Migraines C/D

Excedrine Migraine helps a little sometimes...

and Pi is classic

The worst migraine I ever had was when I was in elementary school...I came home from school, lay down in the middle of the living room floor, and when I woke up it was the next day.

best remedy I found was to take 2 (normal) extra strength Excederin pills at the onset and vision would clear up in about 15 minutes (sure beats 6 HOURS!). (before I found the Excedrin trick, could occasionally fight them off with yoga breathing)

eventually traced most migraines to red wine. I hardly ever get them now that I've stopped drinking wine and eating gluten (wheat/barley/rye). combining lots of alcohol (especially RED WINE) with rich food is the migraine-sufferer's recipe for disaster

The medicine that I currently take as-needed is very effective, but unfortunately also makes me very drowsy so sort of ruins me for work. I've gotten used to just taking advil and laying down for an hour or so.

Why do you say this? I ask because I'm not certain myself. I've had two doctors diagnose migraines (this was years ago), but on the basis of the nature of my complaints (i.e. no MRI or whatever)--more recently by doctor said he wasn't sure. Nevertheless he's prescribed Imitrex which seems to work, although much of the time it makes me fairly drowsy.

My impression is that doctors don't currently understand either phenomenon too well and go by a "whatever works" rule more than usual. Hmmm. Frankly most of the literature I've read is inconclusive or unconvincing.

Can migraines be determined by their frequency? Someone upthread mentioned getting them every few years (!) while the headaches that plague me recently seem to happen every few weeks (?!)

The worst are the 3-day overnight specials, which luckily I don't get too often.

I've tried avoiding wheat, sweets, etc, and it may work, but it's just pretty damn hard to keep away from stuff I'm so used to eating.

i've only had 1 migraine in the last 8 years and i thought i was going to die.

I'm sorry that it's not working for you though. Maybe try the above.

unfortunate after-effect of surviving migraine: sometimes, for the rest of day, brain feels like it's been shortcircuited
positive effect: yay! I can get stuff done

Although it's only every two years, they do last overnight. Severe nausea and coloured pulsating blobs.

i have headaches lot (too much coffee, far too much reading, sometimes air-pressures shifts in the weather) but never genuine migraines: one good solution (as well as anadin extra) = drink a whole bottle of water

One out of six people in the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and India suffer with migraine headaches. Approximately seventy percent (70%) of them are women.

http://lifematters.com/bfbarticle.html

it sounds like you've been having a variant form of migraine which is sometimes called "ocular migraine" (though your doctor will probably call it "acephalgic migraine"). i can imagine that having to put up with those unwanted visual effects must be pretty distressing. i think you should make a point of telling your doctor, especially since standard migraine treatments (including avoiding triggers) may help your symptoms. of course, as you can see upthread, current migraine therapy is hardly a panacea. but you might want to give it a shot.

good luck...

* suddenly notice vision distortion or get a vague sense that something's not right (suspect migraine onset)

* planes of vision (left eye/righteye) don't jel right: as if there's a missing part I can't focus on between. like if you look at a page in a book and there's a part in the center of your focus where the words disappear or are occluded

or it goes directly to:
* pulsating jagged line area in vision, often seems more to one side (left?), though still visible if I shut one or both eyes. it's a bit like a cartoon explosion effect

* vision rapidly goes: entire area of sight can go silver/grey - like if you've stood up suddenly and gone faint

* headache - usually centered on right temple (though it can spread to the back of head by neck) - begins, sometimes accompanied by nausea and slight drymouth

* need of darkened room, isolation from sound/noise/activity
(can last up to 6 hours or until you wake up next day)

that's why I don't drink red wine any more, even though I used to like it...

i called my doctor dad and he just freaked me out and told me he didn't know what it was but that it could be really bad and that i should see the doctor as soon as possible (thanks for freaking me out).

i then called my fiance's doctor dad and he told me it could be either a floater or a ripped retina

i'm glad the opthamologist today told me that it was just a minor migraine. i wish they had told me not to drive to the appointment. i had my eyes dilated and had to have my fiance leave work early and come get me and the car.

On the other hand - is it better to know or not know? I mean, meningitis can kill pretty damn fast by the time the symptoms show up.

I'm always torn in these situations. But I am really glad that he said it was just a mild migraine and not something horrid.

imitrex - if i take it at work, will it render me useless?

My migraines are "exertion-induced". In other words, any time I exercise, I can expect the sledgehammer an hour or two later. If I take a tablet of Zomig (zolmitriptan) before anything gets going, that usually prevents the migraine, but sometimes it's just not enough, and I end up on the bathroom floor. If I'm lucky I'll have some opiates at hand.

I hate to think what it would be like to have lived in the hunter-gatherer days. After the hunt, when everybody would be smiling and feasting on fresh meat, I'd be curled up under a tree somewhere, puking my guts out.

imitrex has no effect on me other than getting rid of my fucking headaches. it has no narcotic effects whatsoever...on me, at least. i wasn't told that it would have any such effect by my doctor either.

lately, i've been thinking that if i lived in olden times, they would have put me out on a mountain for the vultures.

so, i've been having this fucking migraine for 4 days straight. my doctor gave me imitrex, and it works for the rest of the evening, but then i wake up the next morning with the same headache. everyday has been getting less and less hellish, so hopefully tomorrow, i won't have a headache. also, today, my left side of my face started to go numb. that was frightening. i don't know if that's normal. i have an appt. with a neurologist coming up, so hopefully, he can sort that shit out for me.

man, that shit (imitrex) knocks me on my ass! i'm out cold for a good 2 hours, and then i wake up, and my limbs feel like lead. but, it's better than wanting to perform a DIY lobotomy.

I don't get them and I'm a sadistic bastard and a contrarian, so I say classic.

The only good thing about migraines is that it makes you whole-heartedly appreciate the people who have to put up with you while you're in the throes of agonizing, wanting-to-die pain, and you're crying on the bathroom floor, trying not to throw up on anything other than the toilet.

Shit...reading your experiences makes me feel better off that I don't get such bad migraines. It's only one part of other health problems for me.

How weird that imitrex has no such effects on me. Maybe it's a dosage difference? I take it, maybe 30-40 min. later the headache is gone. It's like a miracle. Sometimes they come back the next day, but if I take another one, they usually go away. My problem is that the pills are quite expensive, so I can only use them if I am in serious about-to-croak pain.

I remember the OBGYN saying, after I did a check-up because of the possible link between migraine and zee little pill, that once I was pregnant again I wouldn't have migraines again. har dee har. This is true for some women, but it didn't apply to me. This time around I had some horrid migraine attacks, lasting more than 24 hrs. Once I stop breastfeeding, I'll probably ask for some meds cause I don't want to suffer through those attacks again. I can sort of get time off work (hey one of the benefits of being more or less self-employed) but I don't want to lie in my frigging bed for 24 hrs or more wanting to be swallowed into a big black hole of nothingness.

Also, I do feel sorry for Ophelia: migraines often run in the family. My grandfather had'em, my mum and I do. So odds are that Ophelia will also suffer from'em (if doesn't already, poor thing).

I also discovered I can't drink too much coffee unless I want to have a m-attack. Which isn't so bad, I guess, cause I'm not really that big a coffee fan anyway. I mean, I can take it or leave it.

The only good thing about migraines is that it makes you whole-heartedly appreciate the people who have to put up with you

People around you (or me)? Fuck no. I crawl into a lonely place. :-( Leave me the fuck alone. That's my motto. It's for the best cause if you do come around, I sometimes end up crying, if I'm in one of the super dooper attacks.

I always hate saying I have migraine attacks. I mean, I have headaches, but it's like begging for some "sympathy or compassion or some shit" if I say they're migraine attacks, y'know. But each time I read about the symptoms, I realize that it all applies to me.

Oh yeah, when you say "expensive" when it comes to pills, how much is that?

it's roughly $12 (US) per pill. that's a lot for me, so if i need more than one it feels like it's getting more and more expensive to treat the headaches.

that seems reasonable actually. i'll probably see a neurologist or my regular doctor for some meds.

My problem is that the pills are quite expensive, so I can only use them if I am in serious about-to-croak pain

yep around 10 euro each for the ones I was prescribed. "zomig" they're called but may be a European variant.

at that price I only take it if I'm completely screwed, because sometimes I can have that nagging back of your head migraine that isn't excruciating and can either put up with it, or wait for it to go away.

I woke up with a headache again (uh, 5th day in a row), but it's definitely not as severe as previous days, which makes me think I don't need to call my doctor. I'm a bit congested which makes me think this whole nonsense is allergy and/or sinus related.

With my insurance, a 9 pack of Imitrex (at 100mg - yowza!), cost me $30, which is a lot to ask of someone who gets paid once a month, at the END of the month.

has anyone tried topamax? my dad takes it for non-migraine related severe hand tremors, but i hear it's amazing miracle drug for migraines. the only issues: 1) it's a daily medication, so you're pretty much tied to it and 2) expensive, which makes the daily thing worse.

coming in 2009: head transplants?

do any of you get cold hands and feet? I do but I'm never sure it's related directly to migraine. I mean my feet get so cold that nothing will warm them up while I'm sitting still and working, not even 3 pairs of socks.

i have very cold hands and feet, but i don't know if it has anything to do with migraines.

i am very warm hearted though :)

I haven't tried Topamax. I'm on enough medication, that it scares me to be on something else all the time. Also, I was just listening to something on "All Things Considered" about chemicals, and it's freaked me out/depressed me.

But, almost anything is better than a migraine, so...

ugh

Ronan - bummer! I usually have cold feet, so I don't notice.

My head still hurts a little, but the Excederin migraine is taking care of it. The only concerning thing is that I'll get a random shooting pain, as if the metal rod poking through my head decides to contract, in that really frightening and unhealthy way that a migraine feels, but then it goes away. Let's hope I can make it through an entire work day today!

xp - hah! i have been told i should knit myself socks that say, "cold feet, warm heart.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 8, 2007) — For every man with a migraine, three women are struck by the severe headaches that often come with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and aura. That means a staggering 18 to 25 percent of women suffer from migraines, making it one of the most common disabling conditions faced by women around the globe.

I kinda suspected that was true.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806094703.htm

has anyone had any success with yoga and migraines, i.e. helping decrease the amount of headaches?

i smokes w33d

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_47mDU4vB2hk/S7YlsUtcLRI/AAAAAAAAAP8/giQXGFkYuIg/s1600/fireworks.jpg

:S

i wonder if my anti anxiety pills will keep'em away. doubt it, but one can hope. lol. otherwise, as i stopped smoking, maybe i can take some heavy duty pills? then again i am not keen on'em.

:(. just had my first ever migraine aura. freaked me the fuck out

Yeah I get maybe a couple of those a year, perfectly copeable albeit unpleasant once you know what you're dealing with but my first one terrified me as well.

Not actually a migraine question but one that I think could be answered by some of the people that read this thread.

In the UK, if a GP writes a Fit Note that states that the employee should have temporary reduced hours (for example, a four-day week rather five), is that day off counted as "sick"? (I've always been under the impression it isn't).

Just "bumping" in case anyone has wisdom.