Have I been mistaking migraines for headaches my whole life?

[saveourtrees]

I often get headaches when I'm poorly. But they stop me doing anything. I can't have the light on or look at my phone. I can't move because it's just such a strong pain.

Every headache has been like this, but are they actually migraines? how do you know?

The only reason I'm asking is because my sister said she was given cocodomol (sp?) for her migraines and paracetamol doesn't even touch the sides.
paracetamol doesn't help me either. Does anyone know how you can tell?

You're best off asking a Dr. It's possible to have migraines, occipital neuralgia and cluster headaches all in the same week - you just have to find what works to cope with it.

Whether it's migraine or not can matter though for other things - correlation to increased risk with hormonal birth control for e.g.

So ask a Dr.

I had a daith piercing several years ago and have only had 2 migraines since. Not saying it works for everyone but I was having migraines 2 or 3 days in a row and was wiped out by them. I didn't believe it would work but was at the point I'd try anything!

I had the daith. Did f all for me unfortunately !

I had a quick look into it and I don't believe daith piercing is coming out well from studies as a migraine preventer, but if you like the look of it, go to a good place and care for it properly you don't have much to lose!

I have migraines, although thankfully much less than I used to, now that I'm on CGRP antagonist injections.

I would often function through migraines. I had to. 3 children, two with SN. The key things with migraine Vs headache for me are:

-focal pain. Normally right side over eyebrow, but occasionally left side. Often the pain comes down into the back of my neck and down the nose into the top jaw, but only on one side.
-sense of smell very acute.
-lose words or say words in the wrong order within a sentence.
-mind fog - everything seems just slightly out of reach. Thought process slows right down.
-coordination goes - fumbling, can't sequence steps in cooking, etc.
-noise sensitivity - it seems like every sound comes on a different channel, so normal household noise seems like it would if someone was playing music, having the radio on and watching TV all at the same time.
-nausea and lack of appetite.

I used to have migraines around 15 times per month and normal headaches around 7 times per month. Over the course of a month I wouldn't get many pain free days.

Now I'm on Ajovy. I am on month 4 and this month, with 1 week until I have my next injection, I've only had 3 migraines and 5 headaches, and they've all responded really well to medication. It's life-changing!!

I get hormonal migraines, I know exactly what day they will come, once a month. I stay in a dark room until the afternoon but still wear dark glasses around the house until the evening and it seems to keep the nausea/headache and floaty eye thing at bay, but I still feel wiped out for a couple of days after . I'm on HRT and that is the cause, never had them before.

Sounds like it could be a migraine. I used to get them a lot but now not very often (thank goodness). For me I knew they were migraines because the only thing I could do was lay down and I'd also get nauseous (occasionally vomiting). Like other posters have said, I can tell a migraine is coming but don't get that same feeling with headaches. Migraines to me give off a very specific feeling. Cocodomol and sleep are the only things that can get rid of them.

When I have a migraine I can't do anything, I can't even string together a sentence. Def can't drive/ look at a screen. Sometimes I can't move my head without throwing up

Paracetamol doesn't work for me with headaches either. Ibuprofen is the only thing. I've only had a couple of migraines and they were zig zags in front of my eyes and feeling sick.

@Lougle

Just posting to say that your whole post could've been written by me!. I too had chronic migraine (14 to 17 migraines a month). They ruled my life.

Tried lots of different preventative medicines and treatments but none of them worked.

Have been on Ajovy injections for nearly a year now, and they have changed my life. Not only do I get only 2 to 5 migraines each month now but the migraines themselves are much milder and go more quickly.

Costing me £700 every 3 months until I can hopefully get it prescribed on the NHS, but it's worth every penny!

You say you only get them when you are already ill? What are you ill with when you get them? (Hypoxia can give you headaches, for example.)
Otherwise, try migraine medication as pps have suggested. It’s a very perceptible change when it works.
I often have migraines without headache now (I know it’s a migraine because I have aura and aphasia), there are so many different types of migraine.
There are also other headache disorders so maybe worth speaking to a dr at some point.

I did know I had migraines for years it was only after speaking to my neurological (I have another chronic neuro condition yeyyy lucky me) very occasionally, maybe twice a year I have the horrific pain migraine with sickness etc. Lasts all day and I usually can't move. Usually, maybe once every 2 months , have what he called with aura. Starts as a wiggly spot in the middle of my vision and eventually works its way to cover my whole field of vision. I am not in pain as such but everything inside my head feels far to big for my skull causing a pressure sensation. The only person who can tell you it's migraine or headache is a doctor. In saying that frequent headaches can be just as debilitating.

I started getting migraines years ago after a very stressful period. Managed them with anti-sickness meds and painkillers. Then I started with something in a different league more recently. Discussed with my GP, was initially given a diagnosis of “tension headaches” but things got worse in terms of severity and frequency. Two things came up - one was that I had low ferritin levels (iron related). I also got referred to neurology where I saw I headache specialist who said they were migraines despite being different to the migraines I previously had. The specialist said basically if they were I debilitating I had to go to bed and I had nausea with them, they were migraines. I got put on iron tablets for the low ferritin, Amitriptyline to prevent the migraines and sumitriptan if they do occur. That combo has basically meant that although I’m still symptomatic at times, it’s les last often and less severe when they do occur. I don’t feel great but I can function.

If you are suffering and suspect it could be headaches or migraines, it’s worth seeing your Gp. Lots of underlying causes can give you these symptoms (hormonal issues, anaemia, high blood pressure plus obviously migraines), it’s worth investigating.

OP once a neurologist told me there’s no such thing as just a plain headache, it’s always a certain type of headache after I told him I had been having headaches throughout my life. Yours do sound like migraines. I use migraleve, it works great for me, but it makes me feel quite groggy. I am looking at Botox for migraines, the NHS offer it in the neck if other treatment methods have failed. I think privately they do offer it in the forehead area for the purpose of helping with migraines.

Nowadays I mainly get headaches but when I still had hormones my migraines were accompanied by visual disturbance and I had to be Confined to a completely darkened room till it subsided. Sometimes I also had nausea and the visual disturbance merged into hallucinations.

I have had migraines since I was a teenager. The first time I got the aura I was terrified thinking something was really wrong with my eyes! I always get the aura and nausea. The only thing that helps is cocodamol. I have it for physical pain and I have 30/500mg strength. I have tried migraine specific medication but nothing works like the cocodamol. The headaches you are describing seem like migraine.

I get migraines. The daith piercing prevented them for 18 months then it wore off. Beta blockers got rid of them though.

I had what I didn't realise were migraines for years before I had any other symptoms. Then I developed a slur in speech and a dp said enough this needs checking out.

I can feel them coming on now. Sometimes feels like motion sickness then slight pain then my face feels burning hot like when you come inside on a really cold day. There can be a few hours then before the pain is in full force.

I get the hangovers too where I feel very tired and rough.

If you are getting headaches which stop you doing things please see gp. I suffered for 20 years without prescription help.

I take Propranolol as a preventative, it works beautifully for me. I stopped it when I was pregnant and breastfeeding but recently had to go back on it as the migraines returned.

Syndol with a coke is my weapon of choice for headache, plus ice patches.

Migraine needs ice patches, olbas oil and Migraleve pink or Sumatriptan. Coke helps if I’m not vomiting.

Both my headaches and my migraines start with neck pain. I had a riding injury some years ago and it’s caused so many neck issues. If I can manage the pain the migraines can be avoided. I don’t know why olbas oil helps but I get sinus type pain with migraine sometimes, and it works. But occasionally it makes me more sick so it’s hard!

Lots of people saying co-codamol is the same as Migraleve- might be worth noting that Migraleve (pink) has an anti-nausea agent in it as well, I get an anti-nausea prescribed specifically by my GP and it makes the whole thing a lot more bearable as it's the nausea that is the worst for me, not the headache pain.

I am on preventive treatment as well (beta-blockers) which is very effective.

I suffer from occasional migraines. I think symptoms can differ from person to person. For me, bright lights aren’t painfully uncomfortable but I am very sensitive to noise and movement, as well as heat (the colder I am when suffering the better). I am occasionally sick as well, often without feeling nauseous. Thankfully I experience a migraine 1-2 times a year. Very unpleasant feeling and not lessened by over the counter painkillers. 24-48 hours bed rest usually does the trick for me.

I've had chronic migraine for almost 30 years. The nature and symptoms can change from year to year/episode to episode, sometimes I can function and sometimes I can't. I don't always have an aura. I don't think I've ever had a one sided one, and luckily I've only lost the ability to speak a few times. Triggers are impacted by how close I am to the threshold - sometimes it doesn't take more than a flash of light to start one. My point is, they vary between people and within one person, so someone saying 'it can't be a migraine because I don't feel like that' isn't something to use for your diagnosis.

I can't use triptans due to a heart condition, and CGRP's haven't been around long enough to determine if they're safe for me. Ibuprophen is my first drug, then opiates & antiemetics. I can also add paracetamol but it doesn't seem to help much.The biggest issue with medication is not to overuse it as you can get rebound headaches - I'm limited to 8-10 days/month. I also have a cefaly machine & and ice hat, and sunglasses that I can wear in stores with fluorescent lights. I've also tried preventatives like amitriptyline, valproate, calcium channel blockers & vitamins (Magnesium, B2 and CoQ10)

@Chocolatebutton0
I have been having botox every 11 weeks for the past few years. It has decreased the intensity and med use, though I still get a fair # per month.

OP, do your research before you visit your doctor. The 'feeling poorly' before you get a headache could be the prodrome stage of the migraine. Keep a headache diary and record your symptoms, treatments and effectiveness. There's some very good info online, and very good treatments so you don't have to suffer:
www.nationalmigrainecentre.org.uk/ and migraine.com/ are a couple of good sites.

Another one here who didn't realise I was having migraines for several years, because while they're not silent as in no headache, they're not the full skull stabbing pain either. They do feel completely different to tension or anaemia headaches, which I also get

They're triggered by sustained tiredness or looking at something silhouetted, eg talking to someone sitting in front of a bright window. I often used ask to move in meetings (pre-Zoom era!).

I get aura, a flashing zigzag of light that spreads and blots put my vision. Feels like I've been dazzled with a torch. Then headache, nausea, aphasia, a sort of numb weakness and brain fog, for several hours. I have on occasions carried on but if I can go and lie down it shortens this phase considerably. Then a 2 day hangover of feeling fluey and the mad carb munchies.

I used to kick myself for drinking coffee during a migraine and couldn't work out why I wanted to until I read that it can actually help. But migraleve taken fast is the only real help for me - not that I've ever seen a doc about it. Sounds like you should though OP.

@chocolatebutton0
posted too soon - I have 35 injections in the space between eyes/above nose, temples, hairline, sides and back of scalp, neck and shoulders. It sounds worse than it is, and is well worth it. Studies show it works best for those with >15 episodes/mo lasting >4h each. We get coverage here in Canada with those criteria and contraindications to and failure of other prophylactic treatments.

I have tension headaches that vary in severity from mild to debilitating. Usually predominantly in one side of the head and face and can last for days. Sometimes they make me feel nauseous. If I exercise regularly they reduce, and if I catch them at the start, ie I recognize that one is building, I can sometimes stave it off by exercise. Even when they're bad, I can exercise through it most of the time (it doesn't get better, but tbh the exercise pain is a welcome distraction!)
My GP told me that if exercise helps or is even possible when the headache starts, that its a tension headache. The exercise helps because of the vaso dilation effect (not sure if of spelling) She said if it was migraine related there's no way I could do any of that, & that the movement would worsen the headache.
The other indicators to me that it's tension headache is what helps; heat pads/wheat bags help a lot, as does ibruprofen. They wouldn't be effective with migraines.
For me it's not tension due to stress, apparently it can just be down to musculature and for me they run in the family, along with other issues (asthma, sinus problems) that exacerbate them.

Do you get strange visual disturbances? In one of my migraine phases (which stopped when I came off the pill) I would see a kind of sparkly electric snake wiggling about in the bottom left hand corner of my vision. Once I couldn't see people's features, just flat beige ovals for faces, another time I could not see on the left hand side of my vision.

I would feel super weird, disconnected, difficulty thinking, talking. Then vomit and pain.