Migraines!!!!

[max13077]

I work with a lady who suffers from them. I wasn’t sure about how bad they were till I met her. She works her tail off and has no qualms about working if she’s sick, etc. Her tolerance for pain is very high. However when she has a migraine, she’s on the floor. So that lets me know how bad they are. I believe her doctor found a pill that lets her cope. She takes one at the very first sign of a migraine and it usually helps considerably. I know she used to have to go to the ER and get shots of something to make them go away.

 

[go-veggie]

*A Carolina Chick* :

I have suffered from migraines for years and have tried everything to get rid of them. I have taken all of the preventatives, I can't take imitrex, and when they are extremely bad...I have to inject myself with Toradol. I have been to several neurologists, a chiropractor, and a GP. BC Powder is a no no, but it usually works for me. Do any of you suffer from migraines? What do you do?

I am 33 and I have suffered with "barometric pressure migraines" since I was about 6 years old that I remember. It took until I was 18 or 19 to realize what the cause was. I did food diaries, tried vitamin supplement therapies, added things in & took things out of my diet and life. You name it, I tried it to figure out what the cause was. It wasn't until I started to do a weather journal, after I eliminated every other cause, that I found out what was causing them. The pressure in the atmoshere/storm systems, etc. cause me to suffer the greatest pain and suffering I can imagine. I just call them the migraines from hell. Imitrex, zomig and Maxalt all work ok if I take one pretty fast when I can tell one is coming, but sometimes I am just left to suffer through it. If I take a pill too late, it can take a couple hours to really help at all. I do best on 25 mg's of Imitrex...it's just enough to work, but not too much to make me sick (side effects like dizziness, blackouts, etc. on too high of a dose). I prefer to buy Imitrex 100mg pills so I can get the best value. I split the 9 pills into thirds and quarters to get more mileage out of them since the rx is $250.00-otherwise, you're paying the same price for lesser mg's-why not get higher mg's and split them?

I just got a prescription card now though that brought the price down to $175 for the 9 pills. Anyway, pay close attention to the weather patterns and rise and fall of the barometric pressure where you are. I know no one hears of these often, but they exist, (I personally know 3 other people who get them) and they are not hormonal or stress related, they are strictly weather related. Keep us posted on whether or not you figure it out...oh, and by the way, most doctors have no education in this type of migraine, but when they do the research, they can really help you get on the best pain management for them. I am curious about your situation and I hope I am some help to you...what is the reason that you can't take imitrex? Just wondering...I know the side effects very well and would be interested to know how they affected you. Oh, and the first signs I get that a migraine is coming are: sudden fatigue, sudden, excessive yawing and some feeling of pain and pressure building in my head.....then all hell breaks loose! :|​

 

[tygab]

I don't get them often (usually actually a few years apart), thank goodness, but I get them in batchlets when I do and I agree, they are just horrible. I want to crawl into a cave when they happen.

For this and various other reasons I have really altered my daily diet to a lot less processed foods, cut out all caffeine, try to keep an exercise routine, and get enough sleep. All of these have significantly helped. Have you tried keeping a trigger journal?

 

[greenapple]

Does anyone else get strange auras with theirs? I see halo's around lights, my hearing becomes super sensitive - hearing someone turn the page on a magazine or newspaper across the room will drive me insane, spent one night in the ambulance bay at the ER when I couldn't get in to see my neurologist since the hum of the ambulance engines were easier to deal with than people reading magazines. Sometimes I develop tunnel vision and I have issues talking - the words will be there but they come out in the wrong order. They kept me in the hospital for three days after preferring the ambulance bay to the waiting room, spinal tap, CT scan, and MRI all were normal.

 

[cheeptrick]

Mine are purely cyclical. Even when I ovulate I get a small mini migraine. I do use estrogen cream at the onset of my period which 'helps'...I rub it on the back of my neck at the first site of pain. It does not completely alleviate the pain...but it does make it bareable with the tylenol PM I take at the same time. I've taken imitrex, maxalt and they ALL worked for awhile and then stopped. I was on blood pressure medication...the side effects were awful...so I quit those just as fast as I started them. I just deal with the pain...go straight to bed for 2-3 days and hope for the best. Sunglasses help...keep a migraine journal and knowing triggers is beneficial.

Lots of water does seem to help also....

Hope you can find relief...

 

[penelope77]

i have had migraines since i was two. mine are usually triggered by my emotions. if something makes me cry i get one, if i get excited about something i get one. i have to try and keep my emotions under control all the time. it's kind of a bummer cause there are some things that are just worth gettting excited over. i have tried imitrex, knocks me out but the headache is gone after i've been asleep for hours. sometimes if i take something as soon as i know i'm gonna get upset or excited i can keep it at bay but not usually. the best cure i've found is an ice pack, dark room, and sleep and puking sometimes takes the edge off and is usually unavoidable. pretty, huh? when i was little my parents had to stop telling me we were going on vacations or to the fair cause otherwise i'd get sick and then no one had any fun.

 

[A Carolina Chick]

I have had multiple migraine journals. I can't take any of the Triptan's (Maxalt, Imitrex, ect). I have been on B vitamins, Topamax, BP meds, antidepressants, other anticonvulsants, and multiple others to prevent them. I have had MRI's, CAT, EEG's and numerous other tests. I have fasted for weeks only taking in no caffienated liquids and then adding things to my diet one at the time. I have been to Migraine specialist, chiropractors, and multiple neurologists. I have had bone cancer in my jaw that did trigger some of the migraines. I woke up with one this morning and now it is storming here. BC powder has not helped and I am out of the Toradol. I need to go back to the doctor to get my script renewed. It is getting worse. I will be vomiting in an hour or two. So, I am getting desperate. I used to go to the ER everytime I had one, until I discovered BC powder. The toradol has also been a God Send. Now, I need something else that I can find around the house, as my DH is in South Carolina on a fishing trip and I am home alone with the kids.

 

[A Carolina Chick]

Quote:
I get them when I cry too. I try not to cry much. I think it is the actual act of crying and not so much the emotions around it. I found that out after picking hot peppers and not thinking about not touching my eyes.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Are your kids old enough to be reasonably self-sufficient? I am really sorry. I know the horror of taking care of the kids with my cluster headaches...I shudder at the though of doing it the way the migranes were. The ones I get now do get bad enough to make me vomit and see sparkly lights some....usually a couple of the days they are here. The kids just have to take care of themselves. They can handle a microwave and toaster.

 

[bluie]

Wow, I can't believe I missed that first migraine thread. Thanks Lurky, I just went and read the whole thing.

I have been getting migraines since I was about 15 or 16. Horribly debilitating. My mom, brother and sister also get them. Figure out your triggers. I get a migraine every time I start a new diet, at the beginning of summer's hot weather, at the beginning of winter's cold weather, if I sleep too much, when I get too much stress, if I take OTC painkillers for more than like one or two days (rebound headache) and I have zero tolerance for chocolate and caffeine. During my first pregnancy I was amazed that I had so few headaches. After weaning my daughter from the breast, I decided to go back to drinking coffee, which I had quit as soon as I got pregnant. WHAM! That's when I figured out the caffeine thing. For a while my son (about 11 at the time) would have a headache every Monday. I figured out that on weekends, he would sleep really late and not eat anything until noon. We started getting him up earlier on weekends and making him eat and the problem was solved.

I don't have an aura. Sometimes the pain starts in the temple, other times it starts in the neck. Always one-sided. Sometimes the nausea, and sensitivity to light, sound and smells are really bad.

What helps: about ten years ago, I started taking 400mg of riboflavin (vitamin B2) a day. After about a month, it reduced the frequency, duration and intensity of my headaches. (Riboflavin is a water soluble vitamin. You can't od on it because any excess is excreted in the urine. Your pee will turn bright yellow.) Then, I tried RELPAX. It is a godsend. Sometimes it takes three hours to work, and sometimes I have to take a second pill, but it has never failed to completely take away the headache. My headaches usually last about 3 days, and sometimes the headache will come back for the third day, and I take another Relpax. Zero side effects from this drug. It is related to Imitrex and Zomig, but those didn't help me. Relpax gave me my life back. I have never missed a day of work since using Relpax. It works best when you take it early, but they are expensive, so sometimes I wait and make sure it is really a migraine. They used to be $20 a pill, and my co-pay for 12 was $30. (I can only get 12 a month) My co-pay just went down to $15 however. I religiously refill the prescription and hoard it. Most months 12 is more than enough. About once a year, I need the hoarded ones. Good luck with your migraines! Sorry this is so long!