Migraines

baloneysmom · May 6, 2008

Suck!! I hate Migraines! I have had them for over 10 years so I am used to them. The typical stay in bed all day with no light and noise for a day. I got a migraine starting on Saturday at around 1pm so I went to bed and tried to sleep it off thinking itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll feel better in a few hoursâ€¦ ya right!! I spent three days in bedâ€¦ three days!! I think that is the worst migraine I have ever had!

Anyway, I am hoping this isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t a new thing for me that for now on my migraines will last days. As I said I normally sleep through it and take a normal over the counter migraine pill. If this happens again I want to be preparedâ€¦ I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t believe I was bedridden for three whole days!

So my question is what do you do? Is there anything at all that can relieve the pain? Drink, food, special meds? Anything! I never want to experience that again!

Thanks all!

strange_wings · May 6, 2008

Since you're new, you may not have seen these.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=158827
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=163325
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=164965

There's probably a few more. Just in case some of the information in those threads doesn't get reposted in this one for you - you'll still have it.

Are you not on a preventative or abortive medication for them? Has your doctor (or doctors) looked for a cause of them? MRI of your head and neck, blood tests, etc?

mews2much · May 6, 2008

I hope you feel better. I had another bad one on Sunday and my meds did not help this time. The Dr gave me maxalt but I have not tried it yet.

roxsam · May 6, 2008

Yuck!!! I had a migraine yesterday! I was stuck at work and had to deal with it there

Not sure why I got it though, I usually only get them from hormone changes, but I'm not near any of that right now. Hmmm....

I used to take Imitrex, but it was so darn expensive!! ( $30 for 9 pills!) Now I do Excedrin migraine and to try to relax as much as I can. Recently I took meds and laid in a hot bubble bath with the lights off and my eyes closed and that helped. Obviously the sooner you take medicine the better!

I just wish DH would understand how painful and debilitating they are. He just doesn't get it and therefore usually makes it worse for me

laureen227 · May 6, 2008

Originally Posted by silvionc

So my question is what do you do? Is there anything at all that can relieve the pain? Drink, food, special meds? Anything! I never want to experience that again!

Thanks all!

i just turned 50 in February - & i can't ever remember not having them, so lifelong sufferer here

anyway, here's my regimen: i take gabapentin [generic neurontin] every evening for prevention. i take tylenol when one starts, darvocet if the tylenol doesn't work, & imitrex [injection] if neither works.
if it's really a migraine, the imitrex almost always works. i'm allowed to take 2 if necessary, but they're really expensive, so i try to use other methods first.
prior to my WLS, when i could still take NSAIDS [& also weighed as much as 2 normal people!] i would take 3 ibuprofen, 3 exedrin, & 3 ketoprofen ALL AT THE SAME TIME & that would often help quite a bit, especially if i caught it early. [this multi-pill approach can be tailored to an individual's dosing requirements, btw]. using all 3 meant i would get the following meds: ibuprofen, aspirin, acetominaphen, ketoprofen, plus caffeine.
foods - ice cream often helped temporarily - i think it's the temperature. cold packs also help - i have a rice bag w/herbs that i keep in my freezer - it's also heavy & blocks light.
massage sometimes helps - i have a shower massage head & a HoMedics 'shiatsu' massager [meant for necks, but i use it on my temples].
nicotine is also a minor vasoconstrictor [that's what makes imitrex & the other triptans effective] so a cigarette can sometimes help... but if i'm really nauseous w/the headache i don't usually want one.
migraines run in my family, & everyone older than me who has had them says they start to lessen somewhere in the mid-50s. my grandmother stopped having tpain from them by the time she was 60 - altho she still saw the auras. something to look forward to regarding aging!
oh, & i also found several food allergies while we were searching for a cure 30 years ago. when i stopped eating those foods on a regular basis, the headaches lessened a bit in frequency.
you can tell i've years of experience, look - i wrote a novel!

carley · May 6, 2008

I get migraines as well and I know all too well how horrible they are. They seem to have gotten less frequent and severe as I've gotten older - thank goodness! I had dreadful migraines that made me very sick when I was in high school and in my early 20's. Now I generally only get them during "that time of the month."

luvmy2cats · May 6, 2008

The only time I get migraines is if I have a tension headache that gets so bad it turns into a migraine. Those really stink because my neck and head hurt so bad and my jaws hurt because I clench them. The only thing that helps those is to lay down with a heating pad on my neck and try to relax. Also if I get a headache from caffiene withdraw, those turn into migraines but are easily taken care of.

abbycats · May 6, 2008

I had one last night that was bad. The muscle relaxers and pain meds didn't even touch it. I always feel like I get brain damage from them when they are that bad. I hate it.

kittycorner · May 6, 2008

I have had migraines since I was 3 yrs. old, so I understand what you are going through. I have been down almost every line of drugs out there-I am allergic to alot of them, so that doesn't help much for what I can take. I have found the most effective method is to take whatever med works best for you as soon as possible, go to bed with all the lights off, an ice pack on both your forehead as well as the back of your neck and sleep it off. The only other way it seems to go away is if I vomit-gross I know but for whatever reason it seems to help, so now I have trained myself to purposefully vomit to make it go away. I hope you are feeling better soon and that the multiple day migraines go away-I have had many that have lasted up to 4 or more days, not a good way to live. Feel better soon and try the ice packs!!!!

laureen227 · May 6, 2008

Originally Posted by kittycorner

The only other way it seems to go away is if I vomit-gross I know but for whatever reason it seems to help, so now I have trained myself to purposefully vomit to make it go away.

my childhood migraines were classic textbook - gradually worse & worse pain, then vomiting, w/an immediate relief from pain after that.
now, on the rare occasion it gets so bad that i vomit, it actually makes it worse

katachtig · May 6, 2008

If your headaches seem hormonal, you might check into calcium supplements.

Mine started in elementary school and became more hormonal as I grew older. I went off birth control last year then got hit with 4 in one week and went back onto birth control. I started taking 1200 mg of calcium for PMS when I went off birth control this last time and haven't had a headache in the last few months. The calcium seems to be helping.

strange_wings · May 6, 2008

Originally Posted by laureen227

my childhood migraines were classic textbook - gradually worse & worse pain, then vomiting, w/an immediate relief from pain after that.

I wonder why that helps some people? I know why migraines cause nausea - vagus nerve is stimulated/irritated from brain to GI, but one would think that straining while vomiting would make make the migraine worse (as it does for you. Does sneezing or coughing ever cause you to get a headache?).
Has anyone came across why it helps some people?

roxsam · May 7, 2008

Originally Posted by katachtig

If your headaches seem hormonal, you might check into calcium supplements.

Mine started in elementary school and became more hormonal as I grew older. I went off birth control last year then got hit with 4 in one week and went back onto birth control. I started taking 1200 mg of calcium for PMS when I went off birth control this last time and haven't had a headache in the last few months. The calcium seems to be helping.

Calcium?? I have never heard of that. What is the reason why Calcium works? I would be willing to try that! I get hormonal migraines and cannot take BCPs as they make them worse! Unfortunately, all Dr's want to do is put me back on BCPs!

I have tried 5 different kinds and they all made migraines worse, and aside from the migraines the risk of blood clots and strokes is not worth it (both migraines & BCP put you at risk for those, so when you combine the two it is not good!)! I have always been looking into other solutions, especially natural ways to help. How much do you take?

katachtig · May 7, 2008

Originally Posted by roxsam

Calcium?? I have never heard of that. What is the reason why Calcium works? I would be willing to try that! I get hormonal migraines and cannot take BCPs as they make them worse! Unfortunately, all Dr's want to do is put me back on BCPs!

I have tried 5 different kinds and they all made migraines worse, and aside from the migraines the risk of blood clots and strokes is not worth it (both migraines & BCP put you at risk for those, so when you combine the two it is not good!)! I have always been looking into other solutions, especially natural ways to help. How much do you take?

I take 1200 mg a day of a Calcium/Vitamin D combo (which has 400 mg of Vitamin D). I split it into two 600 mg doses - one at lunch and one at dinner to spread it out. The article below says that it may affect estrogen levels.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in701603.shtml

baloneysmom · May 7, 2008

My main reasons for getting migraines are hormonal and frequent weather changes. I am hoping very, very, very badly that that reason why I had a three day migraine was because we have had odd weather (really sunny, then rainy, then sunny, raining, every day it is different) AND the fact that my menstrual cycle is starting. So Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m hoping it was the combination of the two that made it so bad and that this isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t a new thing for me.

I am not on any meds, sometimes I will take Excedrin Migraine if its horrible but usually it only lasts a day so I take sleeping pills to sleep it off. My boyfriend brought home some muscle relaxed nighttime meds the pharmacist recommended and they seemed to work. I went to a Doctor in my teen years and he prescribed some meds, but like the teen I was I never used them and they were forgotten, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve never been to a Dr after that for migraines.

I always figure I can just weather it out, take the pain, its only a day then its over and I wont get another for a month to a few months laterâ€¦ but OMG that 3 days was HORRIBLE!!

Thank you for all of your responses. Ill try some of those next time (the ice cream one sounds good! Maybe ill try it now LOL) I am curious about the calcium one too. Ill make sure to keep cold items in my freezer, etc.

Thanks again guys!

deljo · May 7, 2008

I have been a migraine sufferer for over 50 years. I was told when I was younger that they would cease as I aged. Don't believe it. I still get them, especially on weekends. Sometimes I get auras, sometimes just the headache. The pain has lessened over the years, but its still disruptive. I used to have the pain so bad it was to bed for the day. Now if I get one in the evening, I still go to bed. I take nurontin and a beta blocker. Due to some medical problems I can't take Imitrex. Foods I used to avoid was pork and any cheese. I just take my chanchs now. I don't believe that stress brings them on. It seems to be random. See a good nurologist and work with him. If need be change if you don't get relief. Good Luck.

pauline · May 7, 2008

Migranes. Unless you have had one, you cannot understand the pain and the nausea. There are certian triggers. For me it is dehydration, sulfides and sulfates, msg, cheap red wine, too many food additives, non dairy coffee creamer... Stress also brings on migraine, Not the day of but in the aftermath.

As a child, I would watch my mother suffer in a dark room. Now I do. She would eat yogurt at the end of hers and it would help. I do the same.

Auras and spots are my sign. If I take excedrin migraine at that point, I may not get the migraine but I still get the migraine hangover. The tinglie feeling all over your body for a day or so. Nothing but sleep works after the initial signs.

there are some terrific websites regarding migraines if you do a google search.

Only other sufferers understand. It is such a weird concept.

laureen227 · May 7, 2008

Originally Posted by deljo

I have been a migraine sufferer for over 50 years. I was told when I was younger that they would cease as I aged. Don't believe it.

i'm really hopeful mine will cease, eventually. my grandma's did, both of my aunts & my uncle have all said that theirs are better than they used to be [ages early 70s, mid 60s, early 60s] so i'm hoping mine will continue to improve. they're much better than 30 years ago, when i basically had a headache all the time.
your problem w/imitrex - is it all of the triptans, or just that one? i can't take the oral version - it'll make me vomit. the nasal spray works ok, but it's really nasty tasting. i prefer the injection!
anyway, if it's just imitrex (sumatriptan), there's also zomig (zolmitriptan), maxalt (rizatriptan) naramig (naratriptan), frova (frovatriptan), relpax (eletriptan)& axert (almotriptan).

summerkid710 · May 7, 2008

Originally Posted by roxsam

I used to take Imitrex, but it was so darn expensive!! ( $30 for 9 pills!)

About five years ago, I paid $175 for Imitrex for the 9 pill pack. That was with health insurance. AND it didn't even work for me. I also find that only going to bed helps. I've heard of the calcium thing. There was also an article a while back about magnesium deficiency causing migraines.

rang_27 · May 7, 2008

I have never had a migrane as bad as yours, but for the mild ones I take Excedrin Migrane, for the very painful ones, or ones that have lasted all day despite Excedrin I take Maxalt. It is a med perscribed by my Dr. I tried a couple differnt ones, but Maxalt worked the best for me. I know some people do not want to take perscriptions, but if there is a medication that can stop you from being bed ridden for 3 days why not take it?

Migraines

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