Do you get Migraines?

Natvee

Thanks everyone for the info. Migraines are truly a mystery. Hopefully the neurologist will be able to help.

Have you never been to the neurologist before? The first migraine I remember having I was about 6 years old, I know now it was a migraine because of the blacking out and tingly feeling in my fingers and face. I had "headaches" the whole time I was growing up but my pediatrician never did anything about it. When I was 22 and newly pregnant with my daughter I was driving down a busy road and started to get one and blacked out momentarily. I went to a new doctor at this point and they sent me to the neurologist that I am still seeing to this day. Mine have changed over the years, I don't black out anymore, but the aura part of it is worse now. When one is coming on I start to lose the center of my vision. For years I tried to control it with diet and avoiding very smelly places (like Hallmark stores) and avoiding strobe lights but last year it got to the point that I was suffering 3 or 4 days of the week and it was seriously effecting me taking care of my daughter. I went back to Dr. Strauss and he put me back on Topamax (is this a preventative that you've been on?) I also have phentermine that I take if I don't realize one is coming on and it's suddenly there or I wake up with it. But last year when I had so many Dr. Strauss thought that I might have sleep apnea because I was waking up so often with them. I finally got him to understand that my sleep was all broken up throughout the day so I wake up bunches of times a day. But that when I can sleep I get really good sleep. Oh and my food triggers are too much salt (too much ham), too much sugar (Butterfinger), sour cream, Asian food with soy sauce bases (msg). I can also bring one on by wearing my sunglasses on top of my head for any amount of time and headbands are a no no.

I haven't been to a neurologist before,so I'm curious about what he/she may say. I have taken topamax before and it didn't work for me. Going gluten free is the only thing I feel I haven't tried.

southpaw211

My sister has suffered from debilitating migraines for years. What finally gave her some relieft last summer was receiving regular Botox injections. I laughed at first, but she was actually serious. She gets them through her hairline, along her temples and down. She has gone for a few treatments (I think it's every 3-4 months) and has been experiencing a lot less pain since. Apparently Botox was recently approved to help reduce migraines. Good luck!

KristaWeiss

you and I are identical right down to the gluten. I don't have the disease either but once my doctor cut 90% of it out I saw dramatic improvements in my migraines. I've done the shots, meds, chiro apts, therapy- you name it I've done it. going gluten free is very tough but worth the work in both headache relief and weightloss.

xstarxdustx

Lack of sleep is a huge trigger. What're your sleeping habits like?

proudjmmom

I am also a sufferer of migraines, since the age of 7. Nothing really works for me either in terms of treatment. I don't get them as often as when i was in high school. Fluorescent lights are my trigger. My 10 year old son has been getting debilitating migraines for 3 years now, to the point they were affecting his social/academic life. He now is on a preventive medication, Propranolol. Its used to treat blood pressure problems, and he had to have his blood pressure monitored to stabilize his dosage. Before medication he had a constant migraine for 4 months straight. He gets violently ill with them, with hallucinations and all. Since medication, he has only had a handful of migraines, thankfully. He takes 30mg 3 times a day. Hate for such a young child to be medicated daily, but pills has given him a life beyond bed and pain. He also takes Imitrex should a migraine start. Ironically, his trigger is also fluorescent lights.

wanttolose62

Had migraines quite often since 1987. After about 10 years of trying different meds that just didn't work for me, I was given a prescription (Midrin) that stopped them in their tracks usually with one dose. Unfortunately, the FDA (rotten SOBs) withdrew the approval of it and there isn't anything else that took it's place.

But, and not to make this into a joke, but around the same time they took it off the market, I got divorced and have had only a handful of migraines since it was final in March 2012.

I think it's likely mine were solely due to stress.

smr071165

I have them every month and have since I was 15. I used to take Midrin, but they discontinued it and none of the new miracle drugs work for me. I try to make do with Excedrin and Coke (not diet or generic). Of course, then I have overdosed on caffeine and get the jitters.
The neurologist I saw didn't find anything, and the one drug he tried on me made my psycho--to the point that I couxln't function. When I told him about it, he said that there wasn't anything else he could try and that I would have to learn to live with them. Nice, huh? So...back to my excedrin & coke.
I do have some triggers, but not for the monthly ones. I keep hoping that they will stop when that monthly thing stops.
My chiro does help a little bit, and massage has helped in the past, if they focus on the bumps on the back of my head just at the base of my skull.

whitebalance

I had debilitating migraines close to weekly through most of my childhood. Went through all the same hoops - optometrist, chiropractor, massage therapist, neurologist, glucose level and blood tests, on and on. Dad said I needed protein shakes and jogging, grandmother said I needed condensed milk for the sugar, 5th grade best friend's mom said I was getting sick from spending too much time in the bathroom. Everyone had an opinion!

What finally worked for me: When I was 19, my mom met a nutrition counselor who ultimately put me on a very strict diet for a time. The emphasis was on avoiding processed foods and chemical additives. It wasn't far from the paleo diet, but excluded red meat, limited the frequency of pork and ham, and allowed whole grains in very limited quantities. (There was no "grass-fed, free-range, steroid-free, raised with kindness" movement back then; don't know if that would have made a difference in the red meat restriction, but once you stop eating the stuff, it feels kind of gross going back to it.)

I spent several years on that diet, got better over time, and have more freedom with food now. When I get the occasional migraine, I can usually trace it back to either something(s) I ate or a chemical I was exposed to (e.g., the neighbors sprayed for bugs). Once I have one, all I can do is drink lots of water, try to sleep, and wait/hope to puke (which is my immune system's quick and dirty way of dumping the bad stuff out of my bloodstream). If I notice I'm getting them more frequently, or if I know I'm getting exposed to something bad that I can't avoid, I revert to the diet. It helps. Usually makes me drop a few pounds and firm up a little too, if I've been misbehaving for a while.

So, @OP, can what we eat have an impact? Absolutely. If you're noting celiac symptoms, you might consider doing what the paleo-vangelists always suggest: Try going paleo for 30 days and just see how you feel.

owlets1401

No matter what I have tried. My migraines don't go away. I have always had them really bad, and I would black out from them and have tingly patches all over my skin. Then from when I was about 8 years old I get similar symptoms to that of a stroke. Neurologists have no idea what it is and I have had so many tests and diet changes and pills that I just gave up and refuse to see another doctor about it.
But one thing that helps me get through the weaker ones is laying in the dark with plenty of water.
I try and avoid caffeine because that sets me off really bad.