At my wit’s end with migraines and headaches

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I am at my absolute wit’s end with my headaches / migraines. Third morning in a row I’ve woken up with one and there’s no real reason. I’ve cut down on alcohol and vaping. I am trying to drink more water. Ibuprofen and paracetamol aren’t cutting it anymore. I have sumatriptan but I am concerned about taking that every single day. Can anyone give me some tips on how to get both immediate and long term relief. I just want to cry!! I haven’t been sleeping great recently so I think that does contribute but I can’t seem to lie in despite being tired.

Is there a pattern? I get a headache/migraine for 3 days a month, nearly every month.

Your gp can probably help.

If you're seriously tired it's probably that. You could also get your sight tested?

I have had horrendous migraines and long lasting headaches for the last 10 years, I always take an Imigran and lie down and they became less frequent. For me, the biggest change was HRT, I now get one after forgetting a dose and can definitely align the two things. Water, vaping etc makes no difference, its just another way to make us feel guilty for poor health. If you are female, I advise tracking them and seeing if there's a link. And get HRT, it is life changing in very way!

I am not sure I need HRT - I am 33 and still have regular periods?

I live abroad so saw a neurologist and ENT and everything was clear on those, has anything else changed that you can think of? I am very sympathetic, its unbearable. Its a form of torture. I hope you get the answers you need.

Ask for thyroid tests and to trial a different triptan/alternative medication. It’s been a long process but I have finally been prescribed rimegepant. My migraines used to last 3 days and (even if it’s not how it’s meant to work) the triptans would work for a while then the migraine would come back every few hours over the 72 hr attack. Gepants act very differently and I’m finding, usually, one dose is all that’s needed for the whole attack. Life changing - has made me realise how much of my life I spent with low level worry about when the next attack would start. I take one and relax. Good luck - impact of migraines is easily dismissed by gps, keep pushing.

I totally understand. I have suffered for 30 years.

A very import question right now is how long have you suffered? If this is something new, you definitely need to see a doctor. Even if not new, still go.

Then start keeping a log of frequency, pain level, and things like alcohol, periods (a huge factor), stress levels, food etc. Then you can start to build up a pattern.

I’m so sorry you are suffering. Migraine is awful 😞

My migraines got a lot worse after I returned to work after my first dc. I assumed it was the poor quality sleep triggering them but in addition I am triggered by a sudden drop in blood sugar, dehydration, change in pressure (eg bad sinusitis), too much screen time and intense concentration (which tend to go hand in hand with dehydration/skipping meals) and also sometimes hormonal changes in my menstrual cycle.

My migraines are classic - unbearable headache, extreme photosensitivity, cannot stand movement (even moving my eyes to look at a phone screen will make me worse). If I catch it in time at home, I take a migraine pill and lie down on the dark and sleep like I’m unconscious for two hours and then sometimes I can stop it before it blows up badly. But quite often I’ll be at work, so by the time I can lie down and rest it is a full attack and then it only ends when I have vomited and slept for three hours

Can you tell the difference between you having a bad headache and having a migraine? I can usually tell; it’s the intensity of the pain and unique “feel” of a migraine coming on as I find I cannot stand the light and I can’t bear to look at a screen - for me it’s almost unmistakable.

You need to do a diary to see what is different on your migraine free days.

Op I don't know if it's helping me but i started to take magnesium apparently low magnesium can trigger them

Your GP can refer you to a headache clinic/neurologist to explore better pain management options. But in the meantime, I'll offer my tips that do help... I still get migraines but less frequently and less ferociously:
Mine are triggered by stress and anxiety.
A tall glass of water before bed helps me. I also take vitamin B2 (riboflavin in the form of a tablet called MigraSoothe which you can get on Amazon) when my headaches are bad. Magnesium glycinate or citrate can be taken alongside B2.
Open your bedroom window a bit at night.
Migraine patches (those sticking cooling pads that you place on your forehead) really help.
Keep hydrating. You don't have to go nuts. But a glass of water in the morning and a glass before bed really help.
Caffeine is good! A bit of coffee, a cup of tea do help migraines.
I prefer taking Anadin Extra along with neurofen but honestly, painkillers tend not to help me.
If you have summer allergies, it could be triggering migraines as well. Shower every day if your allergies are bad. In fact, showers in general help my migraines.
Are you a teeth grinder/jaw clencher by chance? I am and the more conscious I am about relaxing my face, the less frequent my headaches are. I think magnesium helps me to sleep better at night, which is when I tend to grind my teeth.

I was waking up with headaches every morning too, and I cut out sugar in the evenings...and in general. This helped tremendously. It may not be the cause for you, but it doesn't hurt to try.

@DorisTheFinkasaurus that's v interesting so there is a b2 connection ??

I take a b12 spray would that help or is b2 totally different ?

Start keeping a headache diary (as that is what the gp will ask anyway). Include food you ate the night before, how much you drank/vaped and how good your felt your sleep was. Include medication and if it worked

Even though you don’t think there is a link there might be one hidden that you just haven’t spotted before.

Then armed with this the GP has some more options - including referrals which can take some time. Though 3 headaches in a row is unlikely to meet the threshold of a referral at this point.

When was the last time you saw an optician. Again probably not linked to waking up with a migraine/ headache but always worth checking out. They can also spot signs of some more serious conditions that cause headaches so is good for reassurance.

Then the last thing is to look at chronic stress you are under. Stuff that builds up so you don’t even notice the stress is there. How quiet is your room? Your ears are always on and noise stress, especially over night, can have a big impact.

Low iron triggers migraines for me, might be worth getting your iron levels checked.

Ask for a daily preventative

You'd have to have tried I think it's 3 before you can get a referral to neurology

I’ve had migraine with aura for years, and I ended up in A&E a few weeks ago severely dehydrated with a migraine that wouldn’t shift (11 days!)

They told me to follow their migraine protocol which is 3 x 300mg Aspirin at the first sign of a headache, along with a pint of water and a glass of Coke or coffee. If that doesn’t work after an hour or so, take your usual Triptan or painkiller.

I was really dubious that something as simple as Aspirin would work, but I’ve tried it about 6 times since and it’s worked every time! I haven’t needed a single sumatriptan since.

Bit b complex and even primrose oil tablets x 1 a day helped me a lot but I was peri at the time x

Just to add to MrsPapillon's helpful post:* *Yes to aspirin, which is why I think the Anadin Extra helps me more than any other over the counter pain killer. It's got aspirin, paracetamol, and caffeine.
Also, just to answer FatEndoftheWedge's good question: B12 is great to take daily, by the way. I think it's so good for our nervous system overall. B2 (riboflavin) in doses of 400mg (it's got to be that higher dose in order to work) seems to play a role in preventing mitochondrial dysfunction which contributes to migraines. I don't know what ANY of that means, in all honesty! 😆But I'll take it! Low riboflavin contributes to migraines. That much I know. I suppose in the same way low magnesium does as well.
I just think B vitamins and magnesium are so good for our neuro/cognitive health. When my son, who is a person with autism, tics more notably and is more anxious (a real bedfellow of autism), magnesium puts a halt to all of that.

Just to repeat, MigraSoothe is the riboflavin supplement I take and it really helps. B2 should be taken as a preventative to really feel the benefits.

And OP, I also wanted to add...

I had horrific migraines at your age, during my peak 'child raising/baby having days'. I was a single mum at the time. Work was overwhelming. Money was tight, tight, tight, and I just felt like I needed to clone myself in order to manage the workload.
My migraines calmed down as my life became a bit less stressed: Sleep improved, my financial worries reduced. That really helped.
Now in my 50s, they've returned with a bang. Hormones all over the shop, divorce, sleep disruption, job loss/job hunting/money worries... teeth grinding because of this!
It's good to look at where you're at in life: Is there overwhelming stress in certain areas of your life and a lack of quality sleep?
I think a brain scan is always a good thing to have if you can get plugged into a neuro clinic. Chances of migraine being anything sinister are incredibly remote. And once you have that reassurance, you can just move on to managing the symptoms/migraines with more ease and calm.

My BIL was prescribed blood pressure medication.... although his BP was fine

He also found Peppermint tea helped.

Botox is also recommended

The pattern of these sound hormonal and are harder to treat than non-hormonal ones. I’ve had migraines since age 3 but they ramped up in puberty. I still have to take triptans every day for about five days a month and wake up with them. As well as all the usual lifestyle stuff, a daily prophylactic such as Propanol that works on your blood vessels helped me. I still have migraines but the intensity, vomiting and extreme photophobia have gone. I think the beta blockers have greatly dialled back the intensity and frequency.

As noted by PPs, you can’t be referred to Neuro without going through the NICE guideline treatments. The cause of mine are mainly genetic on both sides of my family, hormonal, weather-related and possibly due to the shape of my brain (revealed in an MRI). I cut out caffeine for years but have actually found that a small amount at the start of an attack helps. Full sugar coke, without the fizz, helps on the very rare occasions that I vomit but I have an anti-emetic for that and the triptans help.

Thank you everybody. Am going to read through these responses! I definitely think a trigger for me is lack of sleep and I am not sleeping well at the moment. Any tips for that?!

Yes the magnesium look it up.

I was told to go to bed and wake up at the same time. And things like ensuring your bedroom isn't too hot or too cold and no tech at least an hour before bed

Mine was blood pressure. As soon as I went on BP drugs they stopped