Migraines - how to come out the other side

[ClaraB]

Does anyone else get what I call a migraine hangover, your head really does not hurt anymore but you fell grogy and fumble around with keys and things like that as well as strugling with your vocabulary?

I get this, especially the struggling with my vocabulary bit. When I actually have the headache I am lucky to be able to string together a sentence and I've been known to drool, yes drool, as the numbness travels up my hand and arm and into my face. After the headache has gone I have a very hard time with words. After my last headache I remember trying to spell the same word for quite a while. I just couldn't understand why the word didn't look right and after a bit I couldn't even figure out what I was trying to spell.

Does anyone else find their headache depends on the the weather? I swear my headaches are related to a big change in the barometric pressure.

 

[June]

I get this, especially the struggling with my vocabulary bit. When I actually have the headache I am lucky to be able to string together a sentence and I've been known to drool, yes drool, as the numbness travels up my hand and arm and into my face. After the headache has gone I have a very hard time with words. After my last headache I remember trying to spell the same word for quite a while. I just couldn't understand why the word didn't look right and after a bit I couldn't even figure out what I was trying to spell.

Does anyone else find their headache depends on the the weather? I swear my headaches are related to a big change in the barometric pressure.

ClaraB, I absolutely find that my headaches are based on barometric pressure changes, as well as diet triggers and stress. I suffer from headaches on an almost-daily basis but can usually stop them with an OTC medication. When I try to tough them out (which isn't often), they frequently turn into full-blown migraines. I was told by my Dr. just yesterday that I need to wean off of the OTC meds because I'm on my way to getting an ulcer. There's a choice: migraines or ulcer :eusa_doh:
BTW-My mother used to have trouble with her words the day BEFORE she got a migraine.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I used to get horrible migraines; ones that made me vomit. Fortunately, only a couple of times a year. But, since breaking my nose right out of high school (not the best remedy, but it's worked pretty well for years, now), what I get now, for the most part, are throbbing headaches that last for four days. But, if I take two (250mg) ibuprofin in the morning and two more in the evening for those four days, I can go on hardly noticing it.

I still get the horrible ones, but they're rare. When I do get them, I take a vicodin (I have some left over from a couple of times when kidney stones sent me to the emergency room) and a dose on Nyquil, and I sleep off the migraine.


Lee

 

[lazydaisyltd]

My visual precursor is a moving worm of less focus..its -just- like the water creature in the Abyss movie....where you can sort of see through it, but its distorted. I get that and light sensitivity beforehand.




If you get them often enough, it might be worth discussing a daily anti seizure medicine called Topamax with your Dr. I have a friend on it, and without it she would have 3-10 migranes a month. With it, she has maybe 3 a -year-.

I'm glad it works for your friend. I was on it for a year, and the side effects were really bad for me. Lots of short-term memory loss--the drug is nicknamed "Dopamax" for a reason! lol I didn't see much of a decrease in migraines...I get anywhere from 4-6/month. I take Relpax, but have also gotten good results with Maxalt, Frova, and similar drugs.

 

[Luddite]

I am also a sufferer, currently about once every six weeks, although in the past they have come on at twice that rate. Duration is anything from one to three days - when I first started suffering, at age eighteen, they would last much longer, into double figures. My visual warning is a greying-out of vision, which drops to tunnel vision as the attack progresses, which is all the more inconvenient as I am not able to move my eyes much from straight ahead during an attack. I have the additional warning of a difficulty in speaking; I can think the words correctly, but what comes out of my mouth is different! When that happens it's home to bed, in the dark, in silence with the room as cold as possible. Then begins the nausea and the loss of balance.

It is quite comforting to note the number of loungers with similar symptoms - all the migraine sufferers I meet seem to have milder symptoms and different warnings.

The only relief I get is from a prescription medicine called Zomig, but only if I take it as soon as the vision starts greying. If I miss that window I know I'm in for the long haul. Triggers I have not yet identified, other that alcohol from which I now to the greater extent abstain. My GP suggested Sprite as a 'coming up' drink, due to it having a good balance of salts!

Does anyone else get the post-migraine energy-surge? I get hugely hyperactive and can keep going like that for a few days and nights afterwards.

 

[Sertsa]

ClaraB and Mike - I used to get something similar. I would see a bright flash and sparkles from one side, then my vision would completely cut out in one eye for a while. The first time it happened was pretty disturbing. Those kinds of migraines wouldn't really come with much pain, but I had the more painful kind, too. Fortunately, I haven't had those for years.

I think my lifestyle back then caused it. I was working as an audio engineer during the days, then playing gigs 2-4 nights a week, often driving for hours, and getting very little sleep. I also smoked regularly, drank a fair amount, and was mainly eating fast food since I was usually driving somewhere else.

As far as home remedies, all I can offer is that mine seemed to stop when I got into better habits (or lack of them).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Does anyone else get the post-migraine energy-surge? I get hugely hyperactive and can keep going like that for a few days and nights afterwards.

I sort of get this -- a kind of post-migraine euphoria -- but it's balanced by a kind of light-headedness that keeps me from actually putting it to any kind of productive use. I usually end up babbling semi-coherently to my cat until it wears off.

 

[Cigarband]

Up until I was 21 I got a migraine every three months like clockwork. Then I read a small article in Science News magazine, that a chemical (whose name I have forgotten) occurring in Tuna, caused some people to have migraines.
It would accumulate in the body to the trigger level, and be excreted during the migraine.
This was a Godsend. I had been eating two cans of Tuna a week since age six, and getting the migraines for the same period. I stopped eating Tuna, and the migraines ended at once. I have been fortunate not have another attack for the last 20 years. I hope this helps someone. Migraines are a living hell.

 

[The Shirt]

It is quite comforting to note the number of loungers with similar symptoms - all the migraine sufferers I meet seem to have milder symptoms and different warnings.

Not that I would wish a migraine on anyone - but I agree with this sentiment. I'll take to heart all that was mentioned and talk with my doctor about it. A healthy lifestyle and trying to eliminate stress is the best way I have found to slow the frequency down. Cannot control the barometric pressure unfortunately (I notice this too!) but maybe I will try.

I do not eat fish - but boy that is interesting. I read that tuna can contain sulfites. Now I know that red wine is one of my triggers and contains sulfites (some organics have very little though). That could be the connection.

 

[Cigarband]

I do not eat fish - but boy that is interesting. I read that tuna can contain sulfites. Now I know that red wine is one of my triggers and contains sulfites (some organics have very little though). That could be the connection.

Well, I drink a lot of red wine, so sulfites aren't a trigger for me thank God. A friend of mine had very good results with Accupuncture for her Migraines. She worked in the same building as the therapist, and would get a treatment whenever her vision warning would hit. After finding the right points, which took a few times, she could stop the attack before it got bad. I hope you get better.
I'll light a candle for you, and all the FL martyrs.

 

[Peaceful John]

Mrs. John suffered from constant dibilitating migraines since she started to develop her woman's figure, over a generation ago. Please note the past tense.

Over several years, she was thoroughly examined by multiple doctors (MRI, etc) and it was determined that her headaches must be psychological in orgin because no -- no -- medical cause was discovered.

To shorten the story, we found that she had an allergic reaction to milk and milk products. When she deleted these items from her diet (oddly, this includes some salad dressings), her migraines significantly reduced.

Following the same process of observation and testing, we then discovered she has a secondary allergy to wheat and wheat products. When those, too, were removed her migraines went away.

Migraines are terrible things. I wish you well in your search for relief.

Cordially,
Peaceful John

 

[Paisley]

Wheat and some canned tuna contain gluten. I found this article at celiac.com:

http://www.celiac.com/articles/121/1/Migraine-Headaches-Gluten-Triggers-Severe-Headaches-in-Sensitive-Individuals/Page1.html

Migraine Headaches: Gluten Triggers Severe Headaches in Sensitive Individuals
neurology 2001;56:385-388.

Celiac.com 02/15/2001 - According to a new study published in the February issue of Neurology, severe, chronic migraine headaches can be triggered in gluten-sensitive individuals who do not exclude gluten from their diets. The study examined ten patients who had a long history of chronic headaches that had recently worsened, or were resistant to treatment. Some patients had additional symptoms such as lack of balance. Dr. Marios Hadjivassiliou, from the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, UK, and colleagues tested each patient and found that all were sensitive to gluten. . The patients were tested and each was found to be gluten-sensitive. Additionally, MRI scans determined that each had inflammation in their central nervous systems caused by gluten-sensitivity.

Results: Nine out of 10 patients went on a gluten-free diet, and seven of them stopped having headaches completely. The patients heightened immune responses, which are triggered by the ingestion of gluten, could be one of the factors causing the headaches. The other two patients who were on a gluten-free diet experienced significant relief, but not complete relief.

Conclusion: According to Dr. Hadjivassiliou, removal of the trigger factor by the introduction of a gluten-free diet may be a promising therapeutic intervention for patients with chronic headaches. Further studies are needed to confirm Dr. Hadjivassilious preliminary findings.​

 

[jayem]

Oh, hunny, let me weave you a tale!

I'm 21. I've been suffering from migraines, an average 4 times a month, since I was 11. Now, here's the confusing part. When they first started, they were often and would last DAYS. I mean intense, unbearable pain for days. I once slept for 36 hours, only getting up to use the washroom. They are the main reason I started sleeping with a sleep mask at night. Even with black curtains I could still see the light. After a few years, they faded to heat/humidity/temperature change migraines. I could tell you 72 hours away that a storm was approaching or that the weather would shift. Hell, I was better than the weather people! After that, they faded to menstrual migraines. I've tried a million different meds. First, it was Immitrex. Worked for the first two months, then stopped. Than, I tried anti-depressants. Worked 2 months; stopped. Next it was birth control. Worked two months; stopped. Currently I am just dealing with them like I did when I first got them. Grin and bear it.

Now, when I was 11 my dad was killed. I was at the weird age of not a child, but not really an adult. Because of the fashion he was killed, I was forced to push all chaotic, confusing, depressing emotions aside and suck it up. My doctors have a theory that my migraines, are well, all in my head (no pun intended). Since I didn't have time to emotionally mourn the death, I took out my emotions in a more physical sense. I'm currently in the process of trying to set up an appt. with a psychiatrist... if I could work up the courage to call her.

Do you think it's possible your migraines are a psychological manifestation instead of a physical one? I don't mean to offend, but if it can happen to me I'm sure it could happen to others.

 

[Diamondback]

Does anyone else find their headache depends on the the weather? I swear my headaches are related to a big change in the barometric pressure.

fftopic: I'd suspect that many people have various pains related to the barometer--usually, a couple days before a major weather change out here, one or both of my knees will feel like somebody slammed an icepick through it and then pumped it full of salt; one of the librarians I usually work with even gave up her coffee-break to help me limp out to the bus-stop once with a particularly nasty one.

 

[The Shirt]

Do you think it's possible your migraines are a psychological manifestation instead of a physical one? I don't mean to offend, but if it can happen to me I'm sure it could happen to others.

No offense taken (if this was directed towards me). I'm so sorry that you had to go thru all that. I cannot imagine being that young and having to deal with that sort of pain.

I think that there are numerous reasons I get them. Change in weather, heat stroke, time of month, certain food combinations, stress, flying, changes in stress levels (every vacation day 2), even if I forget to eat. I do not get them every time one of these things happen and I can manage them reasonably well as compared to what others go thru. I think my original question was more geared towards, what does one do to comfort themselves once they are in the middle of one. But all this information put forward has been helpful.

I do think in the case of my stress level that indeed it is psychological. Learning to look at life differently and not sweat the small stuff has helped. Right now with job losses and general economic stress, I have indeed seen my migraines increase in frequency, but I'm not sure there is much I can do about it. Talking to a professional does help though. I've been thinking about getting back in. It does take courage to make that first call, I encourage you to try it. Once you feel the relief of working thru some of your feelings, it may all seem worth it. Good luck to you Jayem.

 

[The Shirt]

I don't wanna give up milk or gluten - Waaaah! Luckily mine aren't so frequent that I have gotten that point yet. I cannot imagine.

 

[Chad Sanborn]

I'm absolutely destroyed by migraines an average of once a month, and the only thing that helps at all is an ice bag firmly applied -- as in squeezed against -- my right eye and the base of my skull. Once the sick passes, a bowl of chicken broth will help as well.

Sound like you are not getting a migraine at all. Rather it sounds like you are getting a cluster headache. This is what affliction I suffer from. You get an intense headache pain behind one eye. It feels like someone is drilling behind your eye trying to get out.

They are called cluster headaches as they usually come in clusters or groups. You might get 2 a week for a few weeks. Then nothing for 2 months. Then a group of them again.

When I was younger, 6-12 yrs old, I would get them alot. They always made me sick to my stomach. Once I hit puberty, they went away, but made a return in my mid 20's. Now I still have them, but they aren't quite as bad as when I was younger.

Some things I have done are using ice packs all around my head. Also standing in a very hot shower can sooth it for a few minutes. And lastly, if
you can do it before the headache becomes bad, sex, can relieve it. Though I don't get too many opportunities to test that theory.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Does anyone else find their headache depends on the the weather? I swear my headaches are related to a big change in the barometric pressure.

That is exactly when a buddy of mine gets migraines. When the weather changes, he'll get two or three in a row over the course of several days. And no, they're not cluster headaches; he gets the aura and they make him sick, too.


Lee

 

[cooncatbob]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar the former basketball player has suffered from migraines for years and claims that the only thing that works for him is Marijuana.

 

[jayem]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar the former basketball player has suffered from migraines for years and claims that the only thing that works for him is Marijuana.

Marijuana helps many, many things. Such a pity that a plant can get such a bad rap. fftopic: