Anyone get migraines?

[tpantali]

What a great discussion! I have had complicated migraines (the ones that present like strokes) for about 30 yrs. now; started when I was in fourth grade. I have tried various medications which never seemd to helped but I was afraid not to take them; if the headaches was that bad with the medicine I was fearful how bad it would be without. I loose my mind when I have them and once tried to put a meat knife through my eye to relieve the pain.

Going to the chiropractor definitely helps. I go every two weeks. I can not tolerate heat at all when I have a migraine but LOVE the cold. I sometimes will open the windows in the dead winter and be shivering under the covers but it makes me feel so much better. Fresh air is a God send. I especially find if diffifult to be in a heated house during a flare-up. Just sitting on the porch is helpful.

Very rarely can I put something in my mouth as I am sure to vomit it up, so coffee has never worked even if I try it before the headaches gets back.

My partner is an herbalist. So, here the latest suggestion: tincture of Vitex or chasteberry 1 tsp. 3Xdaily but with one day off each week. Certainly, each person should consult with their own herbalist before trying something like this to make sure there are no underlying concerns that Vitex would conflict with or exasperate.

I long ago gave up on Western medicine to treat my migraines. But certainly each of us are different and out bodies present and respond in various ways.

I wish you all suffering the best of luck in find a cure and/or relief. Migraines are a terrbiel, terrible thing to suffer through. I actually use to think I got them because God was punishing me. Thankful I have worked that pieces out.

Peace.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I thought of another trigger. For me ozone or other air pollution can be a trigger. Going to NYC sometimes would give me a migraine, as would temperture inversions in the winter that held in all the bad air. I found staying indoors in those conditions helped. Another friend was helped by accupucture.

 

[hencackle]

Did anybody here have frequent stomachaches as a kid? I remember reading about some migraine sufferers had these stomachaches that were actually a child's version of a migraine. It makes sense because the the gut area contains another nervous system called the enteric nervous system. It's considered the gut's "brain"...why we should trust our gut in some things.

unfortunately I get them to the point of projectile vomiting and vomiting so hard as to cause myself hemorroids

Sbox---all I can say is...

Wow, that's bad... It made me think about that first sip of water after my emergency hysterectomy made me throw up my entire dinner and probably food from 2 days before. (I had eaten 2 hours before my surgery) I was so scared, I had never had projectile vomiting before. My husband said it was like a scene from the Exorcist. Well, let's just say, it was a loooonnnng time before I could eat a grilled hamburger or drink a V-8.​

 

[Cheryl]

Speaking of migraines I went to bed with a doozy last night...got up this morning and discovered my son had left the tea pot on the stove all night on high!!!! We're lucky to be here, the paint melted on the pot, but didn't burn a hole, and nothing was close enough to the stove to burn...

 

[siz8003]

thank God you are all ok

 

[hencackle]

Cheryl, I'm glad nothing worse happened. Why is it that men only know 3 settings on the stove: off, on, & high?

 

[gritsar]

Mine began in my early 30s. I had them right up until the time I had a hysterectomy. Instantly, no more migraines.
As we women get older, our hormone levels fluctuate, and that can bring them on.

 

[Reinbeau]

I've been getting migraines for about six years now, they seem to be hormonal, I get them when I ovulate and then two weeks later when the period comes (I'm 51 and still like a clock, oh goody!). Imitrex in pill form works well, but I only take it if I'm absolutely dying. Excedrin for migraine usually works pretty well for me.

 

[krturpie]

My headaches are probably not as bad some folks, but are a little weirder. The pain would put me in bed for a about day, and is mostly in the temple, eyes, and ears (sometimes on one side, sometime not). I never threw up. But, I usually feel sleepy and groggy; a lot of yawning. There's the usual sensitivity to light, sound, and smell. Also, for about the past 10 years, I also get a sensation on my tongue like I had scalded it the day before. Sometimes these headaches would cause my body temp to drop to about 97 degs and I can't seem to get warm, no matter how many blankets I craw under.

Then there's the attacks of dizziness or motion sensitivity, which for me is much more debilitating and longer in duration than the headaches. My Grandmother, who kept a cane nearby since her 40's for this kind of problem, told me to learn to live with it. I went to an ENT and a few neurologists, had all kinds of tests including two brain MRI's, and came up with nothing constructive. After an extensive exam, the neurologists at Johns Hopkins that specialized in what's called vestibular migraines simply diagnosed me as, well, having migraines. Glad to know that the folks at JH are on top of things

I also had read that some foods triggered migraines and so I systematically tried eliminated various foods. I think that I found that corn products are a significant trigger for the dizziness and some headaches for me. In fact, I suspect that stopping a daily snack of corn chips back in 1995 might have stopped an attack that started in 1993! Supporting this idea, I found that things did seem to start up again whenever I'd snitched a few tortilla chips in the following years thinking that the amount couldn't possibly be enough to be a problem. Cheddar cheese and citrus may also be triggers for me, but I'm not sure. Oddly, the more common triggers, like chocolate and (ironically) caffeine, don't seem to bother me.

I wish I had more answers, b/c now two of my four children are having or showing signs of migraine. I would hate to tell my kids to "learn to live with it." Anyway, good luck to everyone else.

 

[BJ]

Just a quick comment...when I feel a headache coming on, sometimes I pop in my retainer and I feel so much better (I had braces at age 39)! I mentioned this to my dentist and she said that her sister-in-law is a neurologist and she acknowledged that tere is sometimes a connection to headaches and a "bite" problem...sometimes it helps for people to have a bite splint at night and headache pain can be reduced. I just thought this was interesting....along the same lines as seeing the chiropracter, except dental-related.