MIGRAINES!

[imperfect_cupcake]

this is my very first one. But doc says I've probably been having "auras" (the funny vision I've had periodically since I was twenty) the whole time (silent migraine) - I got all the other symptoms but the pain, which occationally happens with some people. So getting hit with a non stop week long headache that feels like someone is kicking me in the back of the head every two seconds till my teeth/eye pops out is a new and novel experience. Light makes me sob. sound feels like someone trepanning my skull. I'm pretty confused, I've lost track of time/when things have happened etc, dizzy, wierd smells (egg) and today some bizarre visual hallucinations - like things getting burned onto your retina that you keep seeing for a few minutes because of a flash of light.

the sumitriptan given to me yesterday has helped. but I'm going back in. I don't think it's normal to have visual hallucinations closer to the end (middle, fuck knows how long this will take to go away).

Wolfy, very glad to hear it's gotten a lot better.

[jelli]

I've been having migraines for almost 21 yrs now - since the birth of my second son. The number of migraines that take place have significantly decreased since moving away from a lot of stressors 11 yrs ago.

I definitely have a strong aura. I know when my vision starts that I have about 20 minutes to get somewhere safe. I tend to go to my room where it is peaceful and not so bright. I use an ice wrap around my neck to slow the blood flow as well as turn my fan on. Meds as needed and depending on severity.

Cruel and I have a 15 yr old son that has been having migraines for the last 5-6 yrs. He regularly sees a pediatric neurologist. He takes medicine as a preventative as well as onset.

Our son and I are both very sensitive to bright lights, flashing lights, and scents.

[Jett]

Omfg I'm coming off the worst 4 day migraine I've had in many many years... and yesterday was like being in hell... the whole left side of my head felt like I'd been hit by a baseball bat and the visual disturbances, nausea, light and sound sensitivity were kicking my ass badly.

Like most I retreat to that dark quiet space and try to stay passed out (sleep) as much as possible, wake up, take more pain meds, try to stay hydrated as I possibly can.

I wish I could give some great tips and tricks, but what Corkey shared with me some time back (what he shared here too) is helpful... especially the ice feels very soothing (my head feels a yucky kinda hot when I get them).

Upside I always lose a couple pounds... it's like my consolation prize for surviving or something...

[*Anya*]

I started getting migraines out of the blue in my 40's.

My absolute worst ones were ones I had before I was prescribed sumatriptan (Imitrex).

I also feel fortunate because I always get an aura. It starts out a pinprick of shimmer in my right eye and progresses to a half-moon of jagged-edge shimmer in my entire eye. I can not see at all out of that eye when it happens. Very rarely it will move to the left eye. The minute it starts I take a pill and can stave off about 80% of them.

The rest? Quiet, dark room and I take as many Imitrex as I can until it goes away. Then I have kind of a hangover for a few hours afterward and go to sleep. I also feel fortunate it only happens once or twice a month; sometimes less.

My trigger is usually a disruption in the usual time I go to bed at night or if I have less than 7-hours of sleep.

It is so strange I never got them when I had periods.

[AtLast]

I never experience migraine headaches until I went through menopause. This made very aware of how people that deal with them are affected. Awful. Mine did stop after I was through menopause, but I feel for people that have dealt with these all through life.

[Dominique]

I have the kind of migraine that looks like I am having a stroke. My speech
becomes very garbled and some parts of my face look droopy. I have gotten better at reading people (based on that OMG look that comes across their face as I am trying to talk) I think I sound fine. Recovery for me/from one of these is about 4 days.

I have photophobia, and I had a neuro opthomologist make a rigid contact lens with prisms in it to deflect lights. That helps alot. I wear sunglasses at night baseball games because the scoreboard makes me sick. Never, not once has anyone asked why I am wearing sunglasses when it's 11p.m. (only at a sporting event I swear) I can get aura's as much as a week in advance and still do not always recognize that they are aura's. When I get the kalediscope, I know that is a migraine knocking on the door and I take treximet (they call it rescue medicine) to me, it's like drinking a 2 litre bottle of Mt dew. I guess everyone reacts differently. I also have chronic
phonophobia and I can not take smells....i/e second hand cigarette smoke,
overly strong perfumes or colognes.....some times the coast deoderant soap sitting in the shower soap dish. I have a couple of medicines that I am trying to take each night before I go to sleep, but do to a reverberation injury to my thalamus (in the center of my brain) I can not tolerate medicines. I take *baby strength doseages* and am constantly having my platelets checked to ensure the medicines are not eating up the platelets. Weird how the body all works.

The insurance companys (they need to stay out of any medical regulating) will only let you have 12 rescue meds a month. I can use 12 on one head ache. They are not pain medication. No schedule class is attached to it.
I have learned to not go near an emergency room with this type of migraine. They admit you and start treating you for TIA (symptons do present very similar) and then you get that nice bill.....so thats why you have to be able to recognize that OMG look people get, because they'll call
for ems with out you knowing. I wear a really nice gold medical alert braclet (purchased from a jewelry store) with my personal web siite engraved on the back so medical people can see what the heck as per my
highly specialized (and highly regarded neurologist). My heart hurts for anyone who has any form of migraines.

[Starbuck]

Originally Posted by Anya/Georgia

My trigger is usually a disruption in the usual time I go to bed at night or if I have less than 7-hours of sleep.

It is so strange I never got them when I had periods.

You're right, Anya, people that don't get enough sleep or less sleep than they are used to getting predisposes them to a migraine. Hormones too play a HUGE role in migraine activation. That's why so many women start getting them when hormones begin to fluctuate during our mid-life years.

Unfortunately, some people, like my mother, have them their whole life. I cannot count the number of ER visits and hospital admissions she's had because her migraines have been so severe. And each time the doctors ALWAYS want to do a head CT to rule out a stroke or a brain bleed...that adds
up $$$! I wish you the best.

[PlatinumPearl]

I use to have massive migraines where even medication wouldn't help. I once had a co-worker who swore by having a Coca-Cola Slushy or an Iced coffee such as an Iced Cappuccino along with a chocolate bar and her migraine would go away. She would mention something about having a sugar rush and how that and a brain freeze helped? Not sure since it never worked for me.

They say that all health issues start with the gut. I use to have low stomach acid levels and found that the only thing that resolved that issue was drinking pure celery juice. I drink celery juice nearly every day and haven't suffered from a migraine since doing so.

[Stone-Butch]

I use to get halo headaches almost every couple of days, both eyes, had to get to a safe rest spot. What I learned through my studies is that something with caffeine would open the brain barrier and allow medication to act more quickly . Coffee, coke, tea etc. one of which surfaced and I would take two extra strength Tylenol and relax. After a while, as soon as I could see it coming on I would take a drink and two Tylenol and avoid the majority of headaches. Now I might get two a year.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Gemme

I'm fortunate in this regard. I tend to get very mild migraines that are nothing that I can't handle while out and about or at work. With mine, I get the teeth aching, a very specific pain, light sensitivity (though my eyes are naturally very sensitive, so it's nothing extreme) and a queasy tummy. I do tend to get a bit short-tempered too.

This is how it is now. Back in the day, I used to get doozies with all kinds of symptoms that were not fun. I read a book called Your Body's Many Cries for Water and started drinking a lot more water. As it turned out, I was perpetually dehydrated, which does all kinds of bad things to the body. Once I started taking in more water, my migraines got a lot easier to manage.

[tantalizingfemme]

I started getting migraines a few years ago that would last a day and then I was fine. Starting about 2 years ago they changed so I now have it for 3 days with a 4th needed for recovery. I've kept a food journal, sleep journal, water intake record, etc. and there is nothing that shows a common element. It's not hormone-related either. I had decided that it was due to perimenopause but there is no change in my hormone levels so that isn't it. They are so debilitating. The hangover after feels like there I have brain damage. I just had an MRI done Thursday and they found nothing of concern, just some gliosis which is apparently common for people who get them. I am concerned because not only is it awful to go through, but preventative meds don't work and I am getting ready to start my year-long clinical placement, plus continue my full-time job and schoolwork and I cannot miss work or time off from my placement. I am really worried about this. So, I am seeing a neurologist in a couple of weeks and I know that botox shots in my head and neck may be an option. I am wondering if anyone has had this done and how it worked, or is working out for them. Thanks.