Others with MIGRAINES--help!

Hey, I'm also in MI so I totally get the weather issue. I take a supplement called Migrelief. It was actually recommended by my neurologist. It takes a couple months to build up in your system but it has cut the amount and severity of my migraines in half. Before I was having to ration my Maxalt each month but now I can go almost 2 months before filling my next Rx.

Mine hit once every month or so and last for THREE DAYS. Ugh. Three solid days of sitting in a dark room drinking coffee, eating mint candies, and slugging water like crazy, with some asprin every 4-6 hours. I keep meaning to see a doctor about them, but they run in my family and I've only just started getting them in the last six months.

For the past 4 years, I've gotten REAL migranes twice a year on one day between August/September. Never any other time. Strange? I think so. I get the kind where your vision pretty much goes away for 20 minutes followed by the rest of the day of brutal head pounding. I attribute it to allergies I guess.

Mine are also hormonal, but it might help to run a humidfyer in your bedroom at night. The extra dryness brought on by this cold weather and running the heat higher at home can cause headachces for a lot of people.

If they continue to get worse...see your doctor for sure though!

I know a couple of people who have gone gluten free and have not had a migraine since and they used to have to be hospitalized! A good resource is "Wheat Belly" which guides you through changing to gluten free eating and explains why.

I have just finished up a 3 day migraine. Mine have actually gotten better since losing some weight but still come once in a while and this was was pretty bad. However mine are normally worse as the day goes on. I find that sometimes a bag of ice on the back of my neck will sometimes help with the pain. I really wish I could give better advice because I know how absolutely terrible they can be. I hope you find something that helps you.

The best thing you can do is go to the doctor.

I got headaches in HS and they progressively got worse. It wasn't until my second year of college that I ended up going to the doctor because of them. I started missing both class and work and that wasn't acceptable to me. I started to log all of my migraines. Start time, end time, pain level, what I had eaten recently to look for a food trigger, whether or not it was TOM, anything I did to try to relieve it (meds, caffeine, etc.). I went armed with all of this information to my PCP and they prescribed Midrin (which is no longer available) for normal headaches and imitrex for migraines. The Midrin worked for me for migraines and it's cheaper so I didn't continue with the imitrex. My Midrin prescription finally ran out recently and they put me on Fioricet and it works just as well as the Midrin did.

It was eventually determined that they were "stress migraines" which I think is crap because I don't have a stressful life. My longest migraine was 7 days.

one thing that triggered mine was artificial sweeteners. splenda (sucaralose), aspartame, saccharine, sugar alcohols (maltitol, xylitol, sorbitol)... if you changed your diet and are eating "diet" or "sugar free" this could be the case. it was for me. maybe for you. maybe not.

I'm not being funny - google 'Botox' as a cure for migraine - apparently it really works!

They will only do that for people who can't be treated any other way. And she would need to see a neurologist for it, not a plastic surgeon.

So, as I said, first step -- neurologist.

Do you sleep on your back? Too much pressure on the back of neck/base of the head can cause migraines.

You need to see your Dr.

NOW.

I was getting 15+ migraines a month - lots of things triggered them: weather, TOM, artificial sweeteners, alcohol......

I am on a LOW dosage of Topamax which helps - (12 mg) - higher dosages have a LOT of side effects -

Put 'Topamax' into your search window and you will see previous discussions on this drug; while it can cut down on migraines - it can give you other side effects such as: your sense of taste changes (everything tastes like cardboard); your memory turns to mush (friends' names, basic 'things' - you just CAN'T remember).

I would be a mess without Topamax - I can now live my life and DO things - but again, I'm on a REALLY low dosage. At one point I was on 100 mg - and I didn't like it at all.

If you are put on Topamax - TAKE ALL OF YOUR MEDS AT NIGHT BEFORE YOU GO TO BED!!!! Do NOT take Topamax throughout the day - driving on this drug is DANGEROUS!!!

I've had migraines since I was 7, and they have become cluster migraines since I've gotten older. They have also increased in severity. I usually break out in a cycle while either under extreme stress or after a period of such stress has subsided. I have found that 39 times, they have also coincided with massive earthquakes: Boxing Day, Japan, Chile, China, Iran, etc etc etc. It's not always, but it's most of the time. I'm not the only person I've ever run into like that either. They have also seemed to have gotten worse as I've gotten older.

These days, I find myself waking up with them at 2 or 3am. Nothing helps the pain at that point, I can take all the painkillers in the world and it won't help if the pain has already started UNFORTUNATELY, I have tried every drug and every elimination diet out there and nothing helps. In fact, eliminating caffeine made it 10x worse. I have found sometimes, that if I can catch it right at the beginning of the tunnel vision, get a triple espresso, 4 advil and 2 benadryl - I can stop the pain from starting up. The last time I was hospitalized for one, the benadryl was recommended by the neurologist, and it really did help. Of course, this was AFTER he gave me dilaudid and triggered a massive anxiety attack which they had to give me xanax for and more reglan as I started projectile vomiting all over again. >.<

Truth be told though - I just tough it out most of the time. I have had them so much of my life and so often, and spending years caring for my mother debilitated by them: I fight. It sucks, it hurts, I can't think straight, but when I was 15, I decided that I was NOT going to let them rule my life. I keep going - or else I would not have a life to speak of at all. I wouldn't have a career, let alone be able to hold a job. I have fought through crisis calls with migraines that had me curled up on my tile floor of my bathroom, but I still had a job to do. I've gone to see concerts with migraines, choosing my positioning carefully. I have done just about everything with these headaches, and 7 out of 10 times, a workout actually will make them go away. My rule is, though, I stay put during the aura phase (45-60 minutes), get as much done before the pain starts, and then scale things back if I have to... but keep plodding along. I will adjust plans if the nausea is so bad that I can't cope with it... but also, as a result of having colic most of my life, I can function with that as well.

In fact, now that I think about it - the more consistently that I go to the gym, the less they happen. I've had one set of cluster migraines since I committed to 3-4 heavy workouts a week. That lasted a month and a half, coincided with the year anniversary of my mom's death and the holidays, and went away on their own. And... yeah, that was about the time I quit going to the gym on Sunday's because of football. :P My doctors think I'm a very unique little critter, but I know I'm just a damn force of will.

I'm not being funny - google 'Botox' as a cure for migraine - apparently it really works!

I keep waiting for my neurologist to say we can try Botox. However the insurance will not pay unless all other treatments have been exhausted. We are getting close! Most of the meds others have mentioned haven't worked for me.

They run in my family, my triggers are certain building lights, pressure changes, dehydration, stress, irregular sleep patterns. I haven't checked out the food angle yet.

Is Excedrin still available?? My pharmacist told me that it is no longer available, it was one of the best drugs for me. Now I take ibuprofen and caffeine when I feel one starting. Tylenol does absolutely nothing. I have to take medication right when they start. Sleep does not help.

Make sure you get enough water, one of the worst migraines I had was when I was doing survival training and got dehydrated.

Without any intended irony, I get migraines roughly every 28 days that simply laugh at most over the counter medicines; acetaminophen might as well be a placebo for me, and I'd need dangerous levels of ibuprofen or aspirin. Light doesn't bother them at all, but the noise from a cat purring - or anything louder - will make my stomach turn. Parts of my face go numb, I see spots, and I get dizziness to go along with the pain and sensitivity to sound.

I cannot switch to decaf, even if I wanted to, since caffeine holds them off to an extent. I have found, for myself, that ketoprofen - which used to be available over the counter - works if I take 200mg, followed by another 100mg roughly an hour afterwards. I have known other migraine sufferers who got no relief whatsoever from ketoprofen.