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Worst migraine ever

57 replies

migratethemigraine · 19/05/2023 00:33

Been having excruciating headaches for the last few months. Been trying different drugs from the doctors and nothing has helped. He said it’s migraines and I have to find my own way to deal with it and it’s individual. But nothing is helping and it’s been the worst few months of my life. No pain relief helps when it starts. I just have to bear it until it eases off but it can be anything from hours to days. Sometimes it’s tolerable but other times I’m almost smacking my head off the wall with the pain. I just want relief but I can’t get it. I feel like I want to drill a hole into my brain to let out some pressure (obviously I’m not going to do that, but I feel like my head is like a shaken up can of pop and there’s so much pressure in it and it needs a way out.

its so sore tonight and I can’t even lie down to sleep because lying down makes it much, much worse. It feels like my head is going to burst. It’s one sided but feels like a LOT of pain and if I lie down it feels like that side of my brain is going to burst open, it’s too sore to lie down.

please, other migraine sufferers, does it get better over time? Do you have any advice of things I could try both long term and short term to stop this bloody migraine tonight? Im so miserable with this!

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Mocara · 01/06/2023 00:17

migratethemigraine · 19/05/2023 00:33

Been having excruciating headaches for the last few months. Been trying different drugs from the doctors and nothing has helped. He said it’s migraines and I have to find my own way to deal with it and it’s individual. But nothing is helping and it’s been the worst few months of my life. No pain relief helps when it starts. I just have to bear it until it eases off but it can be anything from hours to days. Sometimes it’s tolerable but other times I’m almost smacking my head off the wall with the pain. I just want relief but I can’t get it. I feel like I want to drill a hole into my brain to let out some pressure (obviously I’m not going to do that, but I feel like my head is like a shaken up can of pop and there’s so much pressure in it and it needs a way out.

its so sore tonight and I can’t even lie down to sleep because lying down makes it much, much worse. It feels like my head is going to burst. It’s one sided but feels like a LOT of pain and if I lie down it feels like that side of my brain is going to burst open, it’s too sore to lie down.

please, other migraine sufferers, does it get better over time? Do you have any advice of things I could try both long term and short term to stop this bloody migraine tonight? Im so miserable with this!

It is an individual journey but there are a significant amont of drug combinations that can be perscribed including migraine specific ones passed be NICE in 2019.
You shouldn't accept being abandoned to fine your own solution although everything everyone has suggested should be tried as there is a lot of trial and error involved.
Along side that I would ask for a refaral to a hospital with a specialest pain clinic.

My son developed what I now know as chronic intractable migraines in his early teens also with cyclical vomiting . A migraine and cyclical vomiting could last for 5wks or more at a time and result in constant and lengthy hospital stays due to severity .
Too long a journey to tell all but once we reached the specialist pain clinic in GOSH we found a treatment that changed his life (Occipital nerve injections ).
It was suspected from the begining that it was all triggered by hormones . 3 years later and late teens he rarely needs treatment and is virtualy pain free. So in the end it was hormone related. Same treatment is still available to him but now at our local hosp as 18 now.
Getting to see a pain specialest is key , most GPs are shooting in the dark if its not there area of expertease.
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Achwheesht · 01/06/2023 00:16

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CarCrazy · 31/05/2023 23:21

Aww OP. This used to be me. For about 3 years in a row I would get 2 to 3 migraines a week. They would b so excruciating that I too used to fantasise about drilling a hole in my head. I tried loads of things, from amitriptyline, to propranolol and loads of other things. Sumatriptan was the best thing and most effective. It would take a couple of hours to kick in, but when it did it definitely took the edge off and would stop the migraines building to a point where I'd otherwise be non stop vomiting.

On the plus side, I now only get a migraine once a month and they are also less severe when they do come. I don't know why they've significantly reduced in frequency and severity, but I am v v glad they have and hope yours do too.

Biscuitmonster2318 · 31/05/2023 23:11

Bluebells1970 · 24/05/2023 09:45

Sorry, posted too soon. She takes co-codamol with either an energy drink or normal coke as apparently the caffeine really helps - she was told this by the Consultant.

The caffeine speeds up the reaction rate of the medication you have taken. So it starts working quicker and if it’s in liquid form or as a spray agin they work quicker. As they get into your bloodstream quicker than if having to be broken down in tablet form in your stomach and then absorbed into blood stream

BritInAus · 24/05/2023 10:31

Sumatriptan the second I notice my vision blurring and developing into a blind spot that definitely isn't just a floater, before I see flashing zigzags. Then the only thing I can do is lie down in a dark room and wait :( It's hideous. The pain is unreal.

I've never taken painkillers plus sumatriptan, so thank you to the PPs who have suggested that.

Also a cold full-fat coke once the initial pain starts to go and I feel less nauseous is amazing (ideally a frozen coke). I normally hate coke.

My triggers are bright sunlight (difficult to avoid, in Australia - I wear sunglasses whenever I leave the house now, even just to put something in the bin on an overcast day etc), and like a PP, the relief of stress - often the day after a massive deadline, for example.

Bluebells1970 · 24/05/2023 09:45

Sorry, posted too soon. She takes co-codamol with either an energy drink or normal coke as apparently the caffeine really helps - she was told this by the Consultant.

Bluebells1970 · 24/05/2023 09:44

DD had this for nearly 6 months, and one was so bad she ended up at the GP's where she finally saw someone less dismissive. They sent her into assessment at the local hospital, and a few tests later she was diagnosed with intercranial hypertension. She said she literally felt like her brain was trying to push out of her skull.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/intracranial-hypertension/

Don't be fobbed off with migraines until you've had tests.

Storynanny1 · 24/05/2023 09:40

sorry you are so ill, migraines are absolutely horrid. In the past I’ve been to a and E a few times they were so bad I thought I’d had a brain bleed. Mine used to last three days and I’d have a few a month. My triggers were empty stomach, feeling too cold, relief of stress.
if it helps I’m now only suffering occasionally as I’m sure they were hormone related.
I used to do the following to minimise
. eat white toast to get something in my stomach before too sick
naramig plus 2 co codamol plus anti sick tablet ( stemetil)
hot wheat bag on back of neck and lie still for an hour
sometimes this was enough to limit it to a couple of hours
I didn’t find that the daily preventative medication worked
Hope you find a way to minimise them as much as possible

postwarbulge · 24/05/2023 09:40

might the high pollen count be inflaming your sinuses, making your headaches worse.

OlderandwiserMaybe · 24/05/2023 09:32

Working out your triggers can definitely help. I have migraines and like you lying down doesn't help at all.
Mostly mine are caused by menstrual cycle and being perimenopausal has made them more frequent. Also I have a lot of stiffness in my shoulders/neck due to another condition I have.
If you haven't already try keeping a diary of activity and food intake - it might help work out your triggers - then you can possibly avoid them.
Medication wise I take 900mg aspirin (3 tablets) Almotriptan, 2 paracetemol and an anti sickness tablet all at once as soon as I feel a migraine coming on. (this is on Dr's advice) If I catch it early enough it can stop it developing.

If your Dr hasn't help so far - go back and speak to a different Dr - or go to a pharmacist to ask for help - they can be really helpful. You can also get the almotriptan in a nasal spray form which is supposed to work quicker. I personally didn't get on with it - but it might work for some.

Good Luck - migraines suck! Flowers

Panseypotter · 24/05/2023 09:26

My routine was nasal sumatriptan as soon as I felt it coming on. Coupled with 2 Co-codamol, 3 asprins and I omprazole(for the aspirin). Plus buccal anti sickness tablets to keep everything down, as my migraines came with sickness and nausea. Followed by 1/2 hour lie down to give drugs chance to work. Luckily with the passage of age although I still get them but not often and not severe. My wonderful GP now retired helped me so much with managing them, and this was his suggested solution. The trick was to catch them when you can feel it coming on and not wait till it's full blown.
If that happened I'd loose one to three days. Good luck and hope you find a method which works for you.

FuckTheLemonsandBail · 24/05/2023 09:23

You poor thing OP.

I take amitrypitaline every evening as a preventative drug, and sumatriptan when they happen. I've also found ibuprofen lysine rather than the standard ibuprofen is helpful if nothing else is working. Staying very hydrated with plain water helps, getting good sleep, definitely no alcohol or cigarettes. I have a couple per week with the above lifestyle/drugs. They really, really suck.

L1ttledrummergirl · 24/05/2023 08:38

When I am first aware they are coming, but before the pain kicks in, I take 2x paracetamol and 2x ibuprofen. I then alternate these taking paracetamol 4 hourly and ibuprofen 6 hourly. If it's still really bad, I switch the paracetamol for co-codamol.

For me, sitting upright with my head resting on my left ear and my eyes closed helps, I find I can sleep in this position which helps, whereas laying down makes me feel my heads being beaten with hammers.

AWhaleSwamBy · 24/05/2023 08:20

Mine cleared up with HRT but before that I would pop a regular OTC migraine pill and as long as I got up and moved it would usually go away. I'd vomit sometimes and I'd feel off for the rest of the day bay but the migraine would improve.
Mine were never that bad. I feel so sorry for people that have them badly.

Onceuponatime56 · 24/05/2023 06:14

My trigger was hormonal so this is something to look at. When I feel one starting I normally:

  • Eat something heavy in carbs
  • Drink large glass of water
  • Drink some caffeine (or have painkillers with caffeine in). Try coke, tea or an energy drink.
  • Painkillers of choice (aspirin and then either paracetamol or cocodamol). I only use cocodamol if desperate as it can cause rebound headaches.
  • An ice pack placed on forehead or back of the neck
Normally the combination of these will ward it off or at least dial it back to being manageable. However, it is a lot of trial and error to see what works for you.
ToeJammed · 24/05/2023 06:12

Posing? Pain, not posing!

ToeJammed · 24/05/2023 06:11

I used to be driven mad with them from being a young teen, every month a day or so before my period started I would get a terrible migraine, complete with flashing and vomiting.
To be fair, once I'd vomited, the posing started reducing. However, while vomiting the pain used to make me feel like my skull was going to explode with each heave.
I went through a whole pharmacy of migraine relief, including prescription ones and nothing worked.
Until I accidentally discovered that taking two ibuprofen with two extra strength paracetamol worked. Actually worked where others had failed, so that was my go to after that.
I discovered this by accident due to being driven half mad with a severe migraine, and that being the only pain relief I had in the house at the time.
The last severe one I had led me to have a TIA ( mini stroke ) due to it elevating my already dangerously high blood pressure.
Try that op. Nothing ventured, nothing gained but it may work for you too.
Mine just stopped once I hit the menopause around fifteen years ago. I very rarely even get a light headache nowadays.

Biscuitmonster2318 · 24/05/2023 05:06

I have sumitriptan as nothing works anymore.
Though I also suffer hemiplegic migraines and it is like I have had a stroke.
if I have run out I get Migratain over the counter from the pharmacy

NooNooHead1981 · 19/05/2023 17:23

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You've got it in one. Totally agree with this, great advice and spot on.

Dontsweatit · 19/05/2023 13:37

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Dontsweatit · 19/05/2023 13:36

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NowZeusHasLainWithLeda · 19/05/2023 13:22

Interesting about the posture. I'm a bugger for watching TV on the tablet rather than the telly and I sense when doing that my posture is wrong, because I'm looking down instead of across. It's often after doing that that a migraine will start. It used to be hormonal but after menopause and plus sumatriptan it's definitely better.

Bluebuddha10 · 19/05/2023 10:34

My daughter suffers with migraines. She goes every 3 months to neurology clinic for nerve blocking injections. She couldn't take usual GP prescribed meds due to other health condition. So referral to neurologist and this is what he prescribed. The injections are magical for her. She used to get really bad migraines and now rarely gets one. Very occasionally she might, but less severe. They are called Greater Occipital Nerve block.

TheFairyCaravan · 19/05/2023 10:26

I’m like a broken record on this, but acupuncture. It really does work. I was getting 20+ migraines a month and now I only get 2 or 3. I rarely get a daily headache. My pain specialist suggested it but I was really sceptical, but I tried it and was really surprised. We moved house, so i let it lapse, and they came back. I’m much better since I started it up again.

I am on preventatives but I’m not sure they work, tbh. I take Sumatriptan when I get one, or 3 soluble aspirin and 2 soluble paracetamol in a glass of coke. I, also, take a supplement called Dolovent which was recommended by the National Migraine Centre.

Namechangenumber2345 · 19/05/2023 10:25

migratethemigraine · 19/05/2023 10:20

Weirdly being on a screen doesn’t make mine worse, it’s lying down that’s the problem, I absolutely can’t do it it hurts too much. But being on my phone doesn’t actually make it worse surprisingly

This needs investigating. There are many different headache types not just migraine. See a different doctor at the practice - ask if there is one with an interest in migraine/headache/neurology/pain management and book in with them.