Do any of you have migraines???

[jsteinb95]

I'm so tired of having migraines. Nothing works; over the counter or perscribed.

My migraines come on once a month and last for 2 weeks. I sometimes see white spots and black squiggly lines. If that's not bad enough, I have headaches everyday. Migraines + headaches

All I can do is ride out the migraines and "ignore" the headaches, but sometimes that is really hard to do.

I've heard, oh it's your diet, oh it's "this" blah blah blah.....but I've had them for about 11 years.

Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[Hellgate]

I feel for you J, I've had them since I was 10 years old. In my 20s and 30s they were terrible, lasting a week at times and the pain was horrible. I tired a variety of meds and they helped a little bit, but nothing was a wonder drug for me. Once I got into my late thirty they were less frequent and less painful. Now in my 40s I get them once or twice a year. However in the past month I've had three. I get the electric snakes too. They last about 45 minutes and then I get the pain. I just kind of suck it up and find a cool, dark place to rest if I can. Otherwise I work through it, get home as soon as I can to rest.

I've also found that certain foods can tigger them too. Coffee, sweet white wines, heavy red wines, and artifical foods.

I've also found that a flash of light, like a reflection from a windshield, can trigger them too.

Stress can make them more frequent for me too. Exercise can help with that, and its good for you anyway.

Keep working with your Dr. maybe you'll find the right combination of med.

Good luck!

 

[Stumbles06]

Have you tried "Crushed Panadol"... That is where you place a panadol on your forehead and crush it with a hammer??? J/K

Sorry, couldn't help myself...lol

I know what you are going through, my wife has the same thing, she's tried everything... nothing works

I know it sounds extreme, but a "CAT" scan of the brain may uncover something undiagnosed by the local doctor.

 

[jsteinb95]

Thanks Pete....so I guess there is something to look forward to when I get older.

I excercised yesterday and man.....I was just SICK! I was nautous and dizzy and my head was throbbing. I also get really sharp shooting pains that go from my temple to the top of my head (on the left side).

I've been to the doctor years ago and was prescribed with all kinds of crap and the meds actually made 'em worse.....plus, I don't want my body to be dependant on the meds.

 

[jsteinb95]

I know it sounds extreme, but a "CAT" scan of the brain may uncover something undiagnosed by the local doctor.

I've done the "extreme"!!! The CAT scan came back normal. I also had an EEG and the results; abnormal brain waves on the left side of my brain. I went back about 5 years later and had another EEG done and it came back normal.

 

[aussiejules]

Same here have suffered with them since about 10, as i get older now 41 way less freqent, though headaches every day, i get excited if i wake up without one, but it comes on at some time. A mate of mine who also suffered said he use stand under a hot shower with the water on his head, and said it use to reduse his. I always found the hot water brought it on worse for me. I now just constantly pop pills, i got all of my nans capadex for when the get bad.

 

[willoby61726]

try going to see your eye doctor. my exwife had similar symptoms and it turned out to be psuedo tumor serebri. in english its basically a false brain tumor. the eye doctor was the one to diagnose when all the other doctors couldn't figure it out. if they can see the nerve endings at the back of yout eyes and can see if excess swelling is causing damage. if you have noticed any holes in your vision or loss of vision that is another symptom. I hope you get it figured out and get it taken care of!!

 

[MarineMom]

Do you drink diet soda? Nutrasweet/ Aspartame can cause and or worsen migraines.

 

[wrightme43]

I sometimes get really really really bad headaches but I have never been to the doctor for them. I dont know. I just take two aleve, and two crazy generic headache meds, that ends up with 440mg of aleve, 500 mg of aspirin, and 500 mg of ibuprofen. That usually helps enough to go to sleep then they go away.

Imitrex and a large shot of demerol worked for Tiffany.

 

[jsteinb95]

Hot water????? No way....cold is better for me as well.

I do not drink diet soda, but I do drink regular soda.....I stopped drinking soda for about a month and only drank water to see if that was the problem and it actually made it worse.

I have been to the eye doctor and they said I had 20/15 vision in one eye and 20/10 in the other. They didn't say anything else. :don'tknow:

 

[Raid The Revenge]

Migraines? I get them rarely.

All you need is a tub filled with cold water. You wear a toque, cover your ears and shut your eyes. Put your feet in the cold water and keep them there for no less than 10 minutes.

Try not to think. That can hurt sometimes.

 

[jsteinb95]

All you need is a tub filled with cold water.

AHHHHH!!!! That sounds so nice right now, but........what if I don't have cold water? I'd hate to spend 5 bucks on a bag of ice just to watch it melt.

 

[Scott64a]

My wife gets them too, HA ever day and once a month a big old migraine.

She has been on all different kinds of Rx, and now takes nortripyline at bedtime and has "the big guns" for when they begin. I think it's Imitrex.

She's had sinus surgery, countless allergy visits, (though she isn't allergic to anything,) and sees a neurologist twice a year for adjustments to the Rx.

My guess for her, (and may not be my guess for you,) is that they are accumulated as stress collects in your neck and shoulders over a month. My wife sees a shrink to try and get over stress.
Then again, I could see this being a type of epilepsy, where the "siezure" is really just a neurological flare-up, and not completely berzerk EEG activty. Maybe Ativan would help?

 

[jsteinb95]

I don't know if this is relevant, but I used to have seizures when I was a baby (that's probably common though) and lately the right side of my chin has been numb and tingling in my left arm (I see the tingling in the arm is common before a migraine....reading a link that Marinemom sent me).

 

[kustom17]

Oh god, since i was little (9 or 10) I had the worst migraines
the kind where i couldn't do anything but lay in bed and occasionally throw up

but i could sense when it was about to hit, I couldn't focus easily and light would kill me.

Anyway, nothing the Docs gave me worked.. most just prolonged it.
I'll tell you what did get rid of them

I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Since then (3 yrs ago) I've had one.. .and that one happened after i didn't get sleep and drank an energy drink then coffeee... totally triggered it. but besides that nothing.



I feel for you... people that have never had a migraine just can never understand how horrible they are. The best way I describe them to people are they are like a brain freeze that lasts for hours

 

[jsteinb95]

Thanks everybody.....I really appreciate your inputs

Oh god, since i was little (9 or 10) I had the worst migraines
the kind where i couldn't do anything but lay in bed and occasionally throw up

but i could sense when it was about to hit, I couldn't focus easily and light would kill me.

Anyway, nothing the Docs gave me worked.. most just prolonged it.
I'll tell you what did get rid of them

I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Since then (3 yrs ago) I've had one.. .and that one happened after i didn't get sleep and drank an energy drink then coffeee... totally triggered it. but besides that nothing.



I feel for you... people that have never had a migraine just can never understand how horrible they are. The best way I describe them to people are they are like a brain freeze that lasts for hours

Man, I wish it were my wisdom teeth....believe me, I have tried everything.....I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled (in 1 visit....OUCH!).....so that is ruled out.

 

[JohnP]

Keep a food/headache diary for a month. Mine are triggered by food. Most notably chocolate. But also, nutrasweet in large enough quantities, and most recently found, a form of the B3 vitamin Inositol Hexacnicotinate. Normal B3 is fine. The kicker is that most times the Migraine would not start until 8 or more hours after eating the food, making it very tough to figure out what was causing them.

It took me years to figure this out. I went through cat scans and some pretty powerful drug regiments, all of which where useless, and suffered until I figured out my food triggers. Now I mostly have normal headaches which are controlled with Excedrin.

Oh, and even before I discovered the food thing, I found if I took 2-3 Excedrin at the first inkling of a migraine sometimes it would go away.

Good luck!

-John

 

[jsteinb95]

Keep a food/headache diary for a month. Mine are triggered by food. Most notably chocolate. But also, nutrasweet in large enough quantities, and most recently found, a form of the B3 vitamin Inositol Hexacnicotinate. Normal B3 is fine. The kicker is that most times the Migraine would not start until 8 or more hours after eating the food, making it very tough to figure out what was causing them.

It took me years to figure this out. I went through cat scans and some pretty powerful drug regiments, all of which where useless, and suffered until I figured out my food triggers. Now I mostly have normal headaches which are controlled with Excedrin.

Oh, and even before I discovered the food thing, I found if I took 2-3 Excedrin at the first inkling of a migraine sometimes it would go away.

Good luck!

-John

ok, I'll have to try that.

I agree with the Excedrin, but alot of the times (for me) my migraine is too far gone and it doesn't work.

Thanks for the help John. :thumbup:

 

[CombatPenguin]

I suffer from them daily if I don't take my meds. I take Nortriptylin 25mg that's the one for guys. But my mom and sister both have them to and take amitriptylin. Mine works great as long as I don't stop taking it once a day.

 

[jsteinb95]

Mine works great as long as I don't stop taking it once a day.

ugh. I don't want to have to depend on meds for the rest of my life.