Migraines :(

[veggirl]

Who else suffers from migraines? Can you tell me about it? What are your personal triggers, what helps you?

 

My triggers are sugar (I had MAJOR migraines when I used to drink pop, cut that out and they all disappeared until I discovered wine....) and I think the weather....I've mostly cut out wine/alcohol, but I still get a migraine with major weather changes (humidity mostly, which sucks because I live in a humid climate).

 

Mine usually last 2 days if I don't take a Rx med. The only medication I've tried (and it worked) is Imitrex. I wish I could find a more natural solution though I try to drink 100 oz of water a day to stay hydrated in hopes that keeps them at bay but I average one about every 2 weeks, sometimes a bit more often sometimes a bit less. When I drank wine a lot, I'd get probably 2 a week!

[Jessie1231]

I get them but thankfully not often. I wasn't sure what triggered them as they were so rare. When I would get one, I would go to my family doctor and she would give me a shot of something (can't remember the name but it wasn't narcotic and didn't make me dizzy or anything but knocked the headache out).

 

Lately I've been under a ton of stress because I lost my job a while back and my savings are starting to dwindle. This has brought on regular migraines. I guess they are migraines. I can't seem to get out of bed when they hit and I'm so nauseous with them. It's awful. I finally went to the doctor for it and he prescribed Fioricet. I had never heard of it but I've been taking it as soon as I think I'm getting migraine and so far so good. Hopefully after this whole job issue is straightened out I'll be back to having migraines two or three times a year. Much more manageable. They are hell.

[pureinheart]

Who else suffers from migraines? Can you tell me about it? What are your personal triggers, what helps you?

 

My triggers are sugar (I had MAJOR migraines when I used to drink pop, cut that out and they all disappeared until I discovered wine....) and I think the weather....I've mostly cut out wine/alcohol, but I still get a migraine with major weather changes (humidity mostly, which sucks because I live in a humid climate).

 

Mine usually last 2 days if I don't take a Rx med. The only medication I've tried (and it worked) is Imitrex. I wish I could find a more natural solution though I try to drink 100 oz of water a day to stay hydrated in hopes that keeps them at bay but I average one about every 2 weeks, sometimes a bit more often sometimes a bit less. When I drank wine a lot, I'd get probably 2 a week!

 

I am so sorry to hear this:( do you get that flash in your eye, that starts out small and then takes over your vision? Do they call that an ora migraine?

 

My first migraine was at 20, the trigger was the suns reflection off of the snow. Now the trigger is my neck and stress (the two are one in the same). Once the stress has subsided the migraine comes.

 

Does the Imitrex make you feel weird? On the onset of one I drink a whole bunch of caffeine and take acetaminophen/caffeine/butalbital combo. It's the only thing that works. I hate taking the butalbital, but have to take at least a piece of one (like 1/4 to 1/2).

 

I've found nothing natural to combat them and I've tried everything that I know of.

[whichwayisup]

Who else suffers from migraines? Can you tell me about it? What are your personal triggers, what helps you?

 

My triggers are sugar (I had MAJOR migraines when I used to drink pop, cut that out and they all disappeared until I discovered wine....) and I think the weather....I've mostly cut out wine/alcohol, but I still get a migraine with major weather changes (humidity mostly, which sucks because I live in a humid climate).

 

Mine usually last 2 days if I don't take a Rx med. The only medication I've tried (and it worked) is Imitrex. I wish I could find a more natural solution though I try to drink 100 oz of water a day to stay hydrated in hopes that keeps them at bay but I average one about every 2 weeks, sometimes a bit more often sometimes a bit less. When I drank wine a lot, I'd get probably 2 a week!

 

Try 'feverfew', it's a herb you can get in pill form and it'll help prevent migraines.

 

Talk to your Dr and get an appt with a neurologist too.

 

Are you on the Pill? This may be a cause, I was taken off the Pill in my late 20's because of migraines.

 

I still get them once in a while, but not as bad as they used to be.

[Radu]

Sun and heat cause them for me, especially wet heat ... thankfully i tend to not get them when i'm skinnier.

 

I have a massive one right now, not even 12hs ago i gave up Cola [regular]. 2.5l / day bottle and i'm in withdrawal.

I feel like the guy from Trainspotting ... i'm about to see dead babies on the ceiling.

[autumnnight]

I get migraine-type (that is what the doc called them) right before "that time of the month."

 

I had a real migraine in graduate school during a very stressful, coming-from-all-sides period. I saw flashes, every sound was amplified, and I was sick as a dog. My roommate took me to the ER because she was afraid it was meningitis.

 

I have had the rare one from time to time over the years, but lately I have had this new kind...it starts behind the eye, but then it turns into a headache that feels like a band of pain over my head exactly where a headband would be. It is like a vice, makes me nauseous, my heart pounds for some reason, and nothing seems to help it at all. They have become more frequent lately. And I am about to sign off my computer and go home because the fluorescent lights in my office are making a sound that cannot be ignored, not to mention the heart pounding is making my hands shake.

 

Is that a kind of migraine?

[veggirl]

I am so sorry to hear this:( do you get that flash in your eye, that starts out small and then takes over your vision? Do they call that an ora migraine?

 

My first migraine was at 20, the trigger was the suns reflection off of the snow. Now the trigger is my neck and stress (the two are one in the same). Once the stress has subsided the migraine comes.

 

Does the Imitrex make you feel weird? On the onset of one I drink a whole bunch of caffeine and take acetaminophen/caffeine/butalbital combo. It's the only thing that works. I hate taking the butalbital, but have to take at least a piece of one (like 1/4 to 1/2).

 

I've found nothing natural to combat them and I've tried everything that I know of.

 

Have you tried feverfew? I am going to order some, I hear it can work preventatively which sounds amazing but I have my doubts haha.

 

Yes Imitrex makes me feel VERY weird. I rarely take it anymore. If I do take it, I lie down right away and just wait because it makes my whole body feel very heavy and numb, it makes my throat feel like it is closing up...but it WORKS! I don't have a prescrip for it anymore, but when I visit my mom she usually gives me some for "Just in case". I cut them in half.

[veggirl]

I get migraine-type (that is what the doc called them) right before "that time of the month."

 

I had a real migraine in graduate school during a very stressful, coming-from-all-sides period. I saw flashes, every sound was amplified, and I was sick as a dog. My roommate took me to the ER because she was afraid it was meningitis.

 

I have had the rare one from time to time over the years, but lately I have had this new kind...it starts behind the eye, but then it turns into a headache that feels like a band of pain over my head exactly where a headband would be. It is like a vice, makes me nauseous, my heart pounds for some reason, and nothing seems to help it at all. They have become more frequent lately. And I am about to sign off my computer and go home because the fluorescent lights in my office are making a sound that cannot be ignored, not to mention the heart pounding is making my hands shake.

 

Is that a kind of migraine?

 

 

Yes that is probably a migraine. Typically they are on one side of the head, mine is a different side each time, but I wouldn't put it past these things to be as you described a band over your head. I mean you can def tell the difference between a headache and a migraine. Feeling nauseous is very common with them, thankfully I don't get that.

[veggirl]

Sun and heat cause them for me, especially wet heat ... thankfully i tend to not get them when i'm skinnier.

 

I have a massive one right now, not even 12hs ago i gave up Cola [regular]. 2.5l / day bottle and i'm in withdrawal.

I feel like the guy from Trainspotting ... i'm about to see dead babies on the ceiling.

 

Interesting. Maybe it's the wet heat that's been my problem this summer. Never considered the temp. I always just thought mine were from first drinking pop and then drinking wine, and I was VERY disappointed to get one w/o either of those factors! I will say it was more tolerable than I'm used to but still.

 

Good job on giving up pop!!! I hope you can stick with it!! I gave it up when I was like 21 (errrr...11 yrs ago?!) and now I can hardly tolerate any sweet drinks.

[gaius]

I used to get those in middle school, went away after I graduated. They eventually found asbestos in a lot of the walls and had to do a big renovation. Maybe that had something to do with it.

 

I think I remember you saying you moved a while back so if there's any correlation maybe there's also causation.

Edited July 16, 2015 by gaius

[Tayla]

Had a migraine that kept me in the hospital, they did a spinal tap ,

For two days I was put in a head vice , and kept in a darken room. Just the sounds, and light and movement created massive pain. Until a person has one of these types I rarely let a standard headache be called a migraine of such level. You couldn't so much as tip toe a cross the floor without waves of pain echoing thu my body. The repetition of stomach fluids being released in the opposite direction did nothing for my health.

 

Mine was caused by spinal fluid loss.

 

Have had slight migraine ones when my sinus is infected.

 

Three things I do, cool cloth, major advil poppin and lots of water to flush out my system. Tried the homeopathic medicines and even changed some of my diet to deter onsets.

[autumnnight]

Regarding triggers for migraines, has anyone ever heard of depression being a trigger for migraines?

[PogoStick]

I used to get them as a teenager. I never figured out for sure what was causing them. I would start to get swirling colors in my vision and would start to lose sight in my center of vision. I would feel nauseous and then the headache would start. The only thing that I could do at that point is lay down and try to sleep in a dark room.

 

We did find that attacking the migraine at the first start of symptoms was most effective. Back then, there were not much for medications like imitrex. I would take 4 ibuprofen at the first hint of a migraine and could often knock it down before it became severe.

 

I almost never get a migraine anymore (10+ years). I did get one recently visiting an old friend's apartment. He's a smoker and his apartment smells nasty. No doubt that triggered it.

[whichwayisup]

Regarding triggers for migraines, has anyone ever heard of depression being a trigger for migraines?

 

There are so many physical symptoms of depression and anxiety, wouldn't surprise me if migraines is one. When my anxiety acts up, sometimes I get them.

[GoldieLox]

I am on Topomax. It works pretty well and I have been on it for years. It's also used as a mood stabilizer, so the trick is to make sure the dose is not a therapeutic level dose for that cause. I don't need my mood changed at all, I'm pleasantly happy

 

Once in a while, I get them bad enough where I do end up in the hospital. A cocktail of drugs is the only way to stop it (no narcotics ever, though- they are bad for migraines. Bounce back headaches). I avoid red wine at all costs, as that seems to be the number one trigger. That and a severe lack of sleep.

[veggirl]

Had a migraine that kept me in the hospital, they did a spinal tap ,

For two days I was put in a head vice , and kept in a darken room. Just the sounds, and light and movement created massive pain. Until a person has one of these types I rarely let a standard headache be called a migraine of such level. You couldn't so much as tip toe a cross the floor without waves of pain echoing thu my body. The repetition of stomach fluids being released in the opposite direction did nothing for my health.

 

Mine was caused by spinal fluid loss.

 

Have had slight migraine ones when my sinus is infected.

 

Three things I do, cool cloth, major advil poppin and lots of water to flush out my system. Tried the homeopathic medicines and even changed some of my diet to deter onsets.

 

OMG that is horrific!!

[MidwestUSA]

Regarding triggers for migraines, has anyone ever heard of depression being a trigger for migraines?

 

Have not heard of a direct correlation, but nothing would surprise me. Hormones were a trigger for me. I didn't get a migraine until I hit peri menopause. So if hormones and depression can be linked, then yes.

 

Thankfully, I lost the migraines after menopause. So there was a period of about six years where I got them fairly regularly. I get one maybe twice a year now. I can live with that.

[Giggle]

My first had me in the hospital because I was in screaming agony, puking and my arm went numb. Spinal tap ugh!

 

I get auras. Usually if I notice those fast enough and take like goodys headache powder with the caffeine, they don't get very far. Caffeine helps me a lot a lot. Before caffeine I dealt with a lot more pain. The last one i had while my mom was around.. I thought had passed out while puking. Turns out I had a small seizure. I have had pain meds prescribed but its hard for them to take effect before I start hurling my stomach contents. so the headache powder works far better for me.

 

Light will trigger mine, bright light. Driving home at dusk with sunlight flickering through the trees makes me nauseous as hell. Kids flash a flashlight even in he corner of my eye.. Ugh. Smetimes even a sound will trigger one.

[pidgeon1010]

Migraines are the worst! Chronic migraines really need to be acknowledged as a disability. I had chronic migraines with no triggers from age 17-26'ish. It was bad. I tried different prescriptions and some would work for awhile and then quit working. I did it all: hospital stays, neurologists, MRIs, emergency room visits for toradol injections, etc. And then I got braces (for what I thought were cosmetic reasons) and my migraines slowly decreased and are now few and far between. I guess my migraines were brought on teeth misalignment!

[Her Bridges]

I used to never have a problem, then started getting them really badly just after my college years. They range from a typical tension headache (up the back of the neck into the temples) to a someone-is-prying-my-eyeballs-out can't- get-out-of-bed seeing-spots migraine. Not near as severe as some, but still very painful and frequent.

 

I've been making lifestyle changes lately and have noticed the headaches and migraines are almost gone now. From fairly regular pain episodes (2x a week?) to maybe 1x a month now, and much easier.

 

- Lots of water. I can feel when I'm not hydrated now, it really does help.

- Exercise. Honestly I think the real migraines only show up when I start slacking off. I do a combo of high intensity training and steady state cardio (kickboxing and running). Not particularly good at either but exercise really does improve your mood and your body's hormones.

- Cutting out salt. This includes limiting processed foods. Salt is necessary but we use way too much. Too much salt contributes to high bp. It won't cure migraines but the high bp definitely doesn't help.

- Cutting back on screen time. My vision is great but electronics still strain your eyes, especially after a long while.

 

 

One thing that I'm still having trouble with is the "milder" headaches stemming from my TMJ (where your jaw pops). Sometimes I grind my teeth at night or the TMJ is just acting up, which in itself doesn't hurt but often leads to pain on that side of my head, temple to eye socket.

 

Has anyone heard of or tried trigger point dry needling? Seems interesting.