Migraines, Who else has them and how do you cope?

[Karrie13]

My mom has had migraines for over 30 years now. Back when they first started she was on many different experimental drugs to help relieve them but nothing ever really worked. She stopped taking all medications because of the side effects were worse than dealing with the migraines. With the last one she was on (I have no idea what medication she was on) she chased after a horse with a pitch fork while my brother and I were at school, thankfully the horse could run faster. She was afraid she would go after us so she just stopped taking all medications and dealt with the migraines.

My daughter also has migraines, she is 11. I have taken her to many different doctors and specialists, she has had cat scans and many other tests run. But nobody can figure out why she is getting them or what to do about them. The only thing they tell me to do for her is give her motrin and let her rest in a quiet, dark room.

 

[farmerlor]

Migraines run in my family. My brother gets them so bad that he's bed ridden for a day or two. Luckily, I have classic auras. When I see the pretty little alien UFO lights sprinkled all over the place I RUN for the vicodin, get into my room which is darkened like a cave and lay down. I often throw up for a while and then sleep off the vicodin. By the time I wake up I'm usually over the light and sound sensitivity or at least one of them and that makes it easier to deal with until it's gone.

 

[dandelionheart]

Welsummerchicks, what ended up being wrong with you? Hubby's headaches are so scary sometimes and the migraine medicine does help... but they can be terrifying (at least to me). FIL used to get them and Hubby's male cousin (also on his dad's side) gets them too... I worry that they are TIAs and really, nothing has been done to rule that out - they (the doctors) just seem so set that they are atypical migraines.

 

[sourland]

Much like HLAC, I had migraines as a young adult, then suddenly they went away. Around the time I took part in a Lyme vaccine development study (my early fifties) they came back with a vengeance. Coincidence? I know some of my triggers. Lack of sleep is a big one. Climatic changes also have significant effects. Dark chocolate is a guaranteed trigger. (And I am a brownie addict.) The prescription drug Imitrex works for me if I take it at early onset. Sumatriptan, the much cheaper generic works but not as effectively. Mine seem to be somewhat cluster in type, and strike several days in a row or several times a week. Then I may have several good weeks. Unless you have experienced the pain, yo have no idea how debilitating these can be. There seems to be a hereditary connection for me in that my mother also had migraines.

 

[Inkheart]

Does anyone have them where it is about once a year - but it takes yuo down fot approx 5-7 days? I do - i throw up and so forth - and even if i go to the doc and get the nausea and pain shot - doesnt really break it - they have tested for everything . These started 4 years ago - still no trigger that is visibile other than maybe stress. However - a friend with migraines gave me a recipe at onset. Two Excedrin migraine - one advil - and one atavan - its like a miracle!

 

[Whispering Winds]

When I worked for the chiro, a man came in that had a high up position in one of the local industries, and he said he had woke up every morning for the past 30 odd years with a headache. After three weeks of adjustments he had not had one headache. The chiropractors can do wonders for people with migraines. Definitely worth a try and not so many drugs.

 

[Karrie13]

Quote:
My Daughter goes to the chiro for her headaches, the adjustments do help for a couple weeks then she has to go back again. My mom refuses to go to the chiro.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Quote:
The pasta thing is interesting. Do you know if it was directly related to an ingredient in the actual pasta or if it might have been that the pasta had a tomato based sauce? I have heard that night shade vegetables, which include tomatoes are trigger for some people. I have never found a direct relation to eating night shade vegetables and getting migraines personally, but I know a few people who do. It would make sense that her sensitivity to food triggers are higher around her t.o.m. with the hormonal fluctuation. I think I need to make a migraine chart to try to pin down my triggers. I kind of stopped thinking about them during my migraine hiatus.

It had something to do with pasta, she tends towards the white creamy sauces, rather than the red tomato sauces. We've switched to the whole wheat types and that seems to have helped. The chart is a pain, but does open your eyes.