Migraine Headaches - You get em?
 

Think regular headache to the 10th power. Plus nausea and vomiting. Fever, dripping sweat, chills.
Ive had 2 in the past 4 days, 3 in my entire life. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out if I did something to cause them. Last night I checked myself into the hospital because the pain was so intense. It was so bad. Doctor gave me a script supposedly for migraine headaches, Im praying that I won't need to use them anytime soon.

Anybody else get these little treats? What do you do for them? I understand that the blood vessels in the head do the opposite of a regualr headache, so ordinary medication like tylenol/aspirin can make it worse.

I've had them since I was 14....went thru the whole keeping a journal to try to figure out the triggers...the only one that was ever a definate was hair dye...

When imitrex came out it was a godsend....as long as I take it early enuff Im not curled up in a dark closet with a garbage can to puke in

my grandmother always said it was the devil tryin to get in ya hehehe

and yes...migraines are the opposite of regular headaches and those meds can/will make them worse

Excedrin Migraine is somewhat helpful if you can take it before it's a full blown migraine-- it does lessen the severity of it... You just have to watch for the signs of when you are getting them...

The trigger for my migraines, is I often smell bread baking, or just an extreme tightness in the back of my neck -- I know somethings coming.

I've tried to keep a journal, and there was nothing food wise, that was causing them, it was pretty much internal -- stress related....

Hope that scrip works for you.... Migraines are not fun -- I just want to lock myself in a dark cold room and sleep.

I get them regularily. Whenever the weather pattern shifts significantly, I get a migraine. They arent usually horrible, but they arent pleasant either. I've gotten used to them and can usually shake all but the worst ones off, however, I hope you dont have to.

On one hand Im sorry you all get them, but your comments are appreciated and enlightening. I picked up my script, something called amidrine. At least I have something to battle Satan with if it returns...ugh heh, yeah I definitely felt like linda blair in the exorcist last night, even down to the pea soup part lol..thats what i thought it to be mal, stress related. funny thing is, ive only had 3, ever. go figure. I remember my mom used to get them all the time, she'd be out of it for the entire day, in bed. I can't imagine would it would be like to get them regularly. :eek: :eek:

I get headaches when I have too much salt in my diet.. I had them for years and I stopped eating stuff like pretzels and such and I hardly ever get headaches now..

When I was a kid I had migranes like you described, luckly I grew out of those and have only one like that as an adult (and it wasn't as bad as the kid ones).

I do get frequent 'minor' migranes which I was told and though were 'sinus headaches'.

The excedrin migrane does work but it in itself becomes something of an addiction as its the caffiene that helps more then the asprin (I've tried plain asprin) which can lead to more head aches when it wears off.

Catch 22 really.

i use to get them really bad when i was a kid...whole flashing lights and cold sweats and vomiting deal... kept a journal... never found a specific cause... but luckily ive seemed to have grown out of em...
i found that ibprofin taken right at the very begining of a migraine... before it got to the headache part would usually stop it or severely reduce the severity...

my grandma used to get severe migraines triggered by chocolate... but she grew out of it when she was in her early 70s o_O crazy...

I've had 3 migraines over the past 4 years. Mostly of the optical type, flashing lights in one eye, or a blind spot followed by a painful headach. The last one I had was scary, thought I was having a stroke. Nothing like losing most of your vision in one eye for a few minutes to freak you out. I believe mine are casued by too much caffeine. They have all occured within an hour of drinking too much coffee or cokes. My father gets them from eating raw onions. I still drink cokes, but in moderation.

I get migraines quite frequently, mostly due to stress. I've had them since I was 8...it sucks. I have no food triggers, just stress apparently. I've taken all sorts of stuff for prevention, but they all make me feel like shit, so much so that I'd rather deal with the migraine. Usually I get flashing lights in my field of vision and then I go blind in one of my eyes for about an hour or so, then my world ends. Lots of fun. I take Excedrin (Migraine, Extra Strength, they're both the same-don't believe me? Check the ingredients on the bottle.) If the Excedrin doesn't work then I have Midrin, but a lot of times that's like taking candy because I wait too long...oh well. With 2 little kids it's difficult to sequester myself in a noise and light deprived room, but I muddle through.

This is what usually happens to me when I get my migraines. Other signs of oncoming migraines for me usually come in the form of a tight neck, or a feeling of pressure change in my right eye. I try to get into a dark room as quickly as possible, and I keep medicine on me, just in case. Contrary to what seems to be the general consensus here, I take Extra Strength Tylenol, and it seems to help me.

One sidenote - I've noticed I only get my migraines on one side of my head (the right side), and I'm wondering if this is odd or not. Anyone else get them on just one side?

I don't experience migraines in the typical sense, but like Alibaba and Wrkime said, I've had two Optical migraines. The first was about 2 1/2-3 yrs. ago. My mom had a retinal detachment when she was 16, so I freaked out when it happened. About 10:00 at night I'm watching t.v. w/ my hubby when all of a sudden I notice a weird flickering just off-center to the left of my focal point. It was just a strange disdurbance at first but over the span of 15 min. it widened outwards to encompise my whole left-side field of vision (in both eyes, whether one was closed or not). It consisted of jagged, flickering, red-green-blue shapes putting on a Pink Floyd show in my eyeball's.

I went to an opthomaligist (sp) the next day and he diagnosed it as an Optical Migraine. I went online and found nearly the same thing I'd experienced by Googling it.

Just yesterday, nearly 3 yrs. after the first one, I had another. I woke up, did a little puttsing, and then came downstairs and logged on to TFP. Not even a minute after I logged on I noticed a spot in my vision that looked the size of a hole punch hole on a piece of 3 ring binder paper (at about the distance from a chair to a computer screen). It was totally different than the first optical migraine I'd experienced so I was sort-of getting worried. Over the next few minutes, it started to expand and take on the flashy, multi-colored context that I'd seen with the first one. It then proceeded to expand outward to the left as before, only this time my head felt strange and I felt disoriented, whoosy and a bit sick to my stomach. It got larger and larger until it disappeared from my vision after 22 minutes (yes, I timed it this time!). The other symptoms lasted for about 3 hrs. afterwords though.

I realize they (optical migraines) don't compare to the debilitating pain that those of you suffer with "normal" migraines, however, it's scary as hell when your vision is involved! Especially to me since I've got pretty bad eyesight and have worn glasses since I was a kid (and like I said before about my mom, a history of retinal detachment). I didn't realize those that suffer "painfull" migraines could also have them affect their vision. I guess I should be grateful that my "optical" one's don't involve much pain per se...

Edited to add: TheShadow: When I do get headaches, they are always on the left side. I have had "headache" headaches before but in the past 8-10 yrs. I just experience a sharp pain and throbbing in my left temple. Sometimes I have pain at the base of my skull on the left and it skips the rest of my head until my left temple (so there's no pain elsewhere except the base and temple). I can usually apply pressure to my temple and it helps to stop the pain, but if I let off the pressure it is right there again. When this first started I constantly freaked out and would think "brain tumor, stroke, embolism". After 8-10 yrs. I've stopped thinking catasrophy everytime it happens.

I read somewhere that headaches and migraines aren't really in the brain (because we can't feel pain in the brain itself) but are rather caused by constriction (I think) of the blood vessels in the scalp. I may be wrong with what I remember (thanks brain :lol:) or the info. was possibaly faulty. I'd like to learn more about this though.

Ali

Haven't gotten them in a while, but it starts with flashing lights, progresses on to a general blindness that could be simulated by looking through vaseline-covered glasses, then onto nausea that still convinces me that my digestive system is going to escape through my mouth, then the headache so intense that makes me question the existence of God (or at least did when I was a strong believer in such things,) sometimes followed by vomiting, and finally, 5-10 days of visual distortions and tunnel vision (I'm lucky if I can drive 2 days later) combined with slightly disrupted equilibrium that leads to dizziness and stumbling.

Had another one saturday. First sign was vision like looking though 'vaseline -covered glasses' as MrSelfDestruct mentioned. Perfect analogy...I could not focus on anything, perceive anything, take anything in. I remember looking at a group of people and not being able to make out their heads or faces, just an amorphous blur. Very disorienting feeling which Ive never experienced before. Back of the neck tightening. Once again, back into the abyss.

This time though I had a potent weapon to battle the demon. Amidrine Capsules! Knocked the demon on his ass. Put me to sleep for about an hour, woke up, and 90% of the pain was gone. O, Rejoice! HAIL AMIDRINE!

OMG is that true?! I suffer from migraine attack 4-10 times per months. I know for a fact that alcohol,cigeret smoke (damn you smokers!) and hormones during my period triggers my attacks but I had no idea that hair dye may cause it too! I dye my hair once a month so maybe it's causing some of my attacks...

So.. how did you find out that hair dye caused your attacks?

We only figured it out because of the journal I was keeping...it was a factor for me between the ages of 18-20 when I used Clariol--the stuff that washed out in 6-8 weeks....Everytime I used it I got a migraine....keep in mind this was 16-18 years ago and there was no "migraine" meds like there is now...according to my journal it was the only constant thing each time I got one.

I stopped using it and they stopped for awhile.....I've never had one that I can relate to using permanent hair dye though. There also seems to be no trigger for me from alcohol, cig smoke, or caffiene.

So....did the migraine start as you were putting the stuff in your hair or a couple of hours later or what?

oh no, lol they werent instant...I would have one within 1-2 days after using it....and they didnt start out as an "every single time" incident" in the beginning it was hit and miss....plus the fact that I'd already been having them for 4 years before I ever dyed my hair...sigh I wish I could find the trigger now....it seems so completely random it drives me up the wall.

I always know mine are starting by the fact that I smell something similiar to electrical wires burning....(no funny jokes about my brain cells burning up please lol)

I was just out with my family going apple picking at a farm on Sunday. We had to take a hayride out to the orchard, which was fun with the kids, but within 15 minutes of getting into the orchard I went blind in my right eye. After that I noticed that my left eye was going and I was losing equlibrium....good times. I pretty much went completely blind for about 20 minutes. In that time I had to get on and off a hay wagon and navigate a crowd to a place where I could sit down. Lots of fun. About 30 minutes later, my vision came back but I was completely destroyed physically and then the pain started easing in. Popped some Excedrin and it held the headache at bay, still fighting the losing battle now, should be fun in the next couple of hours...light and sound are already bothering me, I can't breathe due to clogged nasal passages (result of the impending doom). When I get home it's Tylenol 3 for me and off to bed. I hate-that is HATE-migraines. Going to the doctor for an MRI on my brain to see if it's still there next week. My doctor isn't so fond of the prolonged blindness thing.

tylenol for a migraine=death.....if its a true migraine its going to hurt you more than help

Tylenol 3-has codeine....makes me stupid and generally I fall right to sleep. I know that acetaminophin can make you wish you were more dead than the pain from a migraine, but it's a chance I have to take sometimes. I make sure I'm extra-hydrated before I take it and only take it at the onset. If the migraine already has it's hooks firmly in me, I take something else. At this point, I think it's going to be too late by the time I get home, so it will be Midrin and a bag of ice for me, plus a dark, quiet room.

Scary shit. I don't have 'em but I work for a pharma company. Go to your doc, get some different triptan samples (Axert, Imitrex, Zomig,...) and find the one that works best for you. All are pretty safe, work pretty well for most.

Imitrex has NEVER let me down....I just wish they didnt make me stupid lol

Hmm. That's one side effect I haven't seen. Sure you're not washing 'em down with an extra cocktail? Curious - sprinkles or tablets?

lol nope....anything that makes me drowsy=making me stupid

and my pills are marked with alll make you drowsy stickers and not to drink alcohol or operate machinery

when I take one im goofy for awhile and then passed out for about 8 good hours

I get them occasionally - like 2 a year maybe. But when they hit, I am out. I cant see straight, get real bad tunnel vision, and puke from time to time. I never did find a cause, and nothing makes them go away. But imitrex does help a lot. My only tactic is to go to bed as soon as possible. Make the room dark and quite, and try to sleep. If I can get to sleep fast enough (before it gets bad) it is usually gone when I wake up. I just have to spent the next day or two avoiding bright light and flashes 'cause they can screw me up.

Stress seems to help trigger the migranes for me. If work has me busy as hell or I have a big deadline, watch out!

Steve Francis, basketball player, gets real bad migraines and they found out it was a result of bad diet, i.e. fried food, etc.

This could definitely help trigger migraines so if you get them regularly, try changing your diet a bit and see if it helps...cant hurt?

mmm
mine come from:
Change in pressure
not enough water
aspertaine(most artificial sweeteners actually)
not enough sleep
to much sleep
stress
and randomness
gotta love it:)
try imitrix (perscription only)

If you suffer from chronic migraines, try taking a magnesium supplement every day. DO NOT take magnesium sulfate or magnesium chloride (the magnesium won't be absorbed, they're both salts and therefore powerful laxatives,) make sure it's magnesium citrate or magnesium oxide.

Started last year for me. I had them daily. I saw a Neurologist and he perscribed Amitriptyline. I've had 2 migranes in the last three months and should be off of it in a few months.

I've taken this med for my migraines as well. It didn't work for me so I've been on Paxil for mine. I occasionally get them now, but very manageable with otc meds.

Holy shit; I was thinking about posting a thread here about migraines, because I have one this very second, and have been going through it for the past few hours since class. I've heard that caffeine can help with migraines, so I bought some Advil and a Red Bull at the student store to combat it. That combination foisted off a potential murder of a migraine once, but had no such luck today. My doctor gave me some Zomig to try out, though I've never tried it yet.

Ha ha; I work for a newspaper, so we're all about deadlines. Maybe that's the culprit of today's migraine...

I tried that too, one of the first things that I took actually. Didn't work so well for me, neither did any of the other anti-depressants, they all just made me feel like crap...depressed if you will. Do you find the smell of the tablets gross? That's the one thing that really stands out in my mind, the smell of those things....YUCK!

dunno if you guys this is a bit out in far left field, but here goes,

ive had mine for 16 years..worst ones i get at the back of my eyeball like someone is sticking a pin in it. tried painkillers, but they only work if you take them before it gets full blown.. for the last year or so, ive realised that the weather has a lot to do with my migraines, usually autumn, spring and summer.. so i thought it might be sinus related because of pollens in the air etc...

anyways, cutting a long story short, i realised that the anti bacterial effects of salt (yes your standard cooking/table salt) with luke warm water gargled down your throat, as well as snorted up each nostril clears up my sinus as well as takes away a most of my pain (although not all..90%)...yes it does sting and u feel like crap for a full minute or so, but beats feeling crap for a few hours or days. anyone tried this before? or am i the only one?

let me know what you guys think

you're just trying to get us to snort table salt....bastard :) Never heard of that one, reminds me of the cure for baldness that involves washing your head with Mayonnaise.

I've never noticed any odor from the tablets. :confused:

Never tried this but extra strong wasabi seems to help me.

I don't get the mind blasting migranes anymore, but for the little ones I always get its nice to know some sushi will help
:D

According to the physician I work with some studies are showing that many "migraine" headaches (and the majority of headaches) can be attributed to sinus and/or mastiod infections. Many can go undetected by CT and plain xrays but can be seen by MRI. Just a little tidbit...

Mastoid infections suck, but my guess is only a very small % would be due to an infection.

Mine are 'one-side' migraines. Once full-blown, the headache feels like someone has driven a knitting needle through my eye and out the back of my skull, only it's square and they're twisting it back and forth. I'm fortunate that I get a bit of a pain aura warning when one is coming on, and if I am able to take the necessary measures within about twenty minutes, I am able to avoid experiencing the full headache. If I'm able to, I get myself to a bed in as totally dark a room as possible, drop 400mg of ibuprofen with a Coca-cola chaser and try to go to sleep using the pillow to apply gentle pressure to the affected eye - usually my right one. Nine times out of ten, I wake up an hour or two later with at worst a mild 'normal' headache. Of course, the tenth time blows goat.

Happily, I haven't had a nasty one for quite a long time. After I quit smoking, they almost stopped altogether. Yet another excellent reason to quit if the government raping you for voluntary tax donations wasn't sufficient. :p