer to wait and see if it gets better or worse... and even if it gets worse, I know it could get even more worse, so I usually don't take anything at all. A couple of posters here said Excedrin works, so maybe I'll it next time, but for the most part my strategy is avoid-deal.

Check out these NYT articles (http://migraine.blogs.nytimes.com/). I was particularly struck by the one by Jeff Tweedy (http://migraine.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/shaking-it-off/), even though I don't actually have migraines.

[Jimsy's Girl]

Niacin helps from what I hear. I would suggest massage therapy and exercise. Get the blood flowing and decrease stress.

[Friday]

I have been getting them since I was a kid... a specialist I went to gave me steroid shots for skin keloids i had when i was about 8. As a reaction to this treatment, my vision deteriorated and i started to get migraines all the time.

Now, I only have them about every couple of months, usually triggered hormonally or with allergies. I get an awful headache, with nausea, shivers, and sometimes dizziness and light sensitivity. They SUCK.

I have Axert which you take as soon as you have your first symptoms. It seems to work pretty well with no side effects for me aside from some drowsiness. I also like Excedrin Migraine if it's not such a severe attack.

Talk to your doc. There are SO many options these days. Good luck!

[drusilla]

Oh Dude. I never even got headaches then I got into a car accident and my life has never been the same. I get the urge to rip my left eyeball out at least once a week. I wish I had a way to help but in my experience, once it starts it's gonna keep going. The nausea makes things worse because of the lack our air when you are puking. I have thought, here comes by rock star ending many a time, lol. I also feel like people who don't get it have no idea what the pain is like. Good luck man.




LEFT EYEBALL!!!! me too! i feel like i'm being stabbed in the left eye with a screwdriver & then someone is twisting it. when they are bad they are in my left eye. the worse they get, the more they travel. goes from my left eye, to the whole surrounding eye socket, or then to the top of my head on the left, worse than that is when it will go to the left side of my neck, then the worst ones go all the way down the left side of my back. but those are pretty rare.


its also really rare for me to puke, but i will get nauseous. i become super sensitive to light, sounds & smells. i used to get them for about 10 days straight, especially if it was during the curse. but i went on birth control & the hormone control really made a difference. now i'll only get one if i'm stressed,or have had very little sleep. occasionally i'll get them during that time, but maybe only the first day or two.

amerge really helped me a lot. it's expensive, but its the only thing that ever made a migraine go away. if i am starting to feel the pain in my left eye & i'm not able to go to sleep for the night i'll take one amerge & i'm usually better in about 2-3 hours. the headache is totally gone. only time it won't work is if i waited to long & let the pain get too out of control. then i'm screwed. but if i catch it early enough, amerge totally works.

imitrex is crap for me. some people love it, but it only made me sicker.

fiorcet & fiorinal & those types of pain pills never worked for me, my headaches were just too bad.

[drusilla]

oh, i also try to drink really really cold ice water & swish it around in the back of my mouth. for some reason that seems to calm the nerves for a bit. sometimes caffeine helps. so i try to keep a case of coca cola in the house. i don't think food triggers it for me because i can pretty much guess when i will get one just from the other outside conditions, so rarely will i get one unexpectedly anymore.

but for women, birth control made a huge difference for me. i'm willing to go on one of those pills that stops you from getting your period, but i cant seem to find any one of my doctors who say its a good idea. even though a lot of research says that its totally fine. good thing i'm moving & my boyfriend will be working in a forward thinking hospital.



& for the light sensitivity, i'm a huge sunglasses person & will even wear them indoors. but for regular light i have a pair of glasses without a prescription in them, instead they have an anti glare coating on the lenses that can cut down on the halo's around a light. they help a whole lot for driving at night with a migraine instead of covering my left eye & driving like a pirate. i also wear them when i go to the movies & it helps if i sit all the way in the back. i'll get a migraine if my eyes have to jump around a lot.

[MobCounty]

Fug, I feel for ya brothers.
I know it's a bit trivial in comparison, but I have had three.. Each time I have had 'shimmery' eyesight. Followed by a headache, then add the flu (nausea and sweats) for a good 8 hours. Not much will help me. I take excedrin, because it has caffine. Caffine seems to help a small amount. Usually I just lay in bed, and wait. I feel for you guys if you have more than one a year.. I simply can't imagine..

[Friday]

Even the loosest shirt feels like a tourniquet. .

i totally get this feeling! with the nausea... so generally i have to lay in bed with my eyes closed and noooo shirt. or i am positively tearing at it so it will stop choking me.

awful. i feel bad for those who get these more often .... they suck!

[tupper65]

My wife gets migraines a lot. Been getting them since she was an adolescent. Went through all of the tests and several different doctors over the years, but no help so far. Sometimes they get so bad that she can't even get out of bed. It seems like stress is the main trigger, but anything with Nutri- Sweet in it causes an instant headache. I can't imagine the pain the she goes through. The worst thing is not being able to do anything to help her when the pain gets that bad.

[MM2]

Since I fractured my skull and suffered a severe concussion as a kid, I get regular headaches, many bad enough that I called them migraines. Well, I will never throw around the word migraine in place of headache ever again, because last night I had what was probably my first real migraine, and it was the worst experience of my life.

First symptom:
Severe headache

Followed by:
Nausea and vomiting
Cold sweats
Blurred Vision
Sensitivity to light

Anyone else go through this kind of thing? If you have, some helpful hints on how to deal with them would be appreciated.

I've gotten them every couple of months since I was a kid. Now that I've been taking Spirulina every morning I don't get them as often, I've had one in the last year, and the pain was not as bad.

The worst part of a migraine is the soreness you feel in your brain the entire next day.

I've been on Imatrex and Maxil, both really never worked. The only thing I can do is try to get to sleep before the real pain sets in, and hopefully sleep through the worst of it. Again, the worst part is the soreness you feel afterwards. The intense pain only lasts a few hours for me, along with not being able to see the bottom half of anything.

What I used to do when I would get them is drink an energy drink, then try to sleep. I know an energy drink is supposed to keep you up, but the caffinee in the energy drink helps the headache, at least its supposed to.

[hunnerbun]

oh, i also try to drink really really cold ice water & swish it around in the back of my mouth. for some reason that seems to calm the nerves for a bit. sometimes caffeine helps. so i try to keep a case of coca cola in the house. i don't think food triggers it for me because i can pretty much guess when i will get one just from the other outside conditions, so rarely will i get one unexpectedly anymore.

but for women, birth control made a huge difference for me. i'm willing to go on one of those pills that stops you from getting your period, but i cant seem to find any one of my doctors who say its a good idea. even though a lot of research says that its totally fine. good thing i'm moving & my boyfriend will be working in a forward thinking hospital.



& for the light sensitivity, i'm a huge sunglasses person & will even wear them indoors. but for regular light i have a pair of glasses without a prescription in them, instead they have an anti glare coating on the lenses that can cut down on the halo's around a light. they help a whole lot for driving at night with a migraine instead of covering my left eye & driving like a pirate. i also wear them when i go to the movies & it helps if i sit all the way in the back. i'll get a migraine if my eyes have to jump around a lot.

I also suffered from hormonal induced migraines. I always thought they were really bad until I read this thread...holy shit!
Like you drusilla, cold also helped me. If I was at work I would get one of the girls I worked with to shampoo my hair and hold the shampoo nozzle with just cold water on the base of my head, it was heaven. I would also try and get an ice pack and place it there.

[Reynolds]

I get this weird thing in my brain that I keep forgetting to ask my doctor about. It only happens while I'm laying in bed, but it feels like the inside of my head is vibrating real fast, and I hear a loud, quick buzzing noise. My sight goes blurry for a second when it happens.

These symptoms of anything? Tumor?

[Reynolds]

I get this weird thing in my brain that I keep forgetting to ask my doctor about. It only happens while I'm laying in bed, but it feels like the inside of my head is vibrating real fast, and I hear a loud, quick buzzing noise. My sight goes blurry for a second when it happens.

These symptoms of anything? Tumor?

Guess I have this

Exploding head Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome)

[Kris10]

Guess I have this

Exploding head Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome)

wow! I thought that link was going to be some kind of joke and have some guy's head shooting off, didn't think it actually existed. I'm sorry buddy.

[MadMatt]

I used to get migraines all the time, but they are less frequent now that I use the breathing machine to sleep.

However, I still get them occasionally. They royally suck. And I am with Gvac - the extra strength pain relievers are usually better than the migraine formula for me. Of course I also take larger than normal doses, so maybe that helps.

[drusilla]

i think i have one now & it's totally dead at work but i cant leave for at least another 3 hours.

this sucks.

[RAAMONE]

my girlfriend gets them so bad she has to go to the ER...they give her some type of shot which usually help...and send her home with vicodin (which helps her headache but in turn make her throw up)

so she really hasnt found that cure yet either

[EddieMoscone]

i think i have one now & it's totally dead at work but i cant leave for at least another 3 hours.

this sucks.

I hope I didn't put it in your head by starting the thread, leading to the real thing. That would make me feel really sad. :sad:

From this small sample, it looks like this is a bigger problem than most people realize.

[Reynolds]

my girlfriend gets them so bad she has to go to the ER...they give her some type of shot which usually help...and send her home with vicodin (which helps her headache but in turn make her throw up)

so she really hasnt found that cure yet either

Vicodin... For a headache? Fuck me... My doctor is an asshole. I've gone in there with back spasms, tendinitis, dislocated finger. Most he gives me is 800mg ibuprofen every time.

[Radioguy]

It's not a competition, I know, but sometimes I wish I still only had Migraines.

I had Migraines as a little kid (run in the family), but once I hit puberty it escalated into Cluster Headaches. They're essentially clusters of Migraine attacks which come every 45 minutes for up to a month (for me) or more. They're far less common than Migraine, and rarely are women afflicted. Supposedly they drove Hemmingway to suicide, and had I owned a firearm, I know I would have used it. (I've been restrained due to the pain on several occasions) Thankfully for me they only strike a couple of times a year.

They can come without aura (that funny feeling that precedes a migraine) which can defeat the triptans like Imitrex/Maxalt/Zomig etc which take a specific time to take effect. That mainly leaves opiates, which work, but run the risk of addiction, and other drugs that affect dilation of the blood vessels in the brain, like calcium channel blockers. Those made me pass out on the subway, so I was screwed for many years until a neurologist prescribed something so simple.

Oxygen. :laugh:

Amazingly, it works, and not just because you have to control your breathing or any biofeedback effect. The higher concentration supposedly has an effect on the dilation of those blood vessels and can nip an attack in the bud if you start breathing in time (assuming you get an aura). It, combined with some limited opiates (Percodan is the wonder drug, not aspirin) makes attacks survivable.

I'm also told to avoid "triggers" like liquor, nuts, chocolate (contrary to a previous post) and cheese. I tend not to follow that advice, because they don't always bring them on. Besides, who can live without chocolate cheesecake?

[drusilla]

oxygen is huge! a lot of times i would just try to control my breathing & try to relax hoping that it would do something. today i was able to just eat my lunch with a can of soda & it got a little bit better. for the rest of my work day i will be outside so hopefully i'll feel better & the bright sun won't bother me too much.

[tupper65]

My wife has a pretty good one today that she's trying to control with Fioricet. Lot of stress today with her Mom having her first chemo treatment. It's so damn frustrating seeing her go through this and I can't do a damn thing to help:wallbash: