Posted: 11/2/2007 7:45:27 AM EDT
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Man-o-man! I spent most of yesterday in the ER - with the worst skull-crusher I've ever known! Anybody else get 'em? If not: lucky you! If so: I feel your pain! (There really IS no way to describe what a migraine is like: especially, the one I had, yesterday!) I take a daily "preventative": Inderal - and Imitrex, when I get one, anyway. So, yesterday . . . I woke up with my head in a vice. As anyone who gets migraines knows: they're WORST when you wake up with one. Hoping for some relief, I took my "daily" and the Imitrex (along with the handful of other meds I need to take, everyday!). I waited two hours (suffered an eternity of pain, is more like it!), then, took my allowed, second dose of Imitrex - and waited, again. Nothing. If anything . . . it was worse. It was around noon by this time - and my wife (God bless her), pointed out that we'd just dropped $250 on the dog, the day before - and I shouldn't suffer for fear of paying $75 (to the hospital emergency room, with our insurance ), to take care of myself. So, not wanting to move, I reluctantly agreed - and, boy! I'm glad I did! It wasn't smooth-sailing. The ER was packed. But, a nurse saw me half-staggering across the parking lot with my hands on my head - and she came running with a wheel-chair. At first, I didn't want to use it. But, I was easily convinced! Luckily, they rushed me through "admission" and a corner, more-private room had just become available. The best part was it had a door and it's own light-switch! The bad part was that, being out of view, it took awhile to be attended to. I certainly understood, though - but, it sure sucked, waiting! Finally, a doc saw me and (after answering his queries), he ordered a shot - and a trip to the CT scanner: just to be sure I wasn't hemorrhaging, or something. (It wouldn't have surprised me - but, thankfully, I wasn't!) It took quite awhile to get the shot (being hidden away, as I was). But, twenty minutes on after I got it, I was starting to feel better. Within 35 - 40 minutes, even the worst and most persistent pain at the base of my skull was gone! The ever-present, accompanying nausea was gone, too. It wasn't long till I felt well enough to "give up" my quiet room (so, someone else: more needing, could use it), and after the usual procedures were tidied up, I got the hell outta' there - pain-free and very, very, relieved that the nightmare was over! I don't know about anyone else . . . but, I've been getting migraines about once a month, since about the time I turned 40. Since, they hit me so regularly (even with the "preventative"), I don't think I subscribe to the "diet-theory": at least, not for me/mine. I think mine are much more stress-related. Having my very demanding, invalid-mother living with us and my autistic, step-daughter . . . being physically disabled myself - and taking care of my schizophrenic, older-brother's needs and affairs - I've certainly got my share of stress! If it weren't for my wonderful wife, I'd probably be in the funny-farm! (And SHE gets migraines, too! Hers are both, food AND stress-induced. She doesn't get the crippling ones, like I just had, though - thank Heaven! But, ANY migraine is bad - and some, can be very bad!) Anyway . . . didn't mean to go on so long . . . ! I was kinda' wondering: if any of you get migraines, too - how do you deal with them? Do you have a "special" thing you do that helps to relieve them - or (better yet), prevent them: all together? Do you ever get them after something stressful has been resolved? Do you watch what you eat? What meds (if any), do you take? Etc, etc, etc . . . ! *Lastly, I'll just say - if our .gov could . . . they should use migraines (and the "cure-shot", that I got!), as an "interrogation tool!" It'd be hard to beat! |
| Some of the worst suffering I've ever experienced comes from Migraines. Once one hits, I not only get the overpowering headache but the nausea as well. Can't keep any medicine down. My only option is to go to the ER for a morphine shot. I only get them about once or twice a year now, thank goodness (used to get them several times a month as a teenager), but just thinking about them causes me dread that is hard to describe. |
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I have gotten migrains since middle school. I'm 26 now. Mine range from all out "grand ma" migraines complete with tunnel vision, arouras, stars, slowed drunk vision/shape recognition problems (all previous mentioned very rare), and once motor control problems, to dull/strong ones that last for hours to days on end. I usually get the dull ones that slowly grow in intensity over 6-12+ hours. I can fight them and keep them from becoming worse but after around the 8 hour mark I start losing and I get nauseous. Caffeine and pain relievers with it in there just make them worse. I used to drink alot of caffeine and now if I get too much it makes me feel weird. My triggers are stress and light related. Looking at a strong light source (TV computer monitor) with weak ambient light does it every time. Strong sunlight without sun glasses is a big nono. Work stress which is typically coupled with lack of sleep will do it to me after a few days. I seem to go through periods where I won't have any for a month or two and then I'll get them for a few weeks off and on. That's probably why I haven't seen a doctor since I first started getting them. Right now my choice of pain reliever has been brand name advil and trying to take it easy. Most of the time they don't completely go away until after I've slept. I will take a single tylenol PM to help me out sometimes. I've seen a doctor once when I was young for them. My father gets them too and he has a prescription for something he takes when he gets them. They are gone in an hour. It works really well. I need to go in and get checked out and I'd like to get the same thing he has. -Foxxz |
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I get migraines about four times a year. usually three out of the four are not horrible. If I am able to get some frova or migraten on board early and stay hydrated I can curl up in a dark, quiet room with a hot water bottle and be ok in about 12 hours. The last one landed me in the ER in the most pain I have ever experienced. I was unable to eat or drink anything for about 18 hours, vomiting the whole time. By the time we got to the ER I has hyperventilating so badly that I could not walk or open up my fists. As my dad was taking me in he told the nurses that he thought I was having a seizure, straight to the front of the line. They hung a bag of saline and gave me demerol and some kind of muscle relaxant. Another bag of saline later and I was feeling half way human again. There are no real triggers that I have been able to establish. The biggest thing for me is getting meds and plenty of water in early. |
| I get them about once a year. I figured out my "trigger" is lack of sleep or irregular sleeping patterns. I don't get them if I get to bed at a reasonable hour. If I work until the wee hours of the morning (or surf arfcom), I'm at risk of getting one. Imitrex does nothing. Ergotamine + caffeine helps a little. |
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The migraines I get are hell. Someone who has never had a full power migraine, can't seem to grasp how bad they can be. They can make you wish you were dead... Especially when they stay with you. I've had them last a few times, for as long as a week or two. When they are at their worst and their duration is long: ... My best friend on the left, myself on the right. 
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Ick, waking up with them sucks, I had that a week ago. Most of my headaches/migranes appear to be stress induced, but one surefire way to pick one up for me is light from the background of something I'm looking at. Ex: looking at a computer monitor with a light behind me, reflecting off the surface. ETA: If I catch it early enough I can shock-and-awe it with about a 40% chance of killing it before it gets me, 20% to keep it from getting worse, and about 40% chance of doing no good... Shock-and-awe: 3 tabs of Excedrine Migrane and 1L of Mt. Dew. |
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There are options to fighting migraines. 1. Avoid triggers (sounds like you've tried this) 2. Take OTC meds like Alleve as soon as you start to feel funky -- like a headache is coming on. 3. Triptans: Relpax has the best data, others work well also 4. Topamax, ergotamine, etc. The trick with migraines is to take meds ASAP upon feeling the beginnings of the pain. Once you've got a full blown pounder, your GI tract & metabolism slows down and/or you're too nauseous to keep meds down. For those reasons, treating early offers the best chance of keeping things under control. |
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Migraines are the worst possible pain I can think of. Bar none... And I've broken all kinds of things on my body, but the one pain that makes me just want to crawl in a hole and die is when I get migraines. I have been very fortunate in that I haven't had a true migraine in a couple years now, and am happy about that... knock on wood, and thank God... |
The problem for me is that the time from noticing the visual symptom to the nausea hitting is at most 15 minutes, at which point everything is purged. 
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I too suffer from migraines. They start with tunnel vision/inability to focus/spot and stars in my vision. The pain is almost always intense enough to make me vomit and I'm usually down for about 8 - 10 hours. I had one a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't had one for a few months before that. I've found that my triggers are lack of sleep and caffeine. I avoid caffeine like the plague, no chocolate, no caffeinated soda, no caffeinated coffee. I've tried several different medications none of which help. They mostly make me feel "out of it" but don't really help with the pain. I don't blame you for going to the emergency room, I've considered it and my fiancee has begged me to go but I'm stubborn. I'm also curious as to what the shot was that they gave you? Good luck with yours, I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. |
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The papers I've read say that most (not all) migraines are actually symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. Caffeine is pretty addictive. Caffeine binds to adenosine receptors in the brain (but does not activate them). This is known as a competitive inhibitor - your brain must produce more adenosine and create more adenosine receptors to get the same required effect (and due to the reduction in adenosine activity, your brain also makes more dopamine which is what keeps you awake). When the caffeine wears off, your brain has an excess of adenosine and receptors, and I think that's what causes the majority of migraines, if I remember correctly (just looked it up - it's the excess adenosine which causes vasodilation, resulting in excess blood flow to the brain which causes the migraines). It's also what makes you more tired in the mornings after you've gotten started on caffeine (a caffeine-free person won't be so tired in the morning, and won't need coffee to wake up). Most migraine pills have caffeine in them - if you take them early enough, they help because the caffeine binds to the adenosine receptors and prevents the overload - if you DON'T take the pills soon enough, the caffeine can't bind to the receptors because they are all already occupied by adenosine, and the caffeine pill doesn't help. My mother used to have horrible problems with migraines. After she gave up caffeine, not a single migraine since. I've personally known around 20 people since then who have given up most caffeine and stopped experiencing migraines. Giving up coffee and mountain dew/coke/pop is enough for most people, some even have to give up tea or switch to decaf tea. I had to completely give up all caffeine, including chocolate (but my problems aren't migraine related, they're heart related). Try giving up all caffeine for one month. You'll go through withdrawal, but see if you do okay afterwards. That means only non-caffeinated pop, only herbal teas, no coffee (even decaf coffee has more caffeine than tea), and no chocolate. Very importantly, you also have to check all your OTC and prescription pain medication for caffeine, especially migraine pills. If you are having such bad migraines which are causing you to go to the emergency room, this is worth a try. |
Granted, everyone is different, and your mileage may vary. ETA: but I do agree that giving up caffeine for a while is a good thing. As I said, everyone is different; and if nothing else is working for them, it's certainly worth a try. |
My wife had horrible problems with migraines. We did the ER trip 4 or 5 times.  Not fun at all. Turns out, they weren't "normal" migraines. She had/has a pituitary adenoma. Basically a non-malignant pituitary tumor. It took an Endocrinologist from Penn State to figure out her problem and the (so far) solution to it. She was on prednisone for a long time and just now getting over the side effects of that. What a long strange trip... |
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I used to suffer from migraines that were so bad they would cause me to vomit. What works for me is a visit to the chiropractor ever 6 months for a simple adjustment. I dont get xrays and all the other stuff just the adjustment. Dont know if it will work for you but it does for me. |
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I only have normal sinus-type headaches, but I do get the visual migraine aura occasionally. Sort of a lightning bolt that expands into a hexagon/beehive pattern with a blurry blindspot in the middle. After a few minutes it will fade away from the center outwards. It's just an annoyance to me, but I wish I could put it in a bottle and sell it to hippies. I would be terrified about getting them, but my father has always had the same thing. My mother and brother both get the puking headache migraines, but no visuals.
I don't get them often, but there is one very consistent trigger: If I go to the grocery store late at night, it will start by the time I get home. I think it's because there is such a shock going from several hours of darkness to really bright and buzzing cheap fluorescent lights. |
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Sorry I've taken so long to respond to my own thread! I went away to an PA ARF get-together, this weekend! (!) To answer a couple guys' question - my wife says she must've thrown out the paper we'd written the meds (they gave me), on. (Thanks, Honey! That's why we wrote them down!!!) So, I called the ER and they said my records were already sent to the 'Records Dept.' They connected me to them - and the girl said she couldn't tell me, cuz SHE isn't a nurse!  I'll stop in there in the next few days and find out what it was - and post it for ya'll. Whatever it was, I'd LOVE to be able to keep some on hand - just in case! Hopefully, my family doctor will see fit to write me a 'script. I've cut back on my caffine, already - and my smoking by half (I don't know if that's a trigger, or not.). And my beer intake has been close to none, since. It'll be quitting chocolate that I'll have a problem with! If I'm not smoking - I'll be snacking!  Bright lights can get me, too - I'd forgotten about that. Driving past a wooded area - with the sun setting behind (the trees), and "flashing" in my face . . . ! Ugh! That'll get me, for sure! As for the "flashing vision" phenomenon - I get that, sometimes. Sometimes a migraine follows the flashing - sometimes, not. No rhyme or reason to it. I'll also ask my doc about the nasal sprays a couple of you'd mentioned. Thanks for the tip. Sorry to hear so many of my fellow ARFcommers suffer from migraines too, by the way. That blows. If I find some "miracle cure", I'll be sure to pass it on to you - I promise! |
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I too have been diagnosed with vascular migraines. Mine are nothing like what has been described by others in this thread. Mine feel just like a hangover headache, except that I won't have had a drop of alcohol. And it seems my trigger is a weather front. I can usually tell a couple of days in advance that we are about to have a front come through. Absolutely no OTC medication will make it go away. Imitrex usually does the trick. Although I have had migraines so bad that I had to take 2 or 3 Imitrex pills...and that is an expensive headache. For prevention, I take amitryptilene (sp?) and atenolol. |
Get your doctor to give you a prescription for pure oxygen. I have been using it to combat mine for over a year now. Cut off the mask and inhale it directly thru the hose. I keep the oxygen bottle in my truck. I couldn't get by without it. Google "cluster headaches". You will find a lot of info. |
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I am a migraine QUEEN. I have had them since I was a kid and sometimes they are allergy driven. A migraine can trigger a stroke so you should do everything you can to avoid getting them. Mine a vascular and now affect my hearing and eye sight. I don't dare not control them. Nausia and head crushing pain. Mine hang on for 5 or 6 days at a time. The diet is the best way exercise and sleep habits are important. Look Chocolate Wine Cinnamon MSG Caffeine Tomatoes Cheese ADVIL BEXTRA ALEVE ( trigger rebound headaches) Food allergies Smoke Some medication also can trigger them But I can guarantee I am going to have one if I eat these things. Oh pizza for some reason too. The preventative medicine never worked for me. The diet thing is important despite not wanting to give that up. I'm allergic to most pain meds. I take Maxalt. Imitrix and others gives me serious chest pain and tachycardia. My new cure???? Toradol phenigren Mine are so severe I can't stand sound light or to be touched. You might want to quit smoking and no chocolate or caffiene The medicine is really hard on your liver. |
Good list. At age 14 I found, after working my way through a list like that one, that processed cheese was what caused most of my migraines. Though I dearly loved cheese, I gladly gave it up in a heartbeat to escape some of those migraines. You mention strokes. Interesting. On at least three occasions my wife has had migraines so bad that she experienced memory loss afterwards. When it happens she is overcome with absolute confusion about who she is and has to sit down and let it all come back to her little by little. Last time she was at the store when the memory loss hit. "I'm a mother, and these must be my kids," was how she began taking inventory once the memory loss hit. Scary stuff. |
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Works like magic for me. Should say worked...stopped smoking and cut down on coffee, hadn't had a problem. |
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It's amazing to listen to other who have the same symptoms. I started having them when I was 6yrs old. They were always food related. Ended up on allergy shots until I was 21. Now, they are all light and stress related. Sometimes I will wake up in the morning with one. I am on the dull headache side of one now. I have the aura and end up being completely blind in one eye for about 30 minutes. Usually the right, but this morning it was the left. I have taken Imitrex but it actually made me feel worse. Felt like the headache moved into my shoulders and neck and out of my head. I would feel like I had been hit by a truck. Doc changed me to the Maxhalt tablet you put under your tongue to dissolve. That worked better, but nothing works like a dark room, cold wet rag, 2 hydrocodone's and about 3 hours of sleep. BTW, As bad as mine have been I have never had nasuea with them. |
I ran a med call on a 16 yr old kid who was having a cluster headache. First time I had ever heard of them. We put him on high flow O2 and it helped him. He also had almost black circles around his eyes. Mom said that was the way they knew one was comming. |
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I use to take migraines one a month if I was lucky.. Lately for the last two years It's been one every six months. When they hit I take Excedrin Migraine and the bed. I used to get numb on half my body.. I couldn't talk, stand, or read... Really scary stuff. Not so much anymore. Now it's just severe headache, tunnel vision for a short time, ringing of the ears, and sensitivity to light. I always spot the beginning and go to bed. I'm always out for at least two days. |
One of my best friends had chronic migraine for about a month. Hormone induced. At age 39 she had a massive stroke. She had 27 TIA's and two more since. Devastating. She is the mother of three boys. The youngest is 3. The Docs ignored it until it was too late. My sister had chronic migraines for a year. She had a mild stroke, Her's were from over producing spinal fluid. They put a shunt in and after about 6 months she is free from them. Some times you have to do a little digging to find out the cause. Regardless they aren't good. If you can prevent them that is the best intervention. |
| I've had them since I have been an adult. Usually if I take Maxalt right when my vision starts to go, it will stop the pain but I still feel bad all day. I had to go get a shot about a month ago because the migraines kept coming back one after the other. My doc said that they were cycling, never had that to happen before. I hope it doesn't again. |
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I used to get them 1x per week...now it's down to 1x month I get massive floaters, and then my vision is almost 100% obscured. I keep a food diary for 2 years trying to find a trigger, without success. I can reduce the severity with a few excedrin and 2 cans of Coke, but I still need dark, cold, quiet, and pressure (a pillow wrapped around my head) to avoid puking. |
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My wife has had migranes since before we met, maybe 25 years. Over the last two years they have become more frequent and stronger. She lost her job as a result of poor attendence, even after being on FMLA! Seeing a neurologist at UT southwestern now and trying hormone thearapy for a few months but no change so far. Going to get her to check out some of the ideas/causes listed in this thread. But we have tried all the meds listed I think. Flyer |