Urgent questions re mirgraine before I take myself to a&e

[bookworm1982]

Messaging in chat for more responses as I know mirgraine are very common.

I don't know what to do and can't stop crying. I've had a headache since Sunday, not getting any better. Right side of face, throbbing, like when you wake up hungover. Light hurts but not all the time and the pain of the headache isn't always bad - sometimes 3/4 out of 10, other times, like now, it's about 8/9 out of ten. Throbs a lot when I suddenly stand up. No other symptoms except for one dizzy spell on Wednesday. Doctor did a physical examination today, checked my vision, did all that touching the nose and stuff, all ok. Unrelated, I had bloods done a few weeks ago and they were all normal. Doctor believes it's a mirgraine, but agrees it's unusual to suddenly get one when I've never had one before. (I just turned 40)

My questions are:

Does this sound like a mirgraine?
Is it unusual to last this long? When I've googled it it says they last around 72 hours, I'm well over that.
Is it normal to go from bad to ok to back to bad again?

I'm so sure it's something terrible, like a tumour. I'm beside myself with worry. Pleas help xxx

DD has had a 3 day migraine and it was one of her worst. On the fourth day she did a covid test at my insistence. The test lit up like a Christmas tree.

Test!

Assuming doctor said no blood pressure issues?
temporary potential fixes (chronic sufferer) - alkaseltzer & full sugar coke
pink migraleve x 2
ice packs on forehead, temples, top of head, neck & back
sumatriptan
4head stick to rub on

or you may respond better to heat - hot pads around head and eyes

Sorry, but you've seen a GP (appointments are like hen's teeth) and had blood tests and there's nothing worrying. Plenty of fabulous advice on here to follow.

Don't go to A&E- it's a waste of hospital time and yours.

I hope you get some relief soon.

I was diagnosed in my 40's.
Long lasting ones, sometimes with the worst pain I've ever felt - literally curl up in a ball on the floor pain.
Poor you.
If you are concerned you should seek professional medical advice via 111.

The migraines lasting several days or even a week come and go. I usually find they’re better in the morning and so I take painkillers when I go to bed to help me sleep but not in the day unless really needed.

You need to make sure you are really hydrated. Hydration salts are great for this. Sachets available at the chemist but they are not very salty so I add a little salt. Or you can make your own by diluting sugar and salt in water. Recipes online give 1 litre of water with 6 level teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 level teaspoon of salt. I do not find that enough salt and double the salt content… these days I actually make and keep sole (saturated salt solution), which I then add in tiny quantities to water. This is the most effective but I have to be careful as too concentrated leads to diarrhoea. Drinking enough of sole in water can really help alleviate a migraine.

My other go tos - Full sugar caffeinated coke, marmite - on toast or a small tsp in a mug of hot water (salt content), milk chocolate.

I can’t take aspirin. I find ibuprofen effective. I don’t like the caffeinated tablets. Migraleve pink if I am nauseous then co codamol (which is the same as migraleve yellow). Do be aware that there are studies that taking too many painkillers prolongs the attack. The longest attack I’ve had lasted about 8 long days. I also have the type of migraine with an aura.

I also had a migraine that started in the middle of last week and didn't go until yesterday. The pain varied too, sometimes worse than others, but never more than about a 3. I get worse ones than this, this was fairly mild but very persistent. I am prone to migraines though.

Have a look at the migraine trust website or nhs website. There is a real variation in migraine presentation and types of headache or migraine. Should also tell you about treatments etc. eg first line treatments and probably info about when to get referred to a neurologist.

OP, What is your Blood Pressure like?
I only ask as a friend had a what we thought was a 'headache/migraine' for about 3 days, on day 4 i insisted he went to our local minors unit at the hospital and it turns out his BP was scarily high, he ended up in a cardiac ward for 4 days having all sorts of scans and tests.

If its new for you, you should get it checked out, but you can have migraines for weeks or months unfortunately so it wouldn't be surprising if it's that.

Chronic migraine sufferer here. This does sound like migraine to me. My longest ever acute migraine was nine solid days and nights of severe symptoms with no let-up, but I quite often get long rambling migraines where the pain waxes and wanes over several days. Did your doctor give you anything? Triptans are an absolute lifesaver for me.

As others have said about blood pressure check.i had similar symptoms and it went in for 3/4 days-it was high blood pressure

Did the GP not prescribe you a triptan like sumatriptan?

Triptans don’t work when you’re in the throes of a migraine though.

@bookworm1982 it sounds like how my migraines can be - have you taken any painkillers? Try four paracetamol and two ibuprofen, a cold flannel on your forehead and one on the back of your neck. Yes, 4 at a time isn’t advised but it’s fine as a one off.

Mine will not abate without painkillers, as you don’t mention taking any - don’t try and be a hero by not taking them.

Utter sympathies.

Full fat coke and ready salted crisps

Also, go outside for a bit

I suffer with migraines as part of functional neurological disorder. I have triptans on hand but as PP have said they wont work when you're this far in.

Mine vary considerably. Sometimes I have aura (and lose the vision in my left eye) followed by a headache than can last anywhere between an hour to 3 days. Sometimes I experience a peculiar smell (which varies between a very scented candle smell and cigarette smoke) with no headache whatsoever. Both have been diagnosed as migraine (there were some concerns the smell things was epilepsy but an MRI ruled that out, and anything more sinister)

What you're describing could be migraine. Everyone is different. I think if the GP was concerned they'd have shipped you off to A&E.

I sometimes find Sudafed (the brown over the counter ones) useful when pain medication isn't working. I alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen (if you can take this) staggered every two hours.

Hope you feel better soon! 💐

Triptans are recommended to be taken as early as possible during an attack - not that they can't work when you're in the middle of one. I've had migraine for 25+yrs and am under neurology for chronic treatments. It is ALWAYS worth trying even if you're on day 2,3,4,5 of a migraine before you take them. Especially if you can get the nasal spray version rather than a tablet version.

Aspirin 900mg is a recommended dose for painkillers, however paracetamol and ibuprofen don't touch me.

Migraine is incredibly individual, as we can all see from the above recommendations from different sufferers.

Hi OP,
It could be migraine, it could be one of many other things but it could also be very serious.
Please , if it is the worst headache of your life as others have said, and you are in unbearable pain, get yourself to A&E.
Take good care.

I have visual migraines so I absolutely wouldn’t be able to post - I can’t see words on a screen when mine hit - but there are many different types.

I had one that lasted on and off for five days a couple of months ago and was ready to smash my own face against a brick wall - mine are hormonal, I get them during menstruation and ovulation and they got worse after I had DS.

Having said that because this is a new presentation for you and it’s very severe I would get it checked out further.

I’ve had migraines for 40+ years and they vary a lot.

during that time I’ve had about 3-4 episodes where the migraine kind of gets ‘stuck’ and I can’t shift it. Once an out of hours GP gave me an injection (no idea what) and it cured it.

often mine now respond to a one-off dose of sumatriptan. I occasionally (rarely) use paramol (from pharmacy) if the pain is terrible. This for me is more effective and gentler on my stomach than taking numerous doses of ‘normal’ paracetamol.

For me, it is generally a combination of unfortunate factors that trigger a migraine. For example I can miss meals, and I have a stressful job, but if I then on top of thst have a disturbed night’s sleep, or drink alcohol, or don’t drink enough fluids - then the additional factors cause a migraine. I have to be very careful when travelling as this means I might be eating at irregular times or doing other things that might cause one.

usually I can still use a screen, I’d rather not but as others have said, sometimes you have to work and sometimes a distraction is useful. If I have an aura then of course I avoid driving as it is unsafe.

I find my migraines started just before I was due to start my period, so you notice they come at a particular time of the month? My vision the day before also went funny, mine only began in my 30s and I've not had 1 since I had my dd. Mine lasted nearly the full day and there's no way I could make a post if I had 1 ( I'm not questioning yours symptoms but that's how bad they made me feel ) the only thing that helped me was literally sleeping it away, it wiped me out anyway, don't eat or drink anything until it passes, because I'd only throw it up anyway. Hope it passes for u soon

In your position if it is unbearable I have (and would again) access out of hours GP (in your area this might mean via A&E) and explain the pain I’d unbearable and has lasted 5 days - specifically ask for an effective pain relief. say you will happily have an injection or oral tablets whatever they suggested,

this Is absolutely my experience of migraines too.

If it is your blood pressure then you shouldn’t take Ibprofen without the doctors say so! Im
not allowed it… but I did get a cracking headache / migraine when mine was high so i agree you should rule that out

^^ same with some sinus medication. Can’t have it with hypertension

You do not have to be light sensitive to be diagnosed with migraines, I get sickness and stroke like symptoms but no light sensitivity, so in second or third day could use a screen for short time if not too sick. Mine are neurologist diagnosed.

I’ve had migraines for twenty years. Luckily the vast majority of them still allow me to use a screen and go to work with or without medication but some need medication or I’m sick and can’t do things. Everyone’s migraines present so differently that just because OP can type doesn’t mean it isn’t a migraine. I would do a covid test though just to be sure. Knowing the result could help you be prepared for whether you’re likely to get more migraines or not.