To ask if anyone else has migraine "hangover"

[polkadotpjs]

Got another hormonal
Migraine Friday. Mostly headed off by Triptan but bad enough to need 2 x paramol and a nap pre school run ( floated through that on those meds plus ibuprofen). Another Triptan Saturday as it felt like it was back and more Paramol No Triptan Sunday but more painkillers then and yesterday. And today only ibuprofen but my scalp tonight is so sore and my throat inside and my ear - all down the headache side. And I want to eat crisps and drink coke and craving salt.
It's knackering but I'm trying to document 6 months worth and then go back to talk preventatives. Anyone else ?

Yes to hangover. It's awful.

I have a nightmare with 20 plus migraines a month. I'm constantly feeling hungover in pain and sick from meds. Yet to find preventive that works.

Worse is that most people don't believe me. think I'm being dramatic about just a bad headache. Really isn't good for my MH feeling I'll so much of the time.

Me !!!

If I have a really really bad migraine I feel
“Hungover” for a good few days. Weirdest thing is tho after I have a severe migraine wen it’s mainly worn off anything I eat tastes absolutely amazing even the plainest most rubbish things taste unreal ! Only lasts for an hour or 2 though ! Bizarre

Hope it works Arcadia, hopefully my GP will get me on them in the new year.

@thebearschairs some people don't seem able to get their head round just how debilitating migraines and subsequent hangovers are. I remember my mum insisting we go for a walk because 'fresh air will help' when I was 11/12. I could barely see straight let alone walk and the motion triggered vertigo. She soon brought me home when I was sick in the street. She's never quite understood how awful they are!

@TheGremlinsAreComing it sounds like me that I'm in my mid forties and I think I'm perimenopausal as periods going strange at same time as worsening migraines.
I somehow feel like I bring them in myself and should be able to somehow stop them myself, so get frustrated! Does anyone else feel like that?

Why is your GP delaying @TheHoneyBadger? I just spoke to a duty GP on the phone today and she was happy to prescribe! I have been offered the anti epileptic drug previously but thought it sounded a bit heavy

Sorry question about Gp delaying should have been to @TheGremlinsAreComing

Yes, me, last for about 3 days. This last one (only generally get 2/3 a year) I had a 'hangover' headache for 3 weeks following the migraine...

Paracetamol causes rebound headaches.
Try & get referral to migraine specialist to find best treatment as new drugs have been approved that might work better for you.

People often don't get it. I often get asked 'How's your head?' or 'Has your headache gone?'

It's frustrating and minimising, but I've never found a way around it that doesn't sound like I'm just moaning. 'The headache's fine, thank you, but I still feel like I'm going to throw up, the floor keeps moving around, and there's a big wiggling blank spot in the centre of my field of vision. Oh, and I can't feel my right hand.' is just more than you want to say sometimes, especially when you can't talk properly!

I'd love to know what these new drugs are ! Nothing has been revolutionary from my specialist

Sounds like rebound headaches. I'm attending a migraine clinic and not allowed any pain killers at all. Only a triptan and I'm on a preventative.
Apparently people prone to migraine get medication over use headaches very easily.
It's hard not to reach for my usual pain relief but apparently it will be worth it.

I haven’t had a migraine for a couple of years now, but I always feel awesome afterwards. The whole world seems brighter and clearer, and I feel elated and energised. Honestly, sometimes the high I get afterwards seems worth the crippling pain and flashing light show!

Me as well. Can feel very rough post migraine for 3 days. I also tend to get what I call aftershock headaches for these days as well, but not as bad as the actual migraine. I also crave salty food once a migraine wears off.

@Arcadia I've not a clue! I get trigeminal neuralgia and they tried me on nortriptyline (sp?) in the hopes it would help both neuralgia and migraine, even though I'd requested amitriptyline as it's been recommended by a friend of mine. It didn't help at all. I haven't been able to speak to the GP since and it's averaging 3 weeks wait time for a callback now.

The chemist was great today, though, she's ordering in some sumatriptan for me to try.

@thebearschairs my DM always says 'how's your headache how?' And I've tried to explain that it's far more than a headache but to no avail. These days I just say it's crap but thanks for asking.

@Eckhart it's frustrating isn't it!

Yes I get hangovers from migraines too. I’ve been getting them more regularly over the past few years, I’m not sure whether the GP could do anything though? On my migraine hangover days I am ravenously hungry as well. It’s weird.

@opinionatedfreak

I’m a doctor & when my migraines started I worked in a neuro centre renowned for migraine research.

I got told by one of the neurologists in a corridor consultation to take 900mg dispersible aspirin (the solubility helps absorption) & some caffeine. If I get it in at the first sign of trouble it works a treat. And 10years later I still use it.

My migraines are rare 1-2/year and if I miss my aspirin I can be unwell for 24-48hrs.

I always have some aspirin in my work bag! On the odd ocassion I haven’t the pharmacy team looked at my very oddly as I attempted to buy supplies from them. Aspirin is so rarely used they only had 75mg cardiac preventative stuff in stock and taking 12 tablets seems extreme!

At a push high dose non steroidal works.
And I suspect if I’d got to the vomiting stage Rectal diclofenac might help.

You do have to have a stomach that can take aspirin/NSAIS though...

I asked dh about the aspirin. because that is a high dose. He said it is an anti coagulation dose. So not a dosage to take lightly.

God yes me too ! Had migraine Tuesday, yesterday still sore head and throat and totally drained and craved coke / crisps etc felt like had been on a night out, couldn’t string a sentence together. Today head ok but throat still sore and still tired. Hoping a good nights sleep gets me back to normal

My mum always described the day after a migraine as "aftershock" I definitely recognise the hungover feeling.

I never realised that other people craved caffeine and salty foods with migraine (or that caffeine could help!) I always crave coffee and ready salted crisps at the first sign of a migraine even though I never usually have either.

This has been such an interesting thread to read

I've started to have more migraines. Previously they were very occasional & while hard, over within 24 - 36 hours. My mother suffered brutally with migraines, I don't know how she coped. She still gets them but fewer, in her 70s. She was a teacher, in the school I attended, and I have so many memories of her in class, barely able to stand or see, green in the face. She never took time off.

Anyway as a result of this I've downplayed any migraines I got as they weren't anything as bad, and without the frequency, as my mum's.

Since I've turned 40, they've got much worse. I last had one 3 weeks ago, and the 'hangover' was very pervasive. I didn't know this was a thing. The migraine itself lasted 2 days & was ferocious. I've 3 kids & when it hit I couldn't do anything. Movement made me so sick, lying down made it worse, all that helped was to sit stock still & not move.

When it cleared, I had a rotten headache & was shaky for 2 days which surprised me.

It's really interesting to hear people's experiences.

@EarringsandLipstick
Do you have any abortive to take? Would you ask your doctor for a triptan?

I take frovatriptan (Frovex) and it aborts my migraine. I've had them for 38 years and only discovered triptans this year.

Yes definitely - following day I literally feel hungover and sometimes even a bit rough the day after that.

They really are such a horrible thing to suffer from and it annoys me that people who don’t get migraines think it’s ‘a headache’ or worse, refer to any headache they get as a migraine!!

I posted a thread in the Covid board the other day as since having been quite unwell with covid last month my migraines seem to be more frequent - another lovely post viral symptom maybe?!

What do you take as preventatives, OP? If I get any more in the near future I might have to speak to GP about this.

Fascinating thread. Thanks OP.

I cope by using a cocktail of tactics:

1. 30mg amitryptyline every night
2. progesterone lozenges over my period
3. the keto diet (made a HUGE difference)
4. magnesium supplements
5. frovatriptan (plus 3x aspirin if pain is bad)
6. good hydration
7. no dairy and especially no sugar
8. v regular sleep patterns ie bed and wake same time every day without fail

It’s hard work but has got my migraines pretty well controlled.

Oh and also
9) a mouth guard for teeth grinding