Migraine Advice Sharing

GreenLED's thread on migraines got me thinking that there are enough migraine sufferers on this board that we might be able to help each other. I didn't want to hijack the other thread, so I started this one. I'm thinking we list our symptoms, triggers, and what has helped us. Perhaps others may not realize that symptoms they're having are migraine related, and of course can try some of the suggestions given.

My symptoms:

My symptoms vary and I don't always have the same symptoms. Common ones for me are vomiting, extreme sensitivity and pain w/ light and sound, seeing tracers, tunnel vision, extreme pain in one eye or the other, extreme pain in one side of my head or the other, severe chills even though a thermometer shows me to be running a slight fever, lethargy during and for days after, and of course massive head pain in general.

Triggers/warnings:

Stress and blood sugar fluctuations definitely contribute, but sometimes I get them just out of the blue. I also get a small warning about 20 minutes before a migraine is going to hit me. Sometimes my vision goes all blurry for half a second, sometimes it's like I got flashed in the eyes with a strobe, sometimes I hear a loud noise too. Actually it's less of a strobe or noise, and more like the sight/sound parts of my brain got overloaded for a microsecond. Sometimes my scalp will tingle, first one side, then switching to the other. Haven't come up with any correlation between scalp tingling and migraines yet.

What has helped me:

Keeping a diary of my general doings. What I've ate, drank, how much I've slept, made love, exercised, blood sugar levels, how I've generally felt, stress level, etc. After several migraines I went back over my diary to see if I could spot a trigger.

TedTheLed suggested Fiorinal awhile back, and it's helped a lot. Thank you, Ted! It doesn't lessen the pain so much, but helps with the other symptoms and lets me get to sleep(the only cure I've found so far........a good solid sleep) much easier. It knocks me out pretty well so I can't take it when I need to be active.

A large dose of naproxen sodium taken immediately after I get my warning can take a lot of the hit out of a migraine and allow me to function through it. This is extremely helpful when a migraine comes along and I'm halfway through installing an injection pump on some piece of machinery and it's still a 2 hour drive home. It's a short window of opportunity, and if I miss it then nothing I take makes much difference. By large dose, I mean 1600-2400 mg's, which I am NOT suggesting anyone else take without explicit directions from their doctor. This is so important that I carry a pill case with four 800mg tablets of naproxen sodium with me at all times.

Caffeine helps somewhat in the very short term, but generally upsets my blood sugar, which creates further problems.

Frequent exercise helps A LOT. I try to ride 15 miles at least 3x a week, and definitely feel it when I don't. I ride an exercise bike because I have hip problems and the last thing I need is to have my hip give out on me when I'm 7 miles from home, and with the way people drive around here riding a bike on the road is suicidal stupidity.

My wife massaging my scalp and temples in a cool, dark room is amazingly soothing, relaxing, and relieves a lot of pain. Often puts me to sleep in minutes.

Edit: After perusing my diary again, it becomes obvious that fast food of the McDonalds/BurgerKing/Jack-in-the-Box type may contribute as well. I already avoided these establishments like the plague as I prefer real food instead of chemicals, but I'll make even more effort now. The few times that circumstances compel me to eat at these places I'm generally under a good bit of stress already, which doesn't help.

That's it folks. Hope this helps others. :buddies:

My symptoms:
Annoyance at bright lights and certain sounds (almost like sensory overload sometimes), nausea & dizzyness (just like being car sick and about to puke). Oh, yeah, the throbbing headache, which seems to "migrate" from side to side inside my head.

Triggers:
Severe stress (whatever that encompasses). Bright lights give me at least a headache. Other than that, I'm not sure I've pinpointed a clear set of them. At the onset I get light auras, and the last 2 episodes I've completely lost peripheral vision. The first time was a complete blackout on both eyes; the second time, normal vision was replaced by "Windows Media Player" light effects.

What has helped me:
Hit'it hard and early with meds. I have a prescription for "Migradorixina" - don't know what the equivalent in the US would be. It doesn't take all the pain out, but it dulls it and I can function with only mild discomfort. Also, it's non-narcotic (or at least not as narcotic as the stuff I once got from the local doctor). I supplement that alternating Advil and Tylenol.

Other than that, neck massage, staying in dark, quite places.

I believe that sometimes the Migraines are caused by combinations of events.

There are two types of Migraines, cluster - you get a bunch of them over a period of time and then none for period or time. The other type of is regular migraine - you just keep getting them. Migraines have certain features, the aura - the visual artifacts, and generally feeling like you want to vomit.

Triggers - I think that stress plays a very big part of the picture. I used to get at least one or two a week. Years back I started to ride a bicycle 3 - 4 times a week. That lessened the severity of the headache and after awhile they seemed get to the point of once every few months.

Food triggers

Red Wine -
Diet anything - most products contain asperatame which gives me a headache.
Salami - some aged cheeses
Foods containing MSG.

I think that the blood sugar level plays into it as well. Sometimes I feel like a headache is coming on - dunkin donuts coffee, milk and sugar, two jelly donuts seem to do the trick ( here again - stress may be part of this )

Flourescent lighting - the older lights that flicker ( may be imperceptable, but there. ) The color of the lights. cool white seems to be the worst. There are lights that throw off a pinkish hue, these seem to be 'mood enhancers' and seem to help prevent migraines. If you work in an office with overhead lighting, get a non-flourescent desk lamp.

Finally one weird trigger - having my teeth cleaned with the ultrasonic tool that dentists use. ( This may be stress related) I have them do the cleaning all by hand now - the old school way.

Getting rid of them - lots of Excedrin ( or generic ) if it is real bad - the cool, dark, quiet, room.

I have stayed away from most prescribed drugs. The early ones indicated that there may be problems with families that have heart problems. I am ok, the family has had problems, better the headache than a stroke or heart attack.

lack of sleep for an extended period of time is the only thing that can reliably trigger mine. Sometimes it's just like somebody snuck up on me with a load of bricks, but that only happens very rarely.

I can usually feel it a day or 2 before it really hits and if I can just get a good nights sleep or 2 I can stave it off. But if I dont... then I'm out of commission for a day and feeling lousy for another couple.

I suffer more from the nausea and dizziness than from the pain. Or at least the nausea is usually the symptom causing me the most discomfort. Reglan is the best prescription for that, and you can get it as a shot to really stop it in a hurry. But for beginning symptoms I can alieve, aspirin, caffeine, and meclazine and get through till I can get to sleep.

they have some better drugs now to stave them off, can't remember specifics, but it's worth asking about as they aren't nearly so sedating or problem causing as they used to be.

I have also read that IV magnesium can sometimes stop them too if people end up in the hospital. I did try magnesium supplementation for a while but it made no difference at all to the frequency of my symptoms. (and indeed if you read the studies it doesn't help )The only thing that helps is to get enough sleep and deal better with stress. My problems have gone from 2 or 3 times a month to 2 or 3 times a year since quitting my last job Stress is a killer!

I always know when I have one coming - I get the classic aura several hours in advance. Strange vision, intense sensitivity to noise, light and, in my case, certain odors. For some reason my wife just doesn't get it, and will continue to talk rather loudly to me while I'm sitting in a quiet darkened room, hoping to stave it off.

Maybe she's after the insurance money

Annnyway, my choices as to what I can take are severely limited because I am also a kidney transplant recipient. Tylenol is about it. No aspirin or aleve. If I am sure I don't have to do anything more like driving for the day, I keep darvocet handy and that knock back the migraine a bit and helps me sleep it off.

Triggers? It's hard to set one off normally, but if I already have a stress headache I can convert it to a migraine easily. Cheddar cheese will do it, as will high nitrate foods like ham or any cured meats.

MikeLip said:

I get the classic aura several hours in advance.

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That's interesting. Mine hit me like a derailed train - auras, then BAM! 10-15 minutes later the migraine hits full force.

greenLED said:

That's interesting. Mine hit me like a derailed train - auras, then BAM! 10-15 minutes later the migraine hits full force.

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Ugh. I guess I'm lucky then. I at least have time to prepare, and go home if I'm at work.

I don't suffer from migraines myself, but my mother did for years. She would spend days in bed with the curtains drawn, really severe head pain, shakes, vomiting and phono and photophobia (bad symptom for you flashaholics ). She was prescribed a drug called Imigran (Sumatriptan) and it's changed her life, as soon as she feels a migraine coming she takes one and is able to carry on quite normally. Not sure if she suffers any symptoms at all or wether it's just so much of a relief from what she was used to that it barely registers. Anyway she swears by them after probably 30+ years of other treatments that never worked, hope they're available for you guys to try out .

Mine sound similar to Green LED's. First the strange vision problems like a blurry region around the periphery of vision, regardless of which eye(s) I use, followed by the intense headache and nausea about 20 mins later. At that point I just want to be unconscious. The problem is, I am far too uncomfortable to fall asleep. That's where drugs can help.

I haven't found anything to allow me to continue going through my day, but I have tried Imitrex and Migrin-A. I guess they help a bit, but I have to keep trying new medications in hopes of finding one that works better. One of these headaches will ruin the entire day, because even after a few hours of sleep I still feel rotten. The next day is usually much better.

Triggers: I think it may be related to my blood sugar combined with reading a computer monitor for too long. The fluorescent lighting also seems to contribute. I have also had one triggered by consuming a highly sweetened caffeinated beverage on an empty stomach. I try to stay away from sugary cereals for breakfast and too much time spent focusing on a computer screen.

greenLED said:

That's interesting. Mine hit me like a derailed train - auras, then BAM! 10-15 minutes later the migraine hits full force.

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Ditto, get my flash/bang warning and within 20 minutes I'm in trouble.

Thanks for contributing, everyone. I hope this helps someone.

:buddies:

Was this a migraine?

No sensitivity to light or noise. Didn't feel like vomitting. No aura, tracers or tunnel visiion. Simply a dull mind numbing headache and extreme sensitivity to touch near my head. Any touch, even a light one, sent a wave of burning pain across the side of my head and hairline. Only happened to me once in my life.

Not really. Was alcohol involved? Truly, it doesn't sound like a classic migraine. But then what do I know? I'm not a doctor. Sounds bad enough though!

I've lived with migraines for 40 years. The first hit in high school, and I thought I was going die.

Sypmtoms; Tunnel vision, followed by muddled thinking followed by the sensation of a railroad spike through my forehead. About 30 minutes from visual cue to pain. I sometimes feel out of sorts for a day or two afterward.

Treatment; If I catch it in time, two tylenol and two Sudafed (the real one) and lots of water do the trick and it never becomes painful. If I don't catch it in time I need to sleep in a dark room till it passes. I've had demerol injections in the emergency room twice.

Trigger; The only trigger I've identified is flickering light. Cheap florescent lights are almost garanteed to trigger one if there is no other light source.

Prevention; I learned that 'foto-grey' (photo-chromatic or self darkening) glasses filter out a lot of the flicker. Because light is the trigger, all my glasses are photo-chromatic. I am down to a few migrains a year.

Caution; When i am suffering a migraine my judgement is shot. I once drove 15 miles of twisty road with a killing headache and able to see only about a 10 degree area. I'd decided to make it home and it never occured to me that I was not fit to drive.

Daniel

I used to have attacks when I was in my puberty / adolescence. They have since faded away, thankfully. Only one or two attacks of two days non stop headache a year, but nothing like the migraines, and I'm able to function during them.

Now the main triggers for headaches are: eating too much in one meal (especially meat; so I'm not much of a BBQ-er ); more alcohol than one bottle of beer per night (anything stronger is out of the question) and chocolate; sleeping in a too warm and/or badly ventilated bedroom.

Typical triggers for the migraines would be:
Irregular mealtimes; French cheese; chocolate (still is); too much sweet food and lack of salty food; too little sleep; bright light ; stress.

Symptoms:
Aura and "postage stamp" -like rims in my field of vision. An hour or so after that, severe pain at the temples; very sensitive to light and noise; general nausea.

Treatment:
All I did was curl up in a dark, silent(!) bedroom and try to move as little as possible. Even breathing hurt. Even thinking hurt. After trying to catch it early with medication (Aspirine and Paracetamol; I never took the more typical migraine med.), I never took pills for more than 36 hours; after that they seemed to worsen the pain and nausea. What would help after the worst had gone: massaging the temples and a long warm shower, on my head, massaging the top of my head.

Aftermath:
And after it had gone, I would feel strangely light in my head, and 'empty' for another day.

Kees

mine started about 14-15yrs old for awhile i would just get an aura no migraine,then over the years they turned into full blown migraines.Hospital trip demoral iv push with compazine.total darkness 24hrs.After years of testing one doc found out it was low blood sugar and abrupt changes in sleep patterns.they are down to about 1-2 a year, was using imiterx injections, but doc took me off them for fear of heart damage at 40 and older.Its been long trip,when they were at thier worst I was thinking about suicide.It has been 1 solid year no pain still get auras but they go away after 25 to 30 mins hope the cycle is not starting all over again. Thanks for reading hope it helps. Joe

My migraines come around somewhat randomly, although I certainly have a sensitivity to scents. Strong potpourri almost always does the trick, as does incense, and sometimes the wrong perfume can. Otherwise I can tolerate most perfumes and colognes. Skipping a meal can sometimes do it, but not often. On one photo shoot that I was assisting on, we had to go outside into 90 degree weather, and then back into a 65 degree model home. A whole day of temperature swings like that every 10 minutes really got to me, not to mention I never got hired by them again. Sometimes I get the tunnel vision, usually only with bad ones. Pain seems to come from the temples or forehead area.

I have prescriptions for both Maxalt and Vicodin, which seem to usually do the trick. Though I'm supposed to sit in a dark quiet place for 30 minutes after I take them, sometimes I'm able to keep on working. Tylenol and the like have 0 effect on them, even a few excedrine. Strangely enough that little accupressure spot on your hand seems to temporarily release the throbbing sensation / severe pain. Anyways when I'm really down for the count its the above two pills and and ice pack on my head, and then sleep. I will say that one of the best feelings is waking up from a horrid migraine without one, I usually have a great day afterwards.

My ex-wife suffered from migraines (yes even before she met me.. LOL). Our usual schedule had her being home from work before me. I could tell when she had one because I could smell it in the house. (it changed the way her breath smelled). As soon as I popped the door open I KNEW she had headache.
She had tried several meds with no success until finding Ergotamine? (sp?) and caffine. We found we could self medicate her with an old fashioned Coke an two NoDoze... Whodathunk?????? It worked surprisingly well for her. I have no idea how she is doing now. (that was 15 years ago).

Maxalt tablet (10 mg Rizatriptan Benzoate) and two Alieve tablets(2 x 220mg Naproxen Sodium) taken with about 12 oz of water. I take this whenever I get a migraine and it works like a champ. Probably 95% of the time, I'll forget that I had one and then realize it an hour later and feel great.

I hardly think of myself as a migraine sufferer anymore because of this combination since it works so well for me. I usually get severe pressure and pain in my eyes and eye sockets. My head would ache with a dulling pain. I would just want to close my eyes and sleep it off. But now I really don't have these issues anymore...I just take this combination when I feel my eyes and head start aching and it works great.

The Maxalt is expensive, even with insurance, but it's worth it!

lampare said:

.... one doc found out it was low blood sugar...

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This is only the second time I have seen this, This fits in with Dunkin Donuts and 2 donuts that seem to work for me at times.

Bump.

Possible break-through I wanted to share. Melatonin has been suggested several times for my insomnia. It made no difference for my insomnia so I stopped taking it. Shortly after my last post in this thread, my doctor mentioned that a couple studies have shown a lack of natural melatonin correlating with migraine sufferers. I haven't seen the studies but figured what the hell. I started taking melatonin again, 3mg slow release whenever I have a free 8 hours to sleep. Not a single migraine since, and normally I'd have had a couple at least. Summer is migraine season for me and winter is never as bad, so this is somewhat expected, but I'll report back with results again come August.

:buddies: