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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Migraine
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
Anyone else here suffer with migraines?
What do you do about them?
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
What do you do about them?
Suffer.
I don't' take anything prescription, I usually find a cool, dark spot to lie down, if I can.
If I need to be functional, or if the pain is too extreme,...wait, is a mild, non-prescription remedy proscribed by the "no medical advice"?
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Funny you should ask, Boogie - Daughter is currently lying in a darkened room suffering Day 3 of the worst one she's had since January.
The problem we have with hers is that she's only 11 (when she was first diagnosed she was only 7) and can't take triptans for at least another six years. We tried the only preventative medication she's allowed; it worked for a while and then gradually became less effective. At the moment the migraine-prevention strategy is for her to wear glasses with coloured lenses. I think she might need new ones in a different colour; when these work, they can stop a migraine in about six seconds but they haven't helped with this one. Painkillers don't seem to help once she's in the middle of an attack either.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Jen.
Godless Liberal
# 3131
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Posted
I get short sharp migraines with visual aura. My migraines are 3-4hrs long from first speck of flashing light to headache gone/'hangover' starting. I know this makes me more fortunate than most people who suffer from migraine, but I still get very frustrated with it.
I cannot work out the triggers at all. It's none of the obvious ones (not food related etc.). I know skipping a meal _can_ be a trigger but not always, the light at certain times of year can be an issue (low clear sunlight - I wear sunglasses at any hint of sunlight, I don't care if people think I'm being precious), stress might be an issue but again, not consistently.
I didn't think they were linked to hormones at all, but I did get them more frequently in the first trimester of pregnancy when your hormones go a bit mental (technical term), so maybe they are to blame. I suspect its a combination of the lot to be honest, which isn't manageable as an avoidance technique.
I tend to get them in waves. So I'll get one, then another one 4 weeks later, then the next 3 weeks later etc. until I get to the end of my tether as I'm having them daily and about to cut my own head off, and then they just stop. I've now been migraine free for 10 weeks. Last time this happened I was migraine free for months until they came back for another wave.
Because they are so short (flashing lights increasing gradually for 30/40 minutes then 30 minutes of 'free' time with no symptoms, then a 2-3 hr headache with sickness - not nausea, proper sickness) I don't take anything serious. If I can take 2 pink migraleve at the first hint of flashing lights I can sometimes stop the headache and sickness, I can usually reduce it to a milder headache and nausea which is much easier to deal with and mostly means I can stay at work.
I get very annoyed with people who:
a) say they have a migraine when its a headache (I also hate people that say they have flu when its a cold) - it makes it harder for those of us who do get migraine to be taken seriously
and
b) tell me my migraines don't really count as they're so short - since when was it a competition to feel the worst?
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Was Jenny Ann, but fancied being more minimal.
Posts: 5318 | From: Manchester, England | Registered: Aug 2002
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Yes, we had problems with Little J's previous school - the headmistress thought she was malingering and refused to accept that she really was too ill to be at school when in the throes of an attack. We're hoping the secondary school will be more reasonable, but it's early days yet.
The major trigger for Little J is light - there are a couple of food triggers too, but they're easy to avoid since she doesn't like them much anyway. It seems weird that simply wearing a pair of glasses with coloured lenses should make such a big difference to her, but it does.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Nicodemia
WYSIWYG
# 4756
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Posted
I used to get terrible ones, but not any more. It turned out they were (a) hormonal and (b) caused by a lie-in on Sundays!!
Once I got well past the menopause I was, mostly, rid of them.
But that isn't much help to any of you, I am afraid. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Posts: 4544 | From: not too far from Manchester, UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nicodemia:
Once I got well past the menopause I was, mostly, rid of them.
Me too thank goodness. During menopause however they got much worse and once I ended up in hospital because the doctor suspected a stroke.
Hint to all doctors; before you spend time checking whether a patient's eyes are tracking as a basis for your diagnosis, ask them if they ever track properly ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Marama
Shipmate
# 330
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Posted
Another who found they have been much better since menopause. Mind you, I had a mild one yesterday - but it went much more quickly that they used to.
Posts: 910 | From: Canberra | Registered: May 2001
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
I get them very rarely, but they are almost always brought on by stress. I dose myself up on either aspirin or a combination of paracetamol & ibuprofen. Other than that, I just wait for them to pass and suffer as quietly as possible, though the commute home is usually hell.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nicodemia:
Once I got well past the menopause I was, mostly, rid of them.
I was spayed five years ago, so it's not that ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jenny Ann:
I get short sharp migraines with visual aura. My migraines are 3-4hrs long from first speck of flashing light to headache gone/'hangover' starting. I know this makes me more fortunate than most people who suffer from migraine, but I still get very frustrated with it.
Mine are/were very similar - if I could knock it on the head (sorry!) with something as soon as I felt it coming on I was usually OK the next day (although I would still feel a bit fragile and more susceptible to triggers than usual), but if not then nothing would touch it, and although I could usually get through the day if it came on at work, by the time I got home all I could do was lie down in a dark room with a pillow over my head (because the dark room was never dark enough).
My main triggers seem to be caffeine and/or tannins (I've never quite figured out which, but I never drink coffee and rarely drink normal tea because it's just not worth the headache and associated symptoms and misery, and also have to be careful with red wine). I would also get a corker of a migraine most months around my period (thanks for nothing, hormones).
I did find that from about the 2nd trimester of pregnancy onwards they did really improve, and overall in pregnancy I had significantly fewer migraines and headaches (yes they are different! Annoyingly I get both) than before. So far since giving birth (my baby is now nearly 10 months old) I've only had a couple of relatively mild migraines and a handful of headaches. This is so much better than before it's just amazing. I'm guessing that pregnancy isn't really an option for you though, Boogie ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif) for you - they really are horrible.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Horseman Bree
Shipmate
# 5290
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Posted
My wife used to suffer debilitating migraines - up to three days of non-functioning. One reducer that helped immensely was reducing the amount of salt in her (our!) diet. Another trigger was pork - there is something, presumably in the injections now given to pigs, that triggered migraines, so we basically don't eat pork any longer.
In effect, the triggers were somewhat akin allergy reactions. You may want to have a look at what you are eating.
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It's Not That Simple
Posts: 5372 | From: more herring choker than bluenose | Registered: Dec 2003
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Jen.
Godless Liberal
# 3131
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Posted
The thing I read that made most sense to me about triggers was that it can be a combination of things, so it might not be chocolate (or red wine, or the angle of the sun, or hormones, or stress, or whatever) by itself, but a combination of stuff. This made me feel significantly less like it was something I was doing that caused it, and therefore enabled me to stress less about it.
Has anyone tried to make a trigger diary?
Jen
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Was Jenny Ann, but fancied being more minimal.
Posts: 5318 | From: Manchester, England | Registered: Aug 2002
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
We did a migraine diary for Little J and found that she got migraines when she was:
Overtired
Stressed
Excited
Hungry
Thirsty
Too hot
Too cold
Any combination of the above
...and sometimes for no obvious reason that we could see. When we found out about the coloured glasses (from Josephine on another All Saints thread, btw) all became clear - there's a particular wavelength of light that sets her off, and if she doesn't have her glasses on to block it she's permanently on the verge of having a migraine and any of the other things can tip her over into an attack...
I think the colour she needs on her glasses might have changed again. Optician's appointment booked for Friday (spaying is not really an option when you're only 11).
I used to be really jealous of people who had food triggers - even my mother, who can't eat a whole range of things including cheese, chocolate and bananas and can't drink red wine or coffee. It would be slightly easier to manage if her migraines were triggered by a particular kind of food.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Anyone else here suffer with migraines?
What do you do about them?
Far too much codeine (morphine derivative).
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a theological scrapbook
Posts: 9481 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2009
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Matt Black
Shipmate
# 2210
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Posted
That can cause it's own problems. Sumatriptans may work for some people.
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"Protestant and Reformed, according to the Tradition of the ancient Catholic Church" - + John Cosin (1594-1672)
Posts: 14304 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
both my daughter and I have migraines, but in both of our cases migraine pain is fairly rare. 2-3 times a year. However, much more often is the migraine other stuff. flashing lights, dizziness, hallucinatory smells, and general weirdness.
I've never found a single thing that helps with that. Chasee#1 finds both coffee and red wine to help a little, despite being told they would make it worse. I just try to tell myself to enjoy the show.
When the pain kicks in, I'll ibuprofin myself to the max and tell myself it's taking the edge off, but I'm not sure it is. I do find red wine to help, a little. like, breathing doesn't quite hurt as much. otherwise, it's a dark and quiet room with no smells and a barf bucket nearby.
painful and boring.
pain episodes last 24-48 hours for me. the non-pain weirdness can last up to a week. does not appear to be hormone dependent for me, it's a pretty random thing. Though, the weirdness gets more active during season changes, spring and fall when the daily light changes are most dramatic.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Jemima the 9th
Shipmate
# 15106
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Posted
Fellow sufferer here. No food triggers (thank God, a life without cheese would make me very sad). Triggers tend to be:
tiredness
stress
dehydration
too much screen use (er....)
I take ibuprofen unless I'm feeling really nauseous, in which case paracetamol. At the first inkling of a migraine, which is usually funny floaty black things in front of the eyes. Soon followed by the most almighty pain, I'm sure my left eyeball is demon possessed at the time.
I took migraleve for a while, but I found although it pushed the migraine back, they tended to last longer.
The one joy is that I get magnificent post-migraine highs the next day, where I am slightly manic and basically eeeeenvincible. (Evil laugh).
Posts: 801 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2009
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
I used to have hormonal migraines pretty often. Past menopause I have them very infrequently. For myself, the biggest thing for warding them off is keeping hydrated and not skipping meals. As for meds, I take ibuprofen and put heat rub on my forehead. Then I lie down in my dark, quiet bedroom and don't move at all for several hours. They never last longer than eight hours. I started getting them at about four. I remember missing Thanksgiving one year as a kid.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jemima the 9th:
I'm sure my left eyeball is demon possessed at the time.
Ooh, I have a migraine thing about my left eyeball too! I thought I was weird (quiet at the back please ) until I read about someone else who said that when she has a migraine one of her hands feels about 10 times bigger than usual, and she can't pick anything up because she has such a strong sense of her hands being this ridiculous size. And I thought that made so much sense of my eyeball thing - basically I am really aware of this huge tennis-ball sized thing in my head (I am distinctly aware of the shape of the back of it, on the inside).
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Prester John
Shipmate
# 5502
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Anyone else here suffer with migraines?
What do you do about them?
One of the following:
- caffinee
- over the counter medication
- steaming hot shower followed by curling into the fetal position in a dark corner
- activity that releases endorphins (provided that it isn't too painful and the spouse is willing)
Posts: 884 | From: SF Bay Area | Registered: Feb 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by comet:
However, much more often is the migraine other stuff. flashing lights, dizziness, hallucinatory smells, and general weirdness.
Yeah, I get those. First time I had an aural migraine I quietly freaked out. Much relived when I found out it was just a migraine. Never taken anything for them, though.
Not sure you can blame your general weirdness on migraines, though...
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
well, yes. there's that. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Mad Cat
Shipmate
# 9104
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Posted
Yaaar .... left eyeball!
My triggers are stress and tiredness: the attack usually comes when I relax. Two bad periods for frequency of attacks were when I had a long commute (90 minutes each way) by bus, and at another time when work was particularly stressful. The migraines were coming on Wednesday most weeks. Finally, my boss told me to talk to the GP. The usual meds are contra-indicated with (by?) my anti-depressant, so I take Atenolol as a prophylactic. I've only had a few auras and one or two attacks punch through, to my relief.
I occasionally get visual disturbance, but usually I just get sentitive to smells. I don't always get nauseous, but always have the crushing pain. And the hangover afterwards - bleaurgh!
I've now got several wee 'migraine kits' in plactic boxes, one for each handbag. In each is strong Ibuprofen and anti-nausea tablets. In the house I usually have some emergency co-codamol for when 'Buprofen doesn't cut it.
The worst migraines are the vomitous ones: one time I couldn't keep anything down for 24 hours. Pain meds, anti-nausea pills, water - everything bounced. ![[Projectile]](graemlins/puke2.gif)
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Weird and sweary.
Posts: 1844 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2005
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Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
The problem we have with hers is that she's only 11 (when she was first diagnosed she was only 7) ..........
Painkillers don't seem to help once she's in the middle of an attack either.
I was diagnosed at the age of 8, my doctor said that it was very important to take the painkillers as soon as I knew an attack was coming.
He said that once an attack had started the stomach 'shut down' and didn't process anything, so painkillers don't get into the system. There may be a more technical term but he was explaining to a child.
They used to loose me 2/3 days of my life, one day of pain and then up to 2 of feeling so week that I couldn't do anything.
I have grown out of them to a large extent and when they do come they are not as severe as they used to be they no longer lose me several days of my life.
Triggers are too much cafeine, cafeine withdrawal, red wine, strong smells such as perfume and air freshener, too much sunlight.
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
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Nenya
Shipmate
# 16427
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Posted
Yes, although I haven't had a full blown one for a long time now. If I can catch it early enough with two Migraleve pink tablets (I always carry them) I can keep it at bay. Once it has a hold the only thing to do is take medication, hope it stays down, go to bed in a dark room and pray that the pain subsides sufficiently to permit sleep.
I'm told that feverfew, taken daily, can reduce them or even get rid of them altogether. Apparently it needs to be taken routinely and the best way is to eat a fresh leaf every day, but it tastes vile. Tablets are available from the health food shop. Always read the label. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Nen - off to check her Migraleve Pink supply.
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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.
Posts: 1289 | Registered: May 2011
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
I found this interesting, though you guys probably already know all this stuff. I was surprised oestrogen patches are thought to help, if you get decreases are menopause.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Scots lass
Shipmate
# 2699
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Anyone else here suffer with migraines?
What do you do about them?
Far too much codeine (morphine derivative).
Amen! Migraleve usually, mixed with ibuprofen. I tend to get them lasting for three days - the first being the worst with nausea and photo-phobia, then two days of decreasing pain and yucky feeling. Triggers are mainly hormonal, but also if I combine red wine, coffee and chocolate, all of which are fine on their own. Light can do it, I tend to find things like conferences where the room is darker and we're all staring at a big screen leave me with that lovely stabby feeling behind the eyes. The last one I know of is dehydration, I tend to get a migraine if I exercise in summer without drinking throughout the day.
Sleeping it off doesn't really work without painkillers - I've tried that before and woke up sobbing with pain - but I'd like to be less reliant on them to deal with it!
Posts: 863 | From: the diaspora | Registered: Apr 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
I second the part about catching early if at all possible. Mine tend to niggle first at around 3:00 am and wake me. If I take ibuprofen then, I can often ward off the worst. If I am too drowsy to recognise what woke me, it will be full on in a few hours. When I get them like that, I usually can't pinpoint the trigger.
However smells like varnish, paint stripper, contact glue are too often triggers through daytime.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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ErinBear
Shipmate
# 13173
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Posted
Fellow migraine sufferer here. I used to have chronic (daily) migraines which centered around my left eye. I have been taking Topamax as a preventative, and it's a miracle drug for me. I get migraines very rarely now. When I do get them, I take Maxalt MLT to treat them and anti-nausea medication as needed (Zofran).
I've found that one of the things that helps me most is to keep a regular sleep schedule, so I work hard to go to sleep at the same time each night and wake up at the same time every morning. This makes a big difference for me. If I get too little sleep, that generally triggers a migraine.
Some other things can trigger a migraine also, like menstrual cycles, perfumes, bright sunlight or very strong odors (like hot tar), and some medications. Wearing good sunglasses outdoors is another tactic which has really helped me.
Blessings,
ErinBear
Posts: 2441 | From: California, USA | Registered: Nov 2007
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Arabella Purity Winterbottom
Trumpeting hope
# 3434
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Posted
* had them as a child up to my period starting. They've just started up again with menopause - massive visual distortion, nausea, although not so much headache as * remember from childhood.
The only thing that works even a little seems to be lying flat on my back in a dark room with a hot wheat bag under my neck. * have an iffy reaction to morphine/codeine/tramadol so nothing more than paracetamol, which does very little. Mostly they seem to become manageable after a couple of hours, but * 've had a couple that knocked me out for several days.
* also have what * think are a different kind of migraine that leaves me feeling very fuzzy - no visual disturbance or nausea, but a nasty inability to recover words when * need them, and complete dopeyness for up to 12 hours. My mother observed this last weekend and was rather amused, as * am more normally ADHD rather than dopey.
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Hell is full of the talented and Heaven is full of the energetic. St Jane Frances de Chantal
Posts: 3702 | From: Aotearoa, New Zealand | Registered: Oct 2002
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Zacchaeus: quote:
* was diagnosed at the age of 8, my doctor said that it was very important to take the painkillers as soon as * knew an attack was coming.
He said that once an attack had started the stomach 'shut down' and didn't process anything, so painkillers don't get into the system. There may be a more technical term but he was explaining to a child.
That's interesting. It would explain why she keeps refusing painkillers in the middle of an attack. She gets a warning sign (ears start to hurt) but usually only a few minutes before the attack starts - enough time to get to the painkillers at home, but probably not at school.
It might also explain why she said she wasn't hungry this morning (day 4; * think we're having multiple attacks one after another).
Aargh!
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
That possibly explains why my doctor used to give me injections in the backside - one of voltaren and another of something that stopped me throwing up.
Made a big difference.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Well, we have a solution. New glasses with a completely different colour on the lenses. Now we just have to survive until they get here...
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
* 've been cautious about joining this thread because if * 'm at a vulnerable point even thinking about them can set them off. So * might not revisit often.
In my teens and younger adulthood when * was having them about twice weekly * dreaded trips to the doctors. But now they seem to only happen twice a year (yay) when * catch sunrays at particular low angles. Thankfully * usually get pulses of light in the corner of my vision so * find it helps to take migralieve immediately and then only feel tender and groggy for the rest of the day. If * have none of those handy a couple of fast-action paracetamol can take the edge off it, but not nearly as much.
When * 've recovered * can usually analyse the few days before the attack and see some warning signs - but at the time * don't notice them.
Occasionally * get completely disabling attacks that come right out of the blue - * can't walk, any movement is agony and causes nausea - it can take a few days to recover from these.
What * experience is bad enough - * do feel for people who have longer and/or stronger attacks.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Celtic Knotweed
Shipmate
# 13008
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Posted
Another migraine-affected bod checking in. Had them since my early teens, and at least since Mum also gets them there was someone around who knew what was happening and why.
Sandemaniac has semi-seriously suggested that he's one of my triggers (having had a few weekends we'd planned be hit by the damn things). Thing is, although they're sort of triggered by red wine/dark chocolate/coffee/bright lights, this doesn't always hold true. It's more of a cumulative thing, where point on menstrual cycle, plus amount of trigger(s), plus general well-being, plus dehydration, all combine to go ouch. Then * curl up in a little ball and hide in a dark room for 3-12 hours. Then feel groggy for another day. Some of my workmates look surprised when * say mine are mild...
Quite agree with the stomach shutting down thing. After talking to my GP last year, she gave me a prescription for triptans, then told me not to use it unless the OTC stuff didn't work. Part of the conversation had involved working out that melt in the mouth ibuprofen might work, so we tested that. Works for me providing * remember to take them as soon as the aura starts, and since it's not on prescription, much more affordable (and fewer side-effects).
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My little sister is riding 100k round London at night to raise money for cancer research donations here if you feel so inclined.
Posts: 664 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Sep 2007
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MSHB
Shipmate
# 9228
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Posted
I got my first migraine, as far as I can tell, when my prospective mother in law came to visit. So I guess stress is a trigger.
I got them about three times a year - took the strongest over-the-counter painkiller (paracetamol/codeine mix) and went to bed in quiet, darkened room for 24 hours. I got visual aura beforehand.
Since mid thirties I have been on a beta blocker for high blood pressure, and one of its good side-effects is suppressing migraines. So I don't get full migraines any more. But when I am overtired and stressed, I still get the visual aura, often followed by a "normal" headache. It just doesn't escalate into the full debilitating migraine any more.
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MSHB: Member of the Shire Hobbit Brigade
Posts: 1522 | From: Dharawal Country | Registered: Mar 2005
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
l used to get them when l was a teenager. l didn't realise what they were at first, and thought they were just exceptionally bad headaches that didn't respond to aspirin, solpadeine, or paracetamol. The penny didn't drop until after a school trip to Coventry when l developed tunnel vision. (The long coach journey home was a barrel of fun.) After that it escalated into the full works with flashing lights and a severe pain over one eye, another at the base of my skull and no pain in between.
Migraleve proved a godsend. It was the only thing that worked. There was a window of opportunity to stop migraine in its tracks by taking two early on, but miss that window and it was a darkened room for the rest of the day.
It stopped after a while and l had none for years after that. A few years ago one morning at the office l unexpectedly got a very bright zigzag in my field of vision and some nausea which was made noticeably worse by artificial light. l couldn't look at the screen and had to go outside until it subsided. Again the penny didn't drop until afterwards - it was one of the things "the Change" can bring. These days l often get mini-ones with tingling and a few flashes, usually due to caffeine or too much chocolate, but rarely the actual headache itself. If l ease off the caffeine/chocolate it fades out after about 20 minutes.
[ 20. September 2014, 06:37: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Tunnel vision? Had an incident where my peripheral vision went white and progressively narrowed to almost nothing. Gradually came back. Was told that was a precursor to fainting, but perhaps it was yet another symptom of migraine.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Migraine sufferer just up from a day episode. Unusually for me this definitely had nausea in it in the first half. Had them since a late teenager when * had Abdominal Migraine. It was in that case a response to not eating and a blood sugar drop can still trigger a migraine. This complicates things as stress is another trigger and * am less likely to eat sensibly if stressed.
Symptoms are vary hugely indeed the headache only occurs in a minority of cases but because photo and phonophobia occur regularly without pain, it is difficult for others to determine. It produces a reaction a bit like the surprise of a sudden noise or sound but continually.
One of my aura is a taste aura. This basically makes black coffee taste as if it has sour milk in it and chocolate taste very odd.
J***ie's first rule of migraine treatment, if it is strong enough to help it is strong enough to trigger migraine. So be careful over what you do but the list below is things that have helped me:
- Magnesium supplements
- low dose Amiltryptyline
- ginger tea drunk as anti-nausea
- Pain killers taken early
- eating regularly
- restrict caffeine intake (it speeds up the sugar high and lows)
- aromatherapy of Jasmine (mood lifter), geranium (actually supposed to be good for migraine), ginger (tummy/digestion) and cinamon (calming). However sometimes it is too strong a sensation and * do not do it.
However the, main treatment is to get to bed and sleep.
When * am unable to do this, then and only then * will do the following. Get a strong cup of coffee and ginger beer(or ginger sweets) and drink with paracetamol and ibuprofen. It is enough to delay rather than cure the migraine and though my brain is basically functional but it is not normal (it is as if it is wired to respond to everything and recall very little; * have stopped using certain migraine medication because it put me in the same state but for days).
For those wondering about the caffeine in that, migraine and caffeine have a very complex relationship. * have already indicated that too much caffeine plays into migraine. However, one of my early indicators is craving coffee (not simply wanting, * will get through three large mugs of coffee in an hour without realising it, my normal amount is one per day) or failing that chocolate. Also, caffeine is in several anti-migraine treatments. Sometimes quite early on in migraine blood vessels expand in the brain, caffeine will counteract this.
If * am at home (can get home easily) * will not take caffeine during a migraine.
J***ie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
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Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Tree Bee
Ship's tiller girl
# 4033
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Posted
Every couple of years * get a migraine aura, never with a headache, thank God.
My trigger is light at the corner of my eye, which caused my last attack in June. Stress was another trigger on this occasion as * 'd just broken up a fight at work and was on the phone to the police at the time!
So, yes, a combination of triggers. * get a flashing zigzag or rippling water effect usually followed by a black hole in my vision which gets gradually larger.
* take painkillers and rest, and after a weird few hours of after effect detachment * 'm OK.
Daughter Erin had them regularly through her secondary school career and missed a lot of school as a result. She always threw up her painkillers or Migraleve.
* 'm certain her trigger was dehydration. She avoided drinking as she didn't want to use school loos and the only drink available was coke from a machine or dirty water fountains.
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"Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple."
— Woody Guthrie
http://saysaysay54.wordpress.com
Posts: 5257 | From: me to you. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
* get them, fortunately very infrequently. * haven't found a medication that touches them at all, and have to just ride them out. Thankfully they tend not to last more than half a day, with the rest of the day feeling very spaced out. The only things * 've ever identified as triggers are overhead flashing lights, and raw cashew nuts. Both are generally OK though, so not terribly useful. * suspect there is also a hormonal contribution.
* have, on two occasions, managed to head them off at the visual disturbance stage, by drinking a lot of water immediately * felt that something was slightly off. * did suffer with the sparkly lights and tunnel vision for 2 or 3 hours, but the pain never arrived.
ETA * hadn't read Tree Bee's post before * posted, but * see that dehydration is not an uncommon factor.
[ 20. September 2014, 14:48: Message edited by: Drifting Star ]
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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ExclamationMark
Shipmate
# 14715
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Posted
I've had them for as long as I remember - at least 50 years now. They don't seem as bad the older I get but that may just be an ability to cope ....
Truly terrifying as a child was the weekly migraine. A day and night of vomiting until there was nothing else and pain beyond description .... never available on those days to go out so lost friends who didn't understand what these things were. Accused at school of malingering .... hopefully things have changed.
I no longer the vomit and if caught quickly its a mild level of pain quite copeable to work thoruhg. A combination of OTC painkillers usually works but I've also learned to avoid triggers where I can - alcohol of any kind, salad at lunchtime(!), cheese, not eating. It's now possibly monthly but I still can't understand how I can wake up with pain at level 10 when level 5 is enough to keep me awake????
In the bad old days I had daily doses of stuff that wouldn't ever be given these days for fear of liver damage. It worked - sort of.
My mum suffered badly all her life. My eldest daughter suffers (from age 10) and now our granddaughter (her oldest daughter) aged 7 has been diagnosed. Thankfully understanding and treatment is much more advanced.
The really weird thing is that a Dr told me I'd grow out of them by the time I entered puberty. Am I still waiting then for something special?
Posts: 3845 | From: A new Jerusalem | Registered: Apr 2009
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Exclamation Mark: quote:
Accused at school of malingering .... hopefully things have changed.
I think it partly depends on whether you have a teacher who suffers from migraine herself; at Little J's new school her form teacher gets migraines too and has been very supportive. At her primary school, yes, she was accused of malingering.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
I get very, very annoyed with people who claim to have a migraine when what they have is a bad headache. This is one of the things that stops non-sufferers from understanding what a migraine really is, and how debilitating it can be.
Anyone who posts that they have a migraine on Facebook - or anywhere else, for that matter - is deluding themselves. Or possibly knowingly exaggerating. If they had a migraine they would not be willingly using their computer.
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Drifting Star
It depends on severity levels and situation. My boss in work now gets sometimes very mild ones which he has found if he ignores get better. Ignoring automatically consists of using a computer due to the nature of my department. These consist more of an aura than a headache. He has had the full scale ones as well and there is no convenient point to say one isn't a migraine.
Then I will use a computer with a migraine. It is the least painful option for informing my work that I cannot come in, when I wake in throes of a migraine. The alternative is to stay awake for a couple of hours (which requires not taking pain killers or I will sleep) until someone is in and then making several phone calls.
Mind you I have noticed that migraineurs have their computer screens often lots less bright than other people.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
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Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
Yes - if I have to cancel arrangements I would generally need to do it by email, both for practical reasons and because it would be less of a strain than phoning. It wouldn't be pleasant though, which is why I said they would not 'willingly' use a computer. It is usually possible (although if I have a blind spot rather than tunnel vision I would find it difficult as well as unpleasant).
There is, though, a big difference between struggling on with work and using Facebook to post casual messages.
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Jenn.
Shipmate
# 5239
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Posted
I've started getting migraines since my kids were born. I don't get any visual effects, but severe nausea with a lie down in a dark room headache. I'm working out triggers - some sounds, dehydration, nothing in particular (or so it seems). I've found that sometimes, if I need to still function (say I'm in charge of the kids) something to focus on can take the edge off for an hour or so, and a dim computer screen with reading things like ship threads can give me that for a short while, until someone else can take over and I can go hide. So I'll sometimes post 'migraine' on facebook while I'm in that state, to let people know I'll be out of action for a bit.
Posts: 2282 | From: England | Registered: Nov 2003
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
I second the part about catching early if at all possible.
And I third it. Used to suffer terribly before ibuprofen became readily available, which I found, if I took it early enough, would at least ward off the sickness if not the other symptoms.
Midway through my 40s they suddenly stopped, only get the occasional one now. Not quite sure why exactly, but I certainly drink much more liquid during the day than I used to, so perhaps that is part of the reason. Or maybe I did eventually grow out of them??
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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