Migraine Misery - Any other sufferers

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I used to get migraines from a car accident I was in. I used all kinds of treatments such as prescription pain killers, massage therapy and physiotherapy. After a while the pain killers stopped working, and I was getting "rebound migraines". I went to see loads of specialists who all diagnosed my condition as "permanent chronic pain". They all told me to get used to it as it would be permanent and there was nothing else they could do for me.

The insurance company offered to pay for a gym membership and personal training for me. It really has helped me avoid and manage the pain when it strikes. If I get a headache now, I can usually manage it with over the counter pain killers such as Ultra Tylenol. It's very rare now that I have to use acetaminophen with coedine. I credit it all to regular exercise and a great trainer.
 

jason_els

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I woke up with a migraine Saturday morning which I mistook for allergies. It subsided, but then came back with a vengeance late Saturday night, so I took a Relpax which made me sleepy and relieved the pain behind my eyes. Now I feel like, if I could just puke I would be ok.:redface::frown1:

I'm so sorry to hear that NJ. Get well soon love!

Are migraines more common in spring do you think?
 

SyddyKitty

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When I was a teenager, Migraines were a constant problem for me. Not so much anymore, though. My doctors, at the time, told me to avoid so much salt. I don't get them much anymore but I kind of attribute that to supplements I take.
 

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I have gotten migraines for years and now take prescription water pills the week before I get my period. I can not believe that that has been causing most of them all this time. I still get them here and there but at least the monthly ones are gone. I use a shot of imitrex to help the others because I always end up losing the pills 5 mins after I take them.

Actually pre-menstrual migraines are very common. I get those about 4-6 times a year. They aren't usually too bad though. They don't go on for days like the ones triggered by stress or aromas. Certain household cleansers and the fragrance department of any major department store is enough to send me running for a cool dark room.
Menstrual Migraine and Menstrually-Related Migraine (MRM)
Premenstrual migraine can occur 7 days to 1 day before the onset of menses. True menstrual migraine is usually defined as an attack that occurs in a woman between 1 day before and up to 4 days after the onset of menses, and does not occur in that woman at any other time. True menstrual migraine is relatively uncommon, affecting about 14% of women. Of women with migraine, 60% report that their attacks occur at various times associated with menses. These attacks are termed menstrually-related migraine (MRM). Because the exact relationship between menses and migraine remains unclear, any attack that occurs within 2 days before and up to 2 days after menses is considered MRM. Using a headache diary or calendar to confirm the association with menses may provide further guidance. Dysmenorrhea is often associated with migraine. Premenstrually, attacks may be accompanied by other features of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), including mood changes, backache, nausea, and breast tenderness and swelling.

jason_[/B said:
els;1487753]I'm so sorry to hear that NJ. Get well soon love!
jason_[/B said:
Are migraines more common in spring do you think?

I don't know if they are or aren't. :confused: It's quite possible there is a connection. I did think the pain across the bridge of my nose was allergy related yesterday though. When the Claritin-D didn't clear up the pain; and the pain moved from the bridge of my nose to right behind my eyes I knew what the problem was.
 

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Yes,

I also suffer with them, PA. I had no idea what it before my doctor told me because I dont get the auras so many talk about, but they usually last for multiple days, take me to the point of nausea and have an element of light sensitivity. Also there is NO rest for the weary. Most of them can be religiously timed to my menstrual cycle. I generally get the full spectrum of PMDD symptoms in addition to hormonally driven respiratory issues. I wonder how many of us would be alive at a time when there were no medications to combat any of these issues?
 

prepstudinsc

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As a 4th generation migraineur, my neurologist had me on Topamax (daily)for several years. When I was weaned off of it 6 or so months ago, it basically alleviated my migraines. I have had a couple very minor ones, nothing like what I used to have when I'd be sick for days with them.

My grandmother told me that when she was little, my great grandmother used to get them and would take some sort of little blue pill that her doctor gave her. It used to knock her out, so I'm sure it was some kind of pain killer. I think that way back, people just took pain killers and hoped that they'd be knocked out for a while.
 

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everyone's going to hate me, but i've never had a single headache in my entire life. i seriously have no idea what they feel like. im lucky i guess
 

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Last night I had a migraine. It's not the first, but it was the worst one in about 3 years. After tearing my apartment apart, I realized I was out of Relpax. :mad: :eek:

There are many types of migraines. Last night I had the worst kind for me, the one that hits you right between the eyes like a baseball bat, then throbs, and pulsates; and like a spidery hand reaches back over your skull.
The other type of migraine, the kind I can sometimes ride out with home remedies or prescription meds is the one that feels like my brain stem is throbbing.

When I was in grad school a friend gave me a great home remedy for migraines Coca~Cola and aspirin. Not Pepsi not Advil, don't know why it works but it does. I think it has something to do with the vasoconstrictors.

Anyway, from about 8:30 PM until maybe 2 AM I was in absolute abject misery complete with intense nausea. Finally vomited around 2 :15 AM and it was so horrifically intense I woke my upstairs neighbor. I know it's gross but I swear I threw up food from last week, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head and almost 12 hours later I still have a sore throat from wretching. I feel better now but am still kinda weak.

So I'm curious, who else has migraines, what do you take and how do you manage them?

Awh NJ, it sucks that you had to go trough that. Migraines are hell on earth. I know...

I used to suffer migraines often. Sometimes, the pain was so unbearable that I took 25mg morphines (which was after I was prescribed Duradrin). I don't get migraines much anymore, but when I do get them, I usually know its from focusing my eyes too hard on one thing without giving them a break. My grandmother has valprex shots she has to take for migraines... and I know that chocolate triggers violent ones for her.
 

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I get cluster headaches...it always radiates around my right eye and right sinus. I get the auras....and my favorite symptom is my head in the trashcan violently throwing up. While i'm pacing the bathroom trying to go ahead and throw up....i remind myself its going to feel much better once i do. I hate those kind of headaches! My dad and mom get them too.
 

B_jacknapier

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My girlfriend used to get bad migraines pretty frequently, but after getting on birth control they stopped. I think it can be a hormonal thing, therefore.
 

B_New End

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May 8th, I got the first migraine I had had in 13 years.

My left hand goes numb, thats about 45 minute's warning that I will soon be in agony. Sometimes, my left eye gets blurry too, then I know I am in for extreme pain. When the migraine gets full on, about 3 hours later, my stomach is twittering, and I have to throw up. Last time, it seemed it wasn't the pain, but just some kind of nerves in my stomach. I almost always throw up during a migraine.

It was strange, after 13 years, it was like meeting a familiar friend. Same spot in the head, same symptoms, same feelings and smells.

I have had about 10 my whole life, and I remember most of them.

Sleeping is my only remedy.

I am reading a lot of people saying they got them after car accidents, after my last one, I figured it came from me falling off my bunkbed onto my head when I was a sleeping kid.
 

ActionBuddy

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... unfortunately some people who have never had them just think "oh its just a headache"... but its so much more

Yes, it is so much more!... It is like World War III in your cranium.

Most folks who get them have parents or grandparents who got them... and they will be the ones who sympathize with you.

As a kid I was diagnosed with having migraines and given Cafergot and Fiorinol. They worked but made me queasy... I did not like taking the drugs. Cafergot is basically a huge dose of caffeine. When I felt one coming on... I would gulp down a few shots of espresso to fight it off.

Interestingly, I stopped getting them very often as soon as I left my high school, home town and conflicted parents... Hmmmm?

Red wine, sharp cheeses and dark chocolate supposedly set off migraines...
I love all three and will take the risk.

What sets them off for me now are Co-workers that can not stop talking for even 30 seconds, walking by a house that is having the roof re-tarred, and the voices of Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow.

Onan

P.S. Masturbation is considered one of the best "cures" for migraines... for both men and women. I recommend it!
 

unabear09

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As a 4th generation migraineur, my neurologist had me on Topamax (daily)for several years. When I was weaned off of it 6 or so months ago, it basically alleviated my migraines. I have had a couple very minor ones, nothing like what I used to have when I'd be sick for days with them.

My grandmother told me that when she was little, my great grandmother used to get them and would take some sort of little blue pill that her doctor gave her. It used to knock her out, so I'm sure it was some kind of pain killer. I think that way back, people just took pain killers and hoped that they'd be knocked out for a while.


My mother has migraines, and so do I....thankfully I don't get them very often, but when I do, I'm in bed for at least 24 hours. I tend to get cluster migraines, which...how to describe it.. Well its like a regular migraine, except that it has several points of origin, or sources. I found it kind of ironic when you said you were given Topamax and it releived/prevented your migraines. I was on Topamax for several years (not for migraines) and was fine on it until the last 3 months I took it. I was in a very stressful living situation, and ended up with a migraine that lasted from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. I was in shear agony for 3 months solid. I ended up loosing my job, b/c I could no longer function on the job. I went to evey neuroligist and specialist in Nashville b/f I finally started to do my own reasearch and found out that the Topamax was the source of my migraines, and lol that I was lucky something really bad didn't happen to me... but to each their own
 

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It only took 32 ounces of Coca Cola and three-40 mg Relpax, over a day and a half after this migraine started and I have no headache. :smile: I am however still nauseous, :frown1: I may need to puke one more time. :redface:
 

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NJ, I do hope you feel better, love. Those among us who are sufferers can sympathize with you.

I have been fortunate that I have not suffered from a migraine in almost a month (I hope I don't jinx it!). For the last 3 years, I have suffered terribly with them at least twice monthly. I still take meds for them and always, always, always keep on-hand oxycodone. I take 100mg of topamax daily; maybe you should consult with your physician about some alternatives...

I don't highly recommend this, but sometimes the Goody Powders help - at least alleviate some of the pain until you are able to get somewhere where you can "knock out." I've been told there are significant health risk with teh Goodys, although I've not personally researched it. Yet, personally, when you are having a migraine or trying to off-set one from coming on, you'll take or do whatever you need to stop the monster in its tracks.

On a side note, someone here was talking about masturbation during a migraine. I have tried a lot of things, but that is one thing I have not tried nor do I think I could think about it, let alone perform. When your head feels like an 18 wheeler has rammed you in the ass, sending your car nose first into someone else's ass, and then some dumb ass rams you on the driver's side, it is not like you are going to be too excited about making mr. happy, "happy" (a visual descriptor of a migraine). At least I would not.

Anyway, get better, dear!
 

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What sets them off for me now are Co-workers that can not stop talking for even 30 seconds, walking by a house that is having the roof re-tarred, and the voices of Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow.

Onan

P.S. Masturbation is considered one of the best "cures" for migraines... for both men and women. I recommend it!
Gosh... I was hoping to alleviate some pain here, with the first statement... but not one of you thought this was funny. You should take the last statement as God's truth.
 

YourAvgGuy

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Gosh... I was hoping to alleviate some pain here, with the first statement... but not one of you thought this was funny. You should take the last statement as God's truth.

My apologies, onan_mann. I did not mean to come across as brass, although after reading what I wrote I can see where it might have. Again, my apologies.

As for me, I think that would be the last thing on my mind, or it has anyway.

Has anyone tried it? Would be interesting to test out the theory.... :)
 

prepstudinsc

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When I have a migraine, or I should say, when I used to get them, masturbation was the last thing on my mind.

The problem with migraines is that while there are the usual suspected causes, such as food triggers from chocolate, red wine, and aged cheeses, it can also be triggered by stress or hormonal changes. Everyone has different symptoms--from the classic aura, to numbness in the face or extremities, and I would even get a hyper-sensitive sense of smell. There were time that I would smell smoke, but there was none. My neurologist said that the smell auras were very rare, but were not uncommon. So with all this, there is no one way to have a migraine, and there is no one way to cure it. They don't know why and how some medications work to stop them, so it's all a guessing game.