Migrain

[BigAndTall]

Do you get them?

How do you cope when you do?

I wanted to pull my skull off my neck this week from one.

 

[yui]

Do you get them?

How do you cope when you do?

I wanted to pull my skull off my neck this week from one.

Don't really get them, but I know what it's like to hurt. I wish you peace, eh?

 

[MagicaPractica]

I found my migraines are caused by sinus problems, allergies, so a steroid nasal spray knocks the edge off. I don't think that's too common though.

 

[nyte_byrd]

Luckily, they don't happen often here, but when they do Willow Bark and Valerian capsules (see you local herbal store) together work well if taken right at the onset of one.

 

[Huckleman2000]

I found my migraines are caused by sinus problems, allergies, so a steroid nasal spray knocks the edge off. I don't think that's too common though.

I don't know whether the nasal spray works for me, but mine definitely have a sinus-problem component. I don't know what combination of things, exactly, sets mine off, but here are some things I'm fairly sure of:

-Sinus inflamation problems, especially coupled with pressure changes. (either from flying or weather)
-Red wine (frankly, I'd rather deal with the migraines than give up red wine, so YMMV)
-Peanuts (another thing I love. I never correlated this until my Psych-doc mentioned it as a common trigger, but I've now noticed that when I eat peanuts, I'll start to get a slight headache)
-Stress, as in a higher level of baseline stress factors, like work, financial, anything that's sort of a sustained level of stress over time - not momentary things that piss you off.

 

[Guest]

 

[3113]

New Migraine Meds!

I use to get migraines which weren't nice. Then I got on birth control pills. And they got REALLY bad. I'm talking pain so bad I'd throw up.

My first doctor thought there was nothing to do but put me on pain meds (like vicodin). So I switched doctors. My second doctor took me off the birth control (SHE realized that might be the cause and she was right. Once it was out of my system there was no more vomiting, though I still got migraines time to time).

She also said, "We can deal with these though natural meds, or med-meds." I said, "MEDS!"

There are a LOT of new migraine medicines out there and there is no reason at all that you shouldn't try them and see if one works for you. I got lucky. The very first one the doctor put me on worked like a charm. The minute the pain started, I took this little pill (Cafergot--sp?) and within 15 minutes the migraine was GONE. Vanished. Like magic! No pain, nothing. G-O-N-E.

Do not be afraid to go to a new doctor who specializes in headaches and try out some new medicines. Honestly. They work.

That said, there are natural things you can try:
1) Protein. You can try eating protien like tuna fish. I forget why it helps, but it does.
2) Caffine--migraines are often caused by dialated blood vessels pushing on nerves. Caffine constricts the blood vessels and so eases the pain.
3) Orange Juice--blood sugar thing. Orange juice balances out your blood sugar and sometimes this helps.

People get different types of migraines for very different reasons. Women often get them because of hormoal imblances (time of the month thing) or stress. Why you get them, when and how, all relate to what will or will not work for you. My recommendation....go to a doctor and ask to try out some of the new migraine medicines. You're more likely to find a quick and effective cure for the pain that way...rather than something that just lets you endure the migraine better.

 

[hotchkiss]

Sudden or intense bright light such as camera flash, reflection of car windscreens or arseholes driving on full beam trigger most my migraines. It used to be shock or stress when I was younger.

As for dealing with them if I can catch them early at the groggy minor eye problem stage aI found paracetemol and a few minutes rest can alleviate the effect or hold it at bay.

 

[Huckleman2000]

Sudden or intense bright light such as camera flash, reflection of car windscreens or arseholes driving on full beam trigger most my migraines. It used to be shock or stress when I was younger.

As for dealing with them if I can catch them early at the groggy minor eye problem stage aI found paracetemol and a few minutes rest can alleviate the effect or hold it at bay.

That's interesting - for me (like many), light exposure is almost intolerable during the migraine, but I never condidered it as a trigger.

 

[Antfarmer77]

I don't get migraines very often, maybe two a year, but like Jammies said, three Excedrine Migraine. Then I go in a dark room with the heating pad on my face. I get sinus headaches all the time and the heating pad helps them. Also there's an OTC product called Percogesic that I use sometimes for bad headaches as it usually makes me sleep for a couple hours. Good luck with the headache, B&T, you have my sympathies.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I just started getting them this year... and they seem hormonal in nature... I borrowed my sister's migraine medication for the first one (it happened at a birthday party for my daughter and I would have used a chainsaw to take my head off at that point, ANYTHING that might have gotten rid of it was preferable to the pain) and like 3113 said, poof, magic, gone! So at least I knew what it was and went to the doc and got prescribed some meds.

I don't have any of the vision-triggers, just the pain, but when it starts, I pop a pill, grab an ice pack and lie down, and it's usually gone within half an hour or so...

 

[ladyadonia30]

used to

Do you get them? used to..due to birth control pill

How do you cope when you do? crawl into a dark room and stay there, without moving....with ear plugs in

I wanted to pull my skull off my neck this week from one.

they suck....reaaaaaaaal bad

 

[Aurora Black]

I've had them for half my life, starting when I was 13. They range from tiny ones (that only occupy a certain spot) to larger ones (that affect one half of my head, either right or left) to full-on hellish migraines that cover my entire head and make me feel nausea and I literally can't move. The duration (depending on the type) can last from a few hours to weeks. My longest migraine lasted an entire month.

How do I cope with them now? Whenever I feel one coming, I take the most powerful meds I have and knock the living shit out of them. *curtsies*

 

[Saucyminx]

I get them about twice a month, sometimes more. Have gotten them since i was 6. My son has an interesting variation called abdominal migraines--which sucks equally badly. He was diagnosed with that at 3, but it started when he was a year and a half.

Even though it can be a trigger, i use caffiene when i get one. It seems to boost the pain medication and at least get the pain to a tolerable level sometimes. Then there is always the dark room, with your head under the pillow. I also find that lying on whichever side that hurts seems to help a little.

I can't take any of the prescription stuff. I'm in the .0001 percent of the population that it doesn't do jack for.

You definately have my sympathies.