thread: A new found sympathy for migraine sufferers...

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  1. #1
    BellyBelly Member

    Sep 2010
    North West Victoria, Australia
    3,003

    Mine are set off by tiredness and sometimes stress.
    I get flashing lights, pressure behind one eye, then (usually all of a sudden) nearly complete loss of vision, sometimes ringing in my ears, always numbness in my hands and feet, and vomiting about half of the time. It'll go from a mild headache to all of this within about 5 minutes. Its horrible. I've been getting them since I was 12, so 7 years. My brother is 14 and just started getting the intense headaches and vomiting.
    I have to lay in a completely dark room until its gone.
    Luckily I haven't gotten one when I've been alone with DD. There's no way I could take care of her.

    Hope you feel better.

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Apr 2006
    Perth
    4,203

    Mine are generally linked to my cycle, as well as tiredness and stress. I get warning thankfully so I can get home and get to bed. Mersynol is my drug of choice, but if I get cluster migraines then I need to get injections. I ended up being put on daily preventative medication after the birth of DD2 when I was getting them every two or three days.

    Definitely try to get somewhere calm, quiet and dark as quickly as you can. Migraines seem to have no real commonality between all sufferers and different things aid different people. I need heat when I have/am getting a migraine - early on I will sit in a really hot shower with the water running over my back (not head - that would send me over the edge!). If its later into it then hot hand towels over the back of my neck and wrapped up over my temples ITMS. An old work colleague on the other hand needs cold and he usually has those freezer pad things to wrap around his head like a helmet.

    Great that you're coming out the other side but continue to be careful what you do and what you eat/drink - if you are getting migraines triggered by caffeine, chocolate, alcohol etc if you indulge again too early you can bring your migraine back. Try to stay calm and quiet and just get as much sleep as you can.

    I hope you're feeling much better very soon.

  3. #3
    BellyBelly Member

    Nov 2004
    VIC
    1,794

    my migranes are triggered by my hormones- before AF, after AF, before i ovulate and after I ovulated. Whilst breastfeeding i also get them when DS2 increases or decreases his feeds
    that means when i could get them at least 4 times a month!!!! A day or 2 of migrane and then another day or 2 to recover- pretty terrible way to live hey
    i also cant have orange juice or citrus fruits as well as they are big triggers as well
    i get blinding pain in my head- so bad that no drugs relieve the pain. i cant see properly and i vomit sometimes uncontrollably.
    for me the magic solution has been beta blockers
    they have made a massive difference to my life and now instead of getting a migrane i just get a dirty big headache which is far better!!

    if i know that they are coming on, there is nothing i can do but try and adjust my day to make it easier on myself
    sometimes getting a massage helps, plenty of fluids
    and believe it or not a drink of caffenine!! i dilutes the blood vessles and helps get the blood through to my head. also a heat pack on my neck and another heat pack on my head help increase the blood to my head as well which helps me
    its really trial and error what works for you. have also tried natropathy, osteopathic treatment and TCM and got some relief whilst i kept the treatments up
    hope they settle down for you

  4. #4
    BellyBelly Member

    Sep 2007
    799

    I've only started suffering from migraines in the last 6 months. The first one I had I ended up in hospital as to begin with they treated me as a potential stroke victim. That one took about 10hours for my speech to return to normal, followed by 2 days of being completly spaced out and then 2 days of just being tired and lethargic. Since then, my gp has prescribed me maxalon and told me to take a maxalon followed by 900mg of aspirin when I start feeling the sypmtons. So far, that combination is working. My last migrain I only took the aspirin, and it was the worst I've had since my first, and I slept for 4hours, and then groggy for the rest of the day. I'm still trying to figure out my triggers, to begin with, we thought it might be the combination of coffee and chocolate (not the caffeine apparently, but a different chemical), then my last one I think was triggered by a glaring light, which is what sets my dads off. Since my last migraine (last week) I've also come off the combined pill and gone back on to the progesterone only pill as my migraines started not long after I started taking the combined pill again. I think its just trial and error though. Also, in terms of warning sign, with my first migraine, I had been feeling dizzy all morning, but this latest migraine I got funny twinkly things gonig on in my eyes. Its definately worth seeing your doc about though.

    Hope you feel better soon, there no fun

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jan 2005
    Down by the ocean
    6,110

    I used to think mine was pill related but after not being on it for over 10 years now and still getting them I'm sure it wasn't the case. My Dr also said that you can get them from relaxing lol. Kind of weird to explain but he said when you're stressed or anxious the blood vessels in the brain constrict and then when you relax the vessels also relax but the tissue surrounding them has adapted to the constricted vessels and you feel pain from the tissue adapting. Don't know how right that is but it made sense to me when he said it

    I know if I'm not looking after myself properly by getting dehydrated or skipping meals I am more susceptible.

    I have an acute sense of smell and strong perfume or artificial flavourings can start mine off if I already have the beginnings of a headache.

    I'll feel nauseous and then get flashes and blind spots. Can't see, can't stand up etc and am zombified for a day or two after.

    It's really scary the first time you have a migraine. I hope you have understanding people around you

  6. #6
    Registered User

    Feb 2008
    140

    A trigger for me was MSG which is in an amazing array of foods especially Asian dishes but also things like chicken flavour for noodles and potato chips as well as snack food like twisties, burger rings, Corn chips etc. You can see if it is in your food by looking for flavour enhancer 621 in the ingredient listing. I found good chocolate was ok but cheap compound chocolate could set me off. Nuts could also trigger me. It was also hormonally related as it had gone for years only to reappear during my pregnancies.

    If you have another one keep a list of the foods you ate the day before and then you might find some common food triggering you. Hopefully you don't they are really a horrible and sometimes scary experience with the loss of vision, body sensations and the severe pain in your head.

  7. #7
    Registered User

    Jan 2010
    282

    Dp gets them, he doesnt get the 'aura' though. Its just BAM and there it is all of a sudden, he doesnt know his triggers but ive found them to be sleeping in. Zomig 2.5mg works for him usually but he has to take it with prior warning or it wont work for him. If he takes it within 2-3 minutes of feeling it, he generally will be ok. He still throws up and cant see/eat/sleep. Cant remember who said it but he also hates people who say they have a migraine but can somehow still continue shopping for the next 3 hours. Or people who say that they had a migraine and 1 pandaol worked to treat it. He's only ever had to have 4 injections at the ED.