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 ?

I seriously recommend a daith piercing. I used to get hormonal migraines every month.
I got my daith in August after a six day long migraine. The relief was almost instant and I haven't had one since.

@TheHoneyBadger I’ve been worrying about this too.

I’ve had migraines since I was 11, first one I told my parents I was dying, felt quite melancholy but resigned and they went off to the shops (I knew they’d regret when they came home and found I had actually died).

Mine were about once a year in my 20’s, none when I was pregnant and with small kids for about 8 years, in my early 40’s they started picking up speed and now, post menopausal, I get them about 12 days a month.

A couple of weeks ago I had the slurred speech, had to assisted to walk, woke up the next morning looking a wreck, one side of my face I’m convinced has dropped a bit.

I get Botox for migraines (paid for by work benefits, not sure how that works in the UK, I’m in Canada). The Botox has lessened the pain a lot and the awful feeling of poison in my shoulders (can’t think how better to describe it), but not the frequency. I still feel disassociated, nauseous, pressure behind my right eye, can’t think, blurred vision, anxious. I feel terribly vulnerable and feel I have to get home if I’m out.

I’m finding it very difficult to work but can’t afford to take extended leave (75% of my wages, not sure how long for). It’s a burden, especially when they’re chronic. My kids are (just) grown and I’m single and I do worry about having a stroke, and working myself into an early grave when my body is desperate for some peace and quiet away from work.

to all migraneurs.

@SongbirdsandLullabies

I seriously recommend a daith piercing. I used to get hormonal migraines every month. I got my daith in August after a six day long migraine. The relief was almost instant and I haven't had one since.

I think it would be worth getting a diagnosis from a TCM practitioner first. I imagine this would work for some but not others, depending on what's causing the migraine in the first place.

@SongbirdsandLullabies

I seriously recommend a daith piercing. I used to get hormonal migraines every month. I got my daith in August after a six day long migraine. The relief was almost instant and I haven't had one since.

Didn’t work for me . I had one side done and then the other a few months later . No change . If it’s hormonal it won’t help ,sadly .

If it’s hormonal it won’t help ,sadly

It might. It depends what's out of whack in your system. I wouldn't make blanket statements. Western medicine doesn't know why daith piercings work for some people, and Chinese Medicine is not something you can generalise with.

@TheHoneyBadger

Yeah topomax is pretty full on - I had it for a while.

A bit of an aside but does anyone find migraines quite scary? The range of experiences and symptoms I've had in middle age could be related to lots of different neurological problems etc but just get bundled under the 'migraine' umbrella.

That's fine until it isn't eg. what if one day I AM actually having a stroke and assume it's just a migraine. Or if I am actually developing a neurological condition that benefits from fast diagnosis and treatment but assume all the symptoms to be a new weird feature of my migraines?

It worries me a little bit. When I started getting them again but with the really weird stuff I was living overseas and it scared friends (non European) and they insisted on me seeing a doctor who wanted to run all sorts of tests and wanted to put me on medication to raise my very low BP.

I submitted to the see 'a' doctor but didn't take BP medicine or have any of the other tests other than a blood sugar one to rule out that the pins and needles and stuff wasn't diabetes and a thyroid test which came back underactive and I'm still treated for now.

It's just a bit worrying how bizarre and debilitating some of the features of my presumed 'aura' are and we seem to understand very little about what actually causes any of this. We just label it migraine and move on. I live with a much squashed but there in the background feeling that when I die it will be from a stroke.

I often think this - I once had a funny turn and speech became slurred, couldn't stand properly. Came on incredibly suddenly, then went and I got a migraine. Went to GP next day and he said "it's just a migraine". Looking back. I should have pushed it but I was in my 20s and not pushy enough.

My father gets regular migraines and he's had a few small TIAs and i suppose it's inevitable I'll end up with the same thing.

@DieCryHate

I get migraine hangovers too. My memory is awful for about 5 days afterwards. To the point I was back at work feeling fine and did the food shop on my way home. I forgot all of my PIN numbers at the till and couldn't pay, horrible. I've not noticed the food cravings I'm going to pay more attention to it.

Thanks for the posters suggesting aspirin. I don't normally have it at home so will get some.

One of the first signs my headache is the beginnings of a migraine is my speech. The last one I had I was in an online meeting after not speaking to anyone all day and I couldn't pronounce words or articulate myself well, it was very noticeable and quite embarrassing. I felt like I sounded pissed. That's when I knew to take to bed and ride it out.

My GP recommended 900mg of aspirin when the migraine starts and then paracetamol regularly.

@Eckhart

If it’s hormonal it won’t help ,sadly

It might. It depends what's out of whack in your system. I wouldn't make blanket statements. Western medicine doesn't know why daith piercings work for some people, and Chinese Medicine is not something you can generalise with.

Funny you should say that as I was told it wouldn’t work for hormonal migraines by an Acupuncturist that I used to visit .

I get vestibular migraines - does anyone else have them? My headaches are not too debilitating but the fast spinning vertigo and dizziness really knock me out. My warning signs are usually an achy neck and salt cravings. I'm already on amitryptiline for fibromyalgia and have been prescribed Cinnarizine which helps a bit.

And yes, I get the hangover afterwards - feel, confused, weak and even clumsier than usual.

Funny you should say that as I was told it wouldn’t work for hormonal migraines by an Acupuncturist that I used to visit

As an acupuncturist, I have a different opinion, and am surprised that another acupuncturist would make this statement. Did they get anywhere with your migraines?

Thanks @nicebreeze

@Fluffybutter it worked for me
As others have said it works for some people and not others. Even my piercer said she couldn't guarantee it would give any relief but thank god it did.
Gotta be worth a go? If it doesn't work just take it out.

Mine are hemiplegic migraines so for anyone here who has them, I can concur they are terrifying.

I have reynauds also which seems to be worsening.

https://www.migraineagain.com/what-is-this-strange-feeling-after-the-migraine-stops/?fbclid=IwAR21o-J6KcfSmhOZu9Al-ZS0fuc3oxFyFh9qwAsEdGQQumU7T80--uI74

What contraception are you all using? I’m on the pill so should probably come off it as it can be dangerous if regularly suffering with migraines

Wow! Just seen all these extra replies. I've noted down so many similarities such as extreme thirst, pins snd needles and this find pain down my left arm
When I take the Triptan I have to be still as it makes me feel incredibly sick. The queasiness and blurred vision seems to be my indicator and if you throw stress in, then it's fast forward to a rocky ride. Interesting thought about taking Buccostem with the triptan.
I may ask for Propanol but may also just try and act sooner. My DH doesn't get it. He says how's the head but it's the tingling, the sheer loudness of everyday sounds etc that's hard.

And thank you all so very much

Yes 100%, when the migraine had passed I felt hungover and dizzy for sometimes 2 days and wouldn’t trust myself to drive. Sometimes I still have the visual disturbance the next day as well. Migraines are so debilitating if you suffer badly, I think some people just think they’re bad headaches but they clearly have never had one.

Oh yes .I take Triptans and I always get the warning signs such as I constantly yawn and crave chocolate before a migraine. The hangover after is horrible. I am shattered and feel like I am wading through mud .It slows me down at work and can literally ruin 2 days sometimes longer at a time .Hope you get it sorted migraines are vile.

@Echo08 Oh yes .I take Triptans and I always get the warning signs such as I constantly yawn

Me too! I constantly yawn at the beginning - I thought it was just me!

Yes, me! Didnt realise it was a thing. Feel so spaced out, floaty and unreal and absolutely shattered all at once.

@thelegohooverer

Does anyone else get rage with a migraine? I’m generally quite mild mannered but when a migraine is coming on I can get really angry and lose it, often over something relatively minor. I used to think the anger triggered the migraine but actually I think it’s an early phase. With age I’ve got better at recognising it and stepping back but it’s a very weird thing to have your brain misfire to the extent that your personality is affected.

In terms of hangover, I think I’m fairly lucky. I just get a bad headache for a couple of days, but compared to the migraine proper, it seems minor. But when I was taking meds for migraines (can’t remember which ones) I would feel like one was coming for several days afterwards, and take more medicine, prolonging the problem.

Yes! Exactly this! In fact I recognise it as a sign now, if I feel irritable with my kids or partner I know I'm getting one.

I have chronic migraine, so around 16 migraine days a month. So much of what I'm reading on here is so familiar and like a PP said, I feel as if I've found my tribe. Nobody else 'gets it'. People think it's just a really really bad headache, which of course is a big part of it. But the predrone and postdrone are something so hard to articulate to non-sufferers. And also the way you ALWAYS think about it. Even when you don't have one, you notice you don't have one. When you make plans, I need to work out when it will fall in my period cycle to determine how bad the migraines will be then. It's with you always.

But one thing having migraines has taught me to do is not sweat the small stuff. I am very chilled out and relaxed these days, it's so important to keep my stress levels down. And I never argue with anyone, ever.

Keep going my fellow migraine warriors!

And also the way you ALWAYS think about it

Yes. And does anybody else have a general feeling of it hanging around, even when you don't have one? I can often feel it dithering about near my eye, like my eye has a headache of its own, or nausea on its own, even when I don't have a migraine myself. I've had a lot more days completely free of it since lockdown (not having to be in the office), and it feels like my eye is on holiday!

@DieCryHate

I get migraine hangovers too. My memory is awful for about 5 days afterwards. To the point I was back at work feeling fine and did the food shop on my way home. I forgot all of my PIN numbers at the till and couldn't pay, horrible. I've not noticed the food cravings I'm going to pay more attention to it.

Thanks for the posters suggesting aspirin. I don't normally have it at home so will get some.

One of the first signs my headache is the beginnings of a migraine is my speech. The last one I had I was in an online meeting after not speaking to anyone all day and I couldn't pronounce words or articulate myself well, it was very noticeable and quite embarrassing. I felt like I sounded pissed. That's when I knew to take to bed and ride it out.

Speach is a big one for me too. My pupils go teeeny tiny. I also saw something I’d hand written while resisting a migraine and it really showed in my handwriting