I occasionally get tension headaches,,, no big deal but about once a year I get a migraine. What is strange though is about 1/2 and hour to an hour before I get the migraine I get like a warning sign. I start to see spinning lights in my vision and forget about reading anything. I get blind spots.

My doctor tells me that I am one of the lucky ones because I get the "warnings" first so I have time to get home, take two Tylenol and get my head under the covers and ride it out.

anyone else get those? I am trying to figure out what is causing them. Because I get them so far and few in between, its hard to pinpoint the cause.

Dr Fridge,
I used to get migraines several times a week. My warnings were Insomnia and Mania. Mania being emourmous amounts of energy like OCD and Fixating on a subject till i got very frustrated, like buying something or making something.
I am seeing a chiropractor and we have discovered a neck injury that is causeing this to happen. Now i only get migraines every several months and they are mild when they do come. If i start having trouble sleeping, i get adjusted. Althoough, i do miss working 24 hours straight stiching leather into a kickass homemade holster.

Actually I havent been sleeping well and EVEN RATTERS POINTED THAT OUT TO ME A FEW POSTS AGO!!! No wonder why I had one today... Im goin to bed... Or maybe I'll watch Lord of the Rings...Again.

Edited to add: Now you REALLY have me thinking about what you said AZ... Lots on my mind lately. Thanks

Migraines are often hereditary.  You might want to look at dietary triggers (MSG, nitrites, nutrasweet) or other chemical triggers like fumes or even perfume. If you are used to having caffeine every day, skipping a day can cause a migraine. As you've noticed it is very difficult to identify triggers when the migraines are rare.  By the way, they have better stuff than Tylenol these days, meds that work fast and don't knock you out.  Talk to your friendly local neurologist.

Yeah, I get em too.  I think lack of sleep and lack of water intake are two big factors.  As is stress.  I'll go for almost half a year without one then they'll come a couple times a week for six months.  I usually wake up with them.  I get the vision problems and nausea well into them.  I've been getting a lot of them lately with a lot of job and marriage stuff going on.

But I'm on vacation now so it is OK for me to stay up.  Now get to bed Dr. Fridge.

once a year? you aren't only lucky because you get warning signs.  Sometimes I get them twice a week.

I've had them since I was 18. First one scared the hell out of me. That was 27 years ago, and when I went to the the doctor back then, they basically just did a GTT and said there's nothing wrong.
The migraines vary in severity, symptom patterns, and length. Usually starts with inablility to focus on whatever I'm working on, and reading problems. Then comes the "sparkly" stuff growing in size, changing to vision completely black on one side, finger numbness, headache lasts 4-6 hours, then tenderness for another day.
Sometimes get fiercely hungry a couple of hours before they hit.
I've tried the inhaler "Migranol", but 4-5 Excedrin and sleep seems to be the best method.
They sure make you appreciate NOT having them. :)

is your blood pressure normal?  

My wife's vision gets blurry, like she is looking through water when a migrain comes on.  Even though it is an early warning, it usually still hits her.

The precursor aura you describe is common.
The lights are likely what are referred to as "scintillating scotoma".
The visual field deficits are likely caused by spasm of the middle cerebral artery.

Got my first one in High School(senior) and I still get them on occasion. Lose all the vision on the right side, then the pain begins. The Dr. said it is stress. I was freaking out the first time it happened. I was in Chem class and Capt. Lee(ret) calmly sent me to the nurse. It was almost impossible to dial the rotary phone in the nurse’s office with half of my vision. He told me later that he suspected it was a migraine. Sorry, off on a tangent there. They definitely seem to be related to very stressful times. I had to learn early not to pet the sweaty things.


ByteTheBullet  (-:

I get them, and they started after I turned forty.
You're lucky you get the warning signs. I don't.
Sometimes I feel fine and then all of a sudden I'll
wake up with the nausea. Sometimes I get the dull headache which starts in the back of my head and keeps going. My general practitioner prescribed meds that work, and don't make me drowsy. There are some good meds but you have to find the one that works best for you.

Lack of sleep and/or food and stress cause mine.  They come in waves where I'll get them a couple times week for a month and then they go away for months at a time.  I don't get the vision thing or the nausea, but the only thing that worked was sleep and motrin.  Ruined lots of days.  Until the doc had me try Butalbitol.  Works freakin great!  If I feel one coming on I take one and 3 Advils and within 45 mins it feels like it was never there.  Boy was I happy.  I don't fear migraines anymore.

Migraine symptoms vary quite a bit from person to person and sometimes from episode to episode.

I sometimes get only the blank spots in my vision, then it goes away in a few hours. Other times I get the severe pain, nausea, weakness, and hypersensitivity to odors.

I got my first about 2 weeks before I got married~5yrs ago.  I was working at a bank and was watching people walk by and notice that at certain angles and distances that I could not see their faces.  Then, doing a transaction I couldn't see half of the keyboard.

fortunately, I think I have had only 3 total.  I am 29.

I have been getting them since i was in kindergarten, im now 26.  I have had upto 5 a week before, wake up each morning with one.  

I get pain migrains, with only visual blurring, no loss of vision at all.

Over the last year i have a new trigger...sleep, if I sleep too much I wake up with one.

tampadave said it.
nutrasweet
nitrates
cafeen(the drop at end of high)
smells: resins, cig smoke, diesel exhaust, shooting smells(burnt powder) :(

so i dont drink soda anymore, only eat bacon when i know i am not gonna get a headache, and avoid smokers as much as possible when they are lit up.  i can tell when the aura is present, and that if i do something to trigger it i will get one

there are other tastes and smells too.

I take imitrex, maxalt, and axert, they all work to rid me of my headache in 15-30min depending on the drug. I do suffer blurryness in my left eye.

If I let my headache bloom, i get immense pain.  I have been told I am not with it during this time, i become irritated easily, and affected by noise and light...and after 4-8hours I puke my guts out 2-3 times.  They used to go away right after throwing up, they stopped doing that in highschool.

my best advice if you get them often, is get imitrex, maxalt, or axert.  imitrex is fastest but really makes you feel funny(better than pain tho!), maxalt is second fastest with way less mediciny feel, and axert is slowest at about 30min, but there is almost no "i took meds" feel.

my latest trend is a week with 3-4, then a few weeks with 1-2, i dont know why, i have same sleep schedule and try and keep everything the same.