tell me about your migraines and other superbad headaches please

[Alameda]

DEPRESSED to have had first one for about seven years plus it was completely different - no warning, went on for longer and I still feel shit (used to feel reborn once had slept it off) surely migraines cannot just reappear when they feel like it with a whole new set of rules?

and what do you take for them?

Yep, migraines make their own rules!

I've had migraines all my life, had first one when I was 3. Fortunately they went away then and I didn't have any more until my teens.

Used to have common migraines (no aura), then about 15 years ago I started having classic migraines, with a black and white zigzag aura. After the aura I'd have about 30 mins before the headache kicked in.

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I had a pretty zigzag aura, full of colours. Bright pink, green, blue, orange. And, for some reason, I didn't have a headache. Weird.

I take Paramax, which is paracetamol and metoclopramide hydrochloride, to stop me being sick. This generally works, although I have other, stronger drugs as backup.

did you take anything when you had the aura? it's funny, had one a couple of weeks ago and no headache (I took some paracetamol though, maybe it stopped it?) can you get paramax over the counter in UK? was sick as a dog for ages :(

mine are not colourful though, silvery zigzaggy lights that seem to go on and on and on carving up whatever I look at

dr has given me a lifetime supply of anti-inflammatories which am probably not supposed to take (had ulcers before, now on lithium) but they helped eventually so will just be thankful for that

I get superbad headaches usually brought on by something I've eaten.

I don't think a week goes by where I don't have a headache.

Most recently, I lost two days to one because I had a glass of some coffee/chocolate liquer.

I have also had a 'thunderclap' headache which goes from nothing to a debilitating 'stabbing sensation' in seconds, no medication works on these apart from morphine. I was sent from the doctors straight to hospital when this occured and am currently waiting to see a consultant.

yikes, that sounds awful - good luck with consultant, hope it is not something scary

I get those sometimes at the very point of orgasm which just shows how cruel life can be, but they only last a few seconds luckily

I had horrendous migraines in my teens and 20s and then none at all in my 30s and now, in my 40s, I am getting them again - on average about one every six weeks, so not pleasant but bearable.

I used to vomit with them but don't do that any longer - I do get very light sensitive though and have to walk around wearing sunglasses and lose my balance on stairs. They last 2 to 3 days with the second day being the worst and the day with the real pain - like someone in Doc Martens stamping on your brain.

When I was younger I took prescription drugs but now I don't as they make me too drowsy and slurred - Nurofen migraine will take the edge off slightly I find.

Sorry to hear about your sickness too, migraine truly is awful.

No, I didn't take anything when I had the aura. You're only supposed to take Paramax once the headache's started. And I think Paramax is prescription only, sorry.

Have you thought about any possible triggers for your migraines? Mine are low blood sugar and lack of sleep. Some people have food triggers.

I used to vomit with mine but haven't for nearly 2 years, I think my trigger is probably low blood sugar as I usually wake up with it in the morning.

The only thing that works for me is Syndol.

once every six weeks is still a lot of days a year isn't it? I know it's not like you have a choice but do you resent the lost time

I wanted the magic injection they used to give, don't they do that anymore?

I don't know about triggers, I think mine might be stressful people

the dr thought falling from my horse and hitting my head on Saturday didn't help and wants me to see an osteoperv

Ive suffered with migraines since i was 11, and cluster headachers (which are different) since I was 15. Migraines run on my dads side of the family. As i've got older (25 now), they do seem to have calmed down alot, my last bout of cluster headaches was about 10months ago. I have to take an injection when I feel one starting, which is horrible, I hate having to give myself the injection (sumatriptan).

I get aura and sickness too, and visuals, like wiggly lines and dots when I get migraines. Horrible things. When I was younger, I noticed certain foods would act as triggers, cheese, chocolate etc.

But the WORST trigger for me, and still is bad now, is the weather. I still get awful headaches with changes in air pressure, and I usually know when a storm is coming (OH calls me a walking barometer)

Does anyone else find the weather is a trigger? Do migraines/other headaches run in your family?

didn't think about the weather, it was hot and muggy over weekend I think, already had a sort of headache which was blaming on citronella oil (spilled some, making fly spray but apparently citronella treats headaches rather than causing them)

maybe am not allowed triptans anymore, perhaps they don't go with lithium

glad it is calming down for you at last rightsaidfreud, I need to not whinge about it when other people have them more often

I haven't noticed the weather being a trigger, but I do hate really bright days...
Maybe that's why I haven't suffered too badly this summer.

I get common migraines, no aura, rarely sick. I just yawn loads and then boom the migraine is upon me. The only thing that works is sumatriptans. I used to be able to sleep them off but not anymore.
I normally get a week a month where I get a few migraines normally up to 4 in 7-10 days and then I may get some other attacks during the month- maybe 1 or 2.
I can't figure out the triggers. Sometimes it's lack of sleep but other times I have no sleep and am fine. Also some natural light can give me a migraine too and if its muggy. There's probably more but I haven't clicked onto them yet.

Does anyone find perfumes and smells can be a trigger? I don't get this too bad, but its one of the biggest triggers for my dad.

Alameda you whinge away! Migraines are an AWFUL thing, and people who don't suffer with them often don't understand. They can totally floor you, sometimes for days on end. and if you have a job where you have to stare at a computer all day, it can make them that much worse.

Mine are aura migraines, awful awful things. I feel dizzy to start, if I'm reading I can't focus on the words, then the zig zags start and I know it's time to take migraleve or co codemol. Usually stops it developing but not always. My big triggers are llights and smells, and tiredness. I went through a phase of at least one a week, then I got pregnant and had none, now they are coming back again :-( I find if I get a full blown migraine, two migraleve and sleeping it off are the only cure, the head cooling patches are good too to help with the after effects.

Migraines really are a curse, my doctor said that they can be caused by fast heart rates!

:) thanks, keep wondering if the dr prescribed such a stash of painkillers because he expects it to be the first of another wave of migraines or was he just being thoughtful (or is he trying to give me ulcers, or renal problems so I really have something to whinge about?)

am convinced a car air freshener triggered one once, but then once it is actually underway any sort of perfumey smell goes straight to the stabby pain area of head as with any sort of light or sound so not sure

I used to feel better than before once I'd slept it off, so this achey sick fatigue is new, like it's just determined not to let go

(are there any shortcuts to feeling better or do you just wait . . . and wait . . . and wait?)

Wait for the pills to kick in and drink water if I'm not being sick.
Lie down in a darkened room, if possible.

If I'm being sick, lie down in a darkened room for an hour.
Get up, throw up, go to the toilet, brush teeth, small amount of water.
Repeat until I'm throwing up bile. Lie down some more.
Feel wrung out for the next day.

thanks, this is next day I suppose, and would usually feel perkier than before but actually might have to go back to bed for an hour or two and hope I feel well enough to ride tonight

not impressed

teanosugar I experienced my first thunder clap headache a few weeks ago. It came out of absolutely nowhere, agony, I thought I was having an aneurysm. Stuck loads of painkillers down my throat but the pain lingered for a good 10 days after.

I've never had experience with headaches before. Hope it was a one off.

Alameda,I would go and see your GP
I have had migraines for the last 15 years,of varying severity.
Fatty foods can trigger mine amonsgt other things.
But they got worse in the last few weeks so went to see a female GP.Figured that females seem to have more headaches than males,so she would be more sympathetic.
She was.She has thrown the book at it.tests and all sorts.
But she thinks mine may be due to a neck injury that I have.
Your fall from a horse may well have affected that area.
I would ask your GP to investigate.

Sorry,just realised you have seen a DR.Misread it,thought you had spoken to your DH. doh
It might be wise to lay off the riding though,till you have seen and talked to the osteo.
I was sent to a physio who is helping me with mine.

My SIL swears by 2 aspirin and a redbull, apparently caffiene and sugar is a very good way to make yourself feel better, I tend to crave chocolate afterwards and find it makes me feel better, but it can take a week or more to feel 100%again after a bad one.

I have migraine with aura. More often than not its flashy dancing lights followed half and hour later my intense pressure headache behind left eye. Occassionally my aura consists of a blurry spot in one eye, I spend 5 mins cleaning my glasses before realising it isn't my glasses and chuck a co-codomal down my neck quick.

Mostly I would say mine come under the definition of mild (although they don't bloody feel mild), as I've only ever been sick once with them and usually I can get through them with a strong painkiller a cold compress and an hours kip. I wake up fuzzy headed but otherwise can function normally.

There is no pattern to my regularity, but excessive computer use aggravates them.

As an aside did you know if you suffer with migraines with aura you aren't allowed to take the combined pill? I've never been refused it until I went to doc last week to get pill after having dc4, she told me there's an increased risk of stroke, and I now have to have the mini pill. (cerazette)

HeathRobinson I'm like you I think, I'm sick until there's nothing left (sorry TMI) and must lie down in darkened room, sipping water through a straw and occassionally begging DH to suffocate me with my pillow!

The atmosphere at the moment is terrible for me. I had a 3-dayer last week, I had the sickness for 36 hrs and then the heavy head and tingly arms. I've just started getting the aura after years without, I get terrible pain in my neck and my left eye, and on top of my head. I probably have one bad one a month and headaches two or three times a week.

I get them if I get too hot, tired, exposed to strong floral perfumes etc and when stressed. I get at least one at the beginning of my period too. I've always 'suffered' with the atmospheric changes before a storm, as a baby I used to cry in a particular way an hour or so before a storm started and as a child I had headaches on stormy days.

I didn't get them until I was in my 20s, far worse since I've had children. Nothing really touches them but if it's a mild one, ibuprofen/codeine and a can of coke can make it bearable.

I was given preventative drugs by GP but didn't really help and made me ravenously hungry all the time!

I used to struggle on at work with terrible headaches and be throwing up between meetings. Now I'm self-employed partly because it means I can work in the evenings and weekends and if I can get childcare, I can spend a migraine day in bed!