NER: anyone get migraines?

[nursewife]

I had one yesterday. I find when the season's change, it brings them on. H only gets them a few times a year, but they are always when the seasons change as well.

[meshaliuknits]

Sorry. Since I only get one or two a year I spend a day or two holed up in a dark place wishing for vodka and death. They're so infrequent I haven't done anything about them.

[downtoearth]

I started getting them (with mushroom-like-induced tracers and/or throwing up) after I had my first kid about 9 years ago - never had one ever before that. If I'm on hormonal birth control they come about the 3rd or 4th day of my period every month - if I'm not on them, they don't come.

The only thing I can do to slow or stop them is to take Tylenol and pound a coke/coffee as soon as I start feeling nauseated with a headache or start seeing tracers with a headache. Excedrin type meds don't work fast enough for me - so I get caffeine through the coke/coffee and it dialates your blood vessels in your head to let the other meds work faster.

If I don't get a full-blown one, I can then take ibuprofen about 30 min later and it usually just is a headache for about 2 hours. If I get the full migraine, I pretty much have to lie down and sleep - for about 2 hours to get it to go away. Falling asleep is the hardest, but I can't get rid of it doing anything else. I usually feel groggy for about 2 hours after that, but can function and the headache is gone then (i.e. not lingering).

Either way, since mine are hormone related and monthly occurrences (terrible for work days), I haven't ever been to the neurologist, just talked with a general prac. and OB/gyn doc about them.

[KateAggie]

Neuros are not scary!! I've been through a lot of them (due to moves), and they are super helpful. There are a wide variety of treatments for migraines, and a neuro is most qualified to find you the right one for your migraines. Good luck!! Bonus--they can also be super helpful with anxiety, depression, and sleep issues.

[fortnightlily]

I'm not sure why you need to jump to a neurologist before just seeking treatment from your regular GP. Mine gave me a prescription for a triptan. Though until you have a pattern of getting them beyond this one fluke, and until you've shown that OTC treatments like Excedrin don't help, I'm not sure they'll want to escalate to an Rx yet.

[yentl]

Lurker chiming in. I have them weekly, vomiting, etc and I've been working with a neurologist for a couple years. It's been sporadically helpful. The most helpful thing you can do for migraines is figure out what your triggers are. Unfortunately I think one of my big ones is caffeine and definitely artificial sweeteners. Still working on other dietary ones. Weather is also a big one, but that is unavoidable and I have to be careful to manage stress because I'll get "let down" headaches once the weekend hits if I'm not dealing with work stress well.

I did just read a book by a neurologist called Heal Your Headache which was really informative and helpful. I've only been doing the steps for a few weeks now but my migraines have already dropped in frequency.

[2curlydogs]

I've gotten them since I was 11. What you describe is a typical, unmedicated migraine for me. I also sometimes just get occular migraines - where my vision goes but I don't get a headache.

Are you on any medication for them? If not, I'd go see a GP. But a neurologist is also not a bad step.

[omgzombies]

I've had them since I was two, had CAT scans done, and seen many a neurologist. A neurologist will work with you on finding a medication to help. It's tricky though, most of the preventative medications are for treating seizures or weird anti-depressants (though admittedly there may be new options out there, it's been a while since I've tried getting a new medication). I've tried numerous drugs with varying degrees of success, and the ones that helped me most where ones that made me feel like a zombie the rest of the time, but you're reaction to medication could easily be different than mine.

The best thing you can do for migraines is to figure out what your triggers are and avoid them like the plague. Keep a food journal, but also pay attention to your emotions, the weather, stress level, sleep, and your hydration. All of those can factor into a migraine.

Right now my main treatment is to chug a glass of water, followed by two excedrin (works better for me than other pain relievers), followed by chugging a soda. Follow that with an ice pack or a heat pack, and a hot shower, and sleep if I can manage it. If it's still going strong, I take a stronger narcotic.

People find exercise, yoga, meditation, to occasionally help as well, though I haven't had much luck with any of them.

[downtoearth]

Oct 14, 2015 11:03:03 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

i think my trigger is stress. yay!

That sucks b/c then you'll start adding stress by worrying about a migraine from stress.  Can you tell when they are coming on or is it just a headache that hits as a migraine?

[dove]

Not to scare you, but i had migraines, bad ones most of my life. I just thought "everyone gets headaches". It was nothing a couple of excedrine migraine wouldn't shut down.
Yeah, i had a brain tumor. That was discovered after i went to bed with a migraine and woke up in full seizure. The shaking of the bed woke mh up about 5 am. Hospital and a few scans later, i was the proud owner of a brain tumor.

If it gives you peace of mind, go to a neuro and get scanned.

As far as meds, I'm on imitrex tabs and shots. They work well. The shots work fast

[KateAggie]

Oct 14, 2015 11:03:03 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

i think my trigger is stress. yay!

Mine are, too. Sorry.

[hopecounts]

My OB and Ped. Endo had me see a neuro as a CYA thing both time the MRI came back clear with no concerns.
Neuro prescribed migraine pain meds which were VERY helpful.
Currently I have Imitrex which works well without knocking me out, just makes me relaxed/lazy.

[StrawberryBlondie]

I get occular migraines every once in a while. They suck.

[bowies]

I've had them my whole life. A neuro can get you on meds to see if they help. (My migraines do not respond to medication, but I've heard that if you develop migraines later in life then you have a greater chance of success with meds.) What you described sounds typical. Mine are more ocular migraines these days, which are minor annoyances compared to what I used to have.

It's not a toomah.

[Alyssa]

My husband gets them fairly often. He has nerve damage in his neck from a car accident that happened 10 years ago. When his neck pain flares up, the migraine usually follows.

My husband has a prescription for Frova which he takes when he can feel the headache getting really intense. It's a last ditch effort to tackle the pain before the headache gets away from him. About 1-2x a year we have to go down to Urgent Care so he can get a shot to attack the headache.

Maybe if you can't control the pain, consider going down to the Urgent Care and seeing if they can help you out.

[Deleted]

I started to get them for the first time ever at the beginning of this year. I went to the Neuro and we did all kinds of tests, etc.. and everything came back clean. They wanted to put me on anti seizure meds and all sorts of stuff. I went to my chiro 2x per week for a few weeks and they went away. They flared back up earlier this month, I went back to the chiro and they have already cleared up.

I know Chiro is not the answer you want to hear but well, it worked for me. I do get massages after my chiro and those really help as well. 

[Deleted]

My mother gets them often. I get them a few times a year. She has some sort of pill she can take when she feels them coming on. I'm positive her trigger is stress (you can practically see her brewing one up sometimes).

 I think mine get triggered primarily by hormones.  Since mine are infrequent I've never done anything for them.  I just take a day off and work from home.

[Deleted]

Oct 14, 2015 11:13:53 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

this one came on without warning and was in full untreatable mode in an hour or so. all i could do was cry and that made my head hurt worse.

i'll up my water intake b/c i know that sucks anyway and try and relax but man.

Sometimes when mine hit me really hard like that I take a xanax and go lie down in a dark room and it will usually take care of it. Mine are mostly stress induced as well. Have you tried yoga?

[FloFTW]

I've had them since I was 8 years old, about 2 a month. It's a terrible pain behind my right eye, and vomiting. In the last 2 years, the vomiting was uncontrollable. I'd become dehydrated and would waste a whole other day recovering from the dehydration.

My triggers have changed over the years but I've tried different treatments for the unavoidable triggers and only just recently found one that worked - Relpax. It's been life-changing.

I always get one the day before my period. That trigger is unavoidable. (I can't take hormonal birth control, either). For awhile, another trigger was salt. So one migraine a month, I could handle not having too much salt.

My latest trigger is SUNLIGHT. If I'm in the sun for more than 2 hours/day - even if it's cold - I get a migraine. There are some days I just can't or don't want to avoid that.

I've tried a few different migraine medications and none really worked, until Relpax. I also have a standing prescription for Zofran so that I don't puke myself sick any more. I'm telling you I was sobbing the first time it worked.

Anyway, all that to say - I've seen neurologists but there's nothing wrong that the neurologists can see. My GP was able to prescribe the Relpax. Make an appointment with your GP first.

[wawa]

I'm another infrequent sufferer who has never done anything about it. My last one included some delightful aphasia before the pain hit (which was a new symptom for me) and I seriously thought I was losing my mind.

After a really really rough project status meeting where I forgot words like the street name the project is on my boss quietly told the rest of the team to keep an eye on me. You know, in case I fell down and started seizing, or was secretly drunk, or...I dunno what. I was a mess though. Kept getting caught on the most basic words and getting really frustrated. Then that afternoon the headache hit and I went to bed the same time as Shorti. It wasn't until a few days later that 2cd (I think) mentioned aphasia as a migraine symptom and I put 2 and 2 together. woohoo! not crazy or dying!

Anyway, my point being - I feel you on the "holy shit brain tumor" reaction. Go see your GP.

[jln]

Oct 14, 2015 11:04:51 GMT -5 omgzombies said:

I've had them since I was two, had CAT scans done, and seen many a neurologist. A neurologist will work with you on finding a medication to help. It's tricky though, most of the preventative medications are for treating seizures or weird anti-depressants (though admittedly there may be new options out there, it's been a while since I've tried getting a new medication). I've tried numerous drugs with varying degrees of success, and the ones that helped me most where ones that made me feel like a zombie the rest of the time, but you're reaction to medication could easily be different than mine.

The best thing you can do for migraines is to figure out what your triggers are and avoid them like the plague. Keep a food journal, but also pay attention to your emotions, the weather, stress level, sleep, and your hydration. All of those can factor into a migraine.

Right now my main treatment is to chug a glass of water, followed by two excedrin (works better for me than other pain relievers), followed by chugging a soda. Follow that with an ice pack or a heat pack, and a hot shower, and sleep if I can manage it. If it's still going strong, I take a stronger narcotic.

People find exercise, yoga, meditation, to occasionally help as well, though I haven't had much luck with any of them.

Ditto all of this. Mine started when I was 8 so I had CAT scans, MRI and an EEG. I wasn't able to alleviate them until I was an older teen and started taking Topomax and Relpax. One is an anti-seizure medication that helps brain blood flow I took daily, the other is in case my Excedrin/soda regimen didn't work.

I finally have them under control with regular chiro and massage visits, along with knowing what my stress triggers are and being conscious of my sugar and water intake.

[berrysweet]

I had migraines and was on Imitrex or Topmax for YEARS. When I was pregnant with my youngest, I was off the migraine meds, but getting occular migraines almost daily. My OB told me that he had heard good things from several patients about taking a calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement for migraines. I kind of rolled my eyes, because people were *always* giving me stupid homeopathic or diet related solutions that didn't work. But I started to get auras one day in the middle of Target, and so I stumbled over to the supplements section and bout a bottle of a Calcium/Mag/Zinc blend. I took one, and my aura *immediately* went away. I was shocked. It has truly been a game-changer for me. If I take the Calcium/Mag/Zinc daily, I very rarely get migraines anymore. If I get one, it's usually because I've forgotten to take the pill for a few days. I have also tried pure magnesium, but it doesn't work as well for me as the Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc blend.

I have talked with both my OB and my GP about the migraines with auras and BC pills. Both told me that in the study some of the previous posters have mentioned, they found that the highest risk group was migraines w/ aura + BC + smoking. The second highest risk group was migraines w/ aura + drospirenone-ethinyl estradiol (YAZ) birth control users. They also both mentioned that the study only published rates of migraine w/ aura + drospirenone-ethinyl estradiol & migraine w/o aura + drospirenone-ethinyl estradiol. They didn't publish the statistics for people who had blood clots or strokes but didn't fit into those groups. One of my doctors described the study in question as "hinky" and the other described it as "preliminary", lol. They both said that as long as I was not smoking, taking Ortho Tri Cyclen only marginally raised the risk of stroke compared to the elevated risk that migraine sufferers already have. For me, not having 30 day long periods is worth the marginal increase in risk, but each person will obviously have to discuss that with their own doctor(s) to come to the right decision for them.

[jln]

Oct 14, 2015 15:32:44 GMT -5 Lucy Honeychurch said:

Also, I hate to say it, but marijuana. It works like a charm.

Yep. And you don't have to get high, either. Just a hit from the right strain could really help.

[omgzombies]

Oct 14, 2015 14:23:08 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm another infrequent sufferer who has never done anything about it. My last one included some delightful aphasia before the pain hit (which was a new symptom for me) and I seriously thought I was losing my mind.

After a really really rough project status meeting where I forgot words like the street name the project is on my boss quietly told the rest of the team to keep an eye on me. You know, in case I fell down and started seizing, or was secretly drunk, or...I dunno what. I was a mess though. Kept getting caught on the most basic words and getting really frustrated. Then that afternoon the headache hit and I went to bed the same time as Shorti. It wasn't until a few days later that 2cd (I think) mentioned aphasia as a migraine symptom and I put 2 and 2 together. woohoo! not crazy or dying!

Anyway, my point being - I feel you on the "holy shit brain tumor" reaction. Go see your GP.

Aphasia is awful.  It really does feel like you are slowly losing your mind.  Shudder.

[foundmylazybum]

Migraines since I was 7 over here. Been holding hands with various neurologists for about that long. I think having a relationship with a neurologist was life changing for me because really they help answer questions you aren't going to be able to figure out on your own, and they can help if things change. I take two preventatives and have all different kinds of abortives that I can use.

It actually reduced my stress knowing I have options for pain management.