Migraine sufferers

Anyone who has migraines w/aura should NEVER take birth control pills- major risk of stroke!
I've had them since my early teenage years & hormone fluctuation was a huge trigger for me. Dopamax (topamax) helped as a preventative for a few years but the adverse side effects (just Google dopamax topamax & you'll see what I mean!) Made it impossible to continue. BTW, Trokendi is just extended release Topamax so I'd steer clear of that too. My neuro suggested keeping a food & migraine diary (super easy here on mfp!) to see if any patterns develope and to weed out my trigger foods. Anything loaded w/preservatives (lunch meat, hot dogs, sausage, tons more) MSG (Chinese food is horrible for migraine sufferers) hard cheeses, red wine, fluctuations in caffeine, weather/barometer/allergan changes - these are all bad triggers for me, as is stress. I'll get post-stress migraines that last days
I use Maxalt as a rescue med- works great since it can be taken after you've already got the full blown migraine, where meds like Imitrex have to be taken at the very first sign ff the headache to be effective for most people. Maxalt & if I still have it after an hour- a reusable gel ice pack wrapped in a T-shirt over my forehead & eyes and a cool, dark, quiet room usually helps me a lot!
So that's my advice- keep a migraine diary (include particularly stressful times to see if stress is a trigger) and a food diary, avoid your trigger foods, learn some meditation/yoga/breathing exercises that you can call upon to hopefully avoid the post stress migraines, talk to your Dr about different options for a rescue med and always try to make sure you keep some of it with you since all migraine meds work better the sooner u take them. I also take generic store brand Zyrtec every night for seasonal allergies and this seems to have helped avoid some of the weather related triggers. And spend a couple bucks on a reusable ice pack (Walmart/target/any drugstore) or 2 for those times when nothing else is working!
Please feel free to friend me/message me with any questions - not an expert but lots of years and many migraines under my belt ;-)

ALAdams wrote: »

I used to get major migraine headaches as a child and through my teen years. I was told flashing strobe type lights, soda (pop), and stress were all major triggerso love skating but would always leave the rink with horrible headaches. I quit drinking soda but still got the migraines. I was on a medication called Midrinite (or something close to that name. It has been years. It was a redish colored capsule). I did not prevent them but was what i took to help get rid of them. Nothing over the counter ever worked. I dont get them as frequently anymore but i do still get them really bad. Sometimes i get them so bad it makes me vomit. I have a reusable ice pack. I have to lay down with an eye mask to block all light and place the ice pack on my head. The ice helps me tremendously! It is actually getting pretty old and showing wear and i am worried about finding another one.

You can get those reusable ice packs at Walmart/Target etc or pretty much any drugstore/Walgreen/CVS/Rite Aide in the heath dept, usually around the knee wraps, hearing pads, bandaid area. You can also Google how to make one using water & alcohol in a baggie but the store-bought ones always seem to stay cold longer but at least u can DIY one in a pinch ;-) Hope this helps!

I have one right now. Very frustrated that I can't do cardio exercise at the moment. I don't know if it's going to get better, stay for a while, or get worse. Last summer I had "status migraine" for most of the summer, and stopped the program. I started up again early this year,
and lost over 10 pounds since then (didn't change during the time off the program), and I am getting a lot of exercise, and was being quite careful. I have been careful about hydration, about slowly upping the exercise, and all of that. I think that stress is a factor, and also the humidity of this time of year in southern California. I think that's a major thing: the barometric pressure/humidity.

Right now, I'm in limbo . . . very frustrating.

rjm (Robin)

I suffered a chronic, never ending migraine for three years straight. So believe me, I've tried every medication. Making virtually zero medical sense, my migraine ended when I was put under anesthesia for a knee surgery a few years back. Now I get them a few times a year (typically close to time where seasonal changes are occurring) or when I eat foods that are big triggers for me - like having more than 1tbsp of peanut butter.

I found most success with the management of symptoms when I was on beta-blockers (which are used to control migraines now as well) as well as a Coenzyme Q-10 supplement -- both of which were prescribed by one of my many neurologists. It's a route you could certainly discuss with your doctor, but know that it impacts your ability to exercise, especially unsupervised as it can keep your heart rate from rising properly as you increase intensity, which tends to lead to people either blacking out or passing out entirely. It does not (in my knowledge) interfere with BC however. Now I do most of my management when symptoms start by taking Maxalt tabs.

My biggest tip for you is to keep a food diary (so log accurately on here and use the data you should already have!). It was something none of my seven neurologists recommended, but that a family friend who is an Internist mentioned to me. Every time I had a migraine, I was told to look at the foods I'd eaten that day and the day before and compare them to other days where I had migraines. I picked out very quickly what my trigger foods were and how much of them I could consume before there was an issue. Every once in a while I seem to get one without a trigger, which likely means it's a smaller ingredient that I'm missing rather than a more "whole" food.

As for your other questions; when I have a migraine, I'm typically not able to exercise or eat. That whole, light and noise thing is kind of an issue for me haha. I'm also typically throwing up pretty regularly if I have a true migraine. I'm one of those people who, on more than one occasion, has shown up at the hospital and thrown up on the triage nurse while asking for the shot of Demerol.

mscalfee wrote: »

I recently was hospitalized in February with what is called a hemiplegic migraine. It presents as a mini stroke and I lost function of the left side of my body. I am functioning better now, but still have the regular migraines like I did before the big episode even while on topamax. Running seems to shorten my migraines though, I have noticed that getting more exercise in has helped my episodes last from 1 to 2 days instead of weeks at a time. I hope you can get some relief soon!

I also have this - I also find running helps. Topiramate made me so depressed I had to come off it. I am experimenting with magnesium/calcium, Q10 and so on.