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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Help- migraine

92 replies

watermeloncrush · 16/04/2023 19:56

Currently having the most horrific migraine imaginable.

I’ve been to the GP already for my headaches and been diagnosed with migraine.

This one started this afternoon and has progressively worsened. I just want to sleep and wake up with it gone, but I can’t do that because lying down makes it so much worse. It feels like my head is going to blow up with the pain. It’s on one side of my head and a sickeningly throbbing pain. All I can do is just sit and wait for it to pass. And my leg and arm are both numb from the pain of the migraine.

Does anyone have any tips for getting through this until the pain eases off? I’ve tried water, pain killers, ice packs and heat. If anyone has any tips or ideas they use to relieve their own migraine I would be hugely appreciative.

OP posts:
LeilaDarling · 16/04/2023 20:14

Get a peg to hang washing on the garden or a hair clip and clip different parts of your face eg top of your nose, forehead etc.

1930toEdinburgh · 16/04/2023 20:14

Oh I'm sorry to see they don't work.

It's honestly utterly shite - hope it gets better soon.

Pe. Real coke helps me also

onepieceoflollipop · 16/04/2023 20:14

@NowZeusHasLainWithLeda
I find paramol really effective as well.
in fact we seem to find similar solutions work well (I’m currently sat up in bed, recovering.Chilled cola and bag of cheap hula hoops at hand)

Once recovering I try to drink lots of cold squash (can’t face water) and something salty with protein. Usually marmite on toast or a cheeseburger.

ThinWomansBrain · 16/04/2023 20:16

i get migraine very rarely, thankfully - maybe once every 7-8 years.
Last thing I'd consider doing when I have one is using a laptop or mobile phone screen.

Caddyautopants · 16/04/2023 20:16

@onepieceoflollipop works for me too! I think the NHS should be supplying cheeseburgers and coke to all migraine sufferers 😂

IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook · 16/04/2023 20:17

Get one of these for next time: migraine TENS machine - it's been a genuine game changer for me.

Otherwise you need sumatriptan- you can buy it OTC but a doctor can prescribe too. As others have suggested, a mega dose of asprin and a can of full sugar coke may well help.

I find alternating cold and hot good, so an ice pack for 10mins and then a hot water bottle for 10. Keep doing it for an hour.

You have my sympathy, migraines are the devils work.

Original poster
watermeloncrush · 16/04/2023 20:17

ThinWomansBrain · 16/04/2023 20:16

i get migraine very rarely, thankfully - maybe once every 7-8 years.
Last thing I'd consider doing when I have one is using a laptop or mobile phone screen.

Well lucky you.

mime is excruciating regardless of using my phone

OP posts:
Caddyautopants · 16/04/2023 20:18

@ThinWomansBrain sometimes when you're absolutely desperate you have to reach out for help. Even if that means squinting ever so slightly to read text / messages from GPs or emails from consultants.

Been there, unfortunately quite regularly!

JunieJay · 16/04/2023 20:18

Caffeine helps my migraines...full fat coke is a must for me. Migraleve tablets are the only tablets that work too

Original poster
watermeloncrush · 16/04/2023 20:18

Thanks everyone, very grateful for the tips and help. Lots of ideas I haven’t tried yet. What a great place this is x

OP posts:
NowZeusHasLainWithLeda · 16/04/2023 20:19

onepieceoflollipop · 16/04/2023 20:14

@NowZeusHasLainWithLeda
I find paramol really effective as well.
in fact we seem to find similar solutions work well (I’m currently sat up in bed, recovering.Chilled cola and bag of cheap hula hoops at hand)

Once recovering I try to drink lots of cold squash (can’t face water) and something salty with protein. Usually marmite on toast or a cheeseburger.

Yes! Marmite. I had to go to school (teacher) Friday and had no pills so had Marmite on toast and coke for breakfast then nipped to the chemist in my free hour. Bizarre isn't it?

Hope you feel better soon, OP. They are so awful, and I always feel such a fraud saying I have a headache because only other migraine sufferers understand!

onepieceoflollipop · 16/04/2023 20:19

@Caddyautopants that would be excellent.
usually by the time I get my cheeseburger (McDonalds) I’m a bit shaky, I think my blood sugar drops quite a bit.

bellac11 · 16/04/2023 20:20

ThinWomansBrain · 16/04/2023 20:16

i get migraine very rarely, thankfully - maybe once every 7-8 years.
Last thing I'd consider doing when I have one is using a laptop or mobile phone screen.

Im a regular sufferer, although thankfully much less regular than I was years ago. But migraines are all very different. Ive had ones where I literally cannot open my eyes or lift my head, stumbling round with my eyes shut. Ive also had ones that make me very restless, cant stop moving around and I need distraction. Migraines are not necessarily about pain, there are various sensations. In the early stages you can feel them coming on. If I dont take action soon and take my meds, which I really need to, I will make myself ill, but right now I need the distraction, theres a fine line between needing to sit in the dark and have to tolerate the pain and sensations of the sickness or feeling some relief from that.

Its like being held prisoner by a set of strange pains and sensations, that fluctuate over time.

JunieJay · 16/04/2023 20:20

Caddyautopants · 16/04/2023 20:16

@onepieceoflollipop works for me too! I think the NHS should be supplying cheeseburgers and coke to all migraine sufferers 😂

I actually thought I was unique needing cheeseburgers and coke for mine!! How bizarre that it's a must for so many!

bimbimbap · 16/04/2023 20:21

I got triptan OTC in Boots yesterday, had to fill out a form first and only given 2 tablets but still worth it! Like many others I also recommend full sugar coke, something salty, dark room, cold facecloth over eyes & headphones with binaural beats / something easy to listen to. There are 2 types of Syndol now, the good stuff (with muscle relaxant) is a darker blue pack I think. Maybe worth paying for a one-off private consultation via a mobile due to the day & time, and hopefully a pharmacy will be open somewhere to give whatever is prescribed. Hope you feel better soon!

Lougle · 16/04/2023 20:22

watermeloncrush · 16/04/2023 20:17

Well lucky you.

mime is excruciating regardless of using my phone

Show quote history

Tbh, if I stopped every time I had a migraine, my life would be over. I still have to care for my children. I still have to drive them to school. I still have to do all the other 'adulting' stuff. I just do the bare minimum. I've been through all the traditional treatments and I've just got to live with the fact that I get regular migraines. I'm very lucky that the medication I take has reduced them a little in severity, and that I have a fairly effective rescue regime. Using a phone doesn't mean the OP doesn't have a migraine.

bimbimbap · 16/04/2023 20:22

One more thing no one has mentioned is acupressure - there’s a point in your ear that can be activated by magnets or piercing, but maybe also by pinching so might be worth looking into?

onepieceoflollipop · 16/04/2023 20:22

Yes forgot to say, sorry OP that you are suffering.
hopefully the solidarity and tips on here will help a little.

I’m finding it useful when other posters mention things that also help me, and then make other suggestions. This thread has given lots of us more help and suggestions.

re-read that back and it’s not very well written - that’s the migraine recovery phase it messes up my speech/explaining things!

Caddyautopants · 16/04/2023 20:23

I've had the daith piercing and also tried botox.

Botox worked wonders. But I can't afford it and the NHS won't fund mine as my meds are working and are cheaper.

The daith piercing was also quite good but wore off about a year afterwards :(

ThisJustFeelsSoShit · 16/04/2023 20:24

You poor thing. My most reliable migraine cure is 2 panadol, nurofen rapid relief, the 400mg one, taken together with a can of coke. Biofreeze all over my forehead and the back of my neck and a dark room.
Works for me almost every time.
I was given imigran once and it made the pain so much worse.
I hope it goes away soon.

lockeri · 16/04/2023 20:25

Suffered with migraines for 30 years - tried everything mentioned here. Had a migraine monthly for the last 12 months - the worst ever, until...

I started taking magnesium as a supplement 1 week before my period and take it until a day after my period stops. Currently 5 months mostly migraine free (I forgot to take the supplement - but as soon as I take one it stops a migraine becoming a full attack.

Things that help me if I have a migraine: sips of Apple juice (not from concentrate) and grapes seem to fend off nausea and reduce pain (weirdly). Salt and vinegar crisps as the migraine ebbs away.

When I can feel I'm coming out the other side of a migraine, hash browns and baked beans seem to get rid of it completely. All seems weird - but I noticed lots of crossovers in all the helpful advice so far - so these all must be 'a thing'. Hope you find some relief soon OP.

bellac11 · 16/04/2023 20:25

Lougle · 16/04/2023 20:22

Tbh, if I stopped every time I had a migraine, my life would be over. I still have to care for my children. I still have to drive them to school. I still have to do all the other 'adulting' stuff. I just do the bare minimum. I've been through all the traditional treatments and I've just got to live with the fact that I get regular migraines. I'm very lucky that the medication I take has reduced them a little in severity, and that I have a fairly effective rescue regime. Using a phone doesn't mean the OP doesn't have a migraine.

Show quote history

Yep, Ive been sick from it many a time while trying to drive home, often from long distances away due to my job. The worst was when I couldnt stop and just had to be sick down my front.

For others who are only managing to get small numbers of tabs from GP or pharmacy, I manage on half a tablet now, it does take much longer to work though but it means it ekes them out a bit.

bellac11 · 16/04/2023 20:26

bimbimbap · 16/04/2023 20:22

One more thing no one has mentioned is acupressure - there’s a point in your ear that can be activated by magnets or piercing, but maybe also by pinching so might be worth looking into?

Personally none of that has worked for me. I have the piercing and no amount of massive or pinching has worked

Lougle · 16/04/2023 20:28

It's the worst when you're half way through a journey. My biggest symptom lately is severe neck pain all the way from my head to my shoulders. It is crushing and it makes it hard to think of anything else.

How much magnesium do you take, @lockeri ?

Lougle · 16/04/2023 20:31

bellac11 · 16/04/2023 20:26

Personally none of that has worked for me. I have the piercing and no amount of massive or pinching has worked

Show quote history

I've tried it but I find that it only helps momentarily. Same as the Cefaly machine (tens). It helps to diminish the migraine when it's on (but I sleep on my side, so I can't drift off with it on), but as soon as it stops, the pain is back. They say it prevents them or stops them, but it doesn't for me.

Ajovy injections are reducing the migraines by about half. I used to get them daily, but now only 10-14 days per month.