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?

I've woken up terribly groggy today with a banging headache, and I suspect it's because I slept too much maybe being horizontal for too long I don't know. Thankfully it's not reached the realms of a migraine yet.

I have been sent home from work today with mine, waiting for gp to call me now. They are usually manageable but its been 7 days now with no let up.

I have been sent home from work today with mine, waiting for gp to call me now. They are usually manageable but its been 7 days now with no let up.

get aura migraines up to three times during my period (which in itself lasts ten days). So, hormones trigger it, but also stress, smells and dehydration can hasten the onset and deepen the severity. Got my first one when I was pregnant. Take Zomig but don't want to rely on them or get rebound headaches so am trying to sort out diet, fitness and hormones now.

Only rarely suffer from migraines ( thank god) but a lot of headaches. Ibuprofen has stopped working. I often feel that it is low blood sugar causing it, but I eat and it doesn't help. Are there any other useful pieces of information about the hormonal aspect? I am interested that it is a risk factor for combined pill. Is there any other hormonal contraception not recommended for migraine sufferers? And optimistically, has anyone found that an implant/ injection/ mirena has stopped their menstrual- related headaches?

Thanks to all of your for sharing your experiences and tips. Headaches are very lonely.

Have read this with interest as have migraines about once every two months.

Thought I had it bad but reading some posts here has made me realise i have it easy. My sympathies go out to those who have these kind of headaches for days on end.

Mine are always a week before my period. Occasionally I have a reddish pink aura flash and i have an hour or so before it starts but usually my right eye starts to go funny and i have zigzaggy vision out of it but a kind of blank in the middle of it where i can see nothing so if i am reading a book for example there will be bits i can't see.

I have about 20 minutes to take tablets and for it to go i have to lie in a dark room for a couple of hours - not always possible if i am at work.

I was also interested to read about the sugar thing too as I HATE full fat coke but after a migraine that is the first thing i crave.

That's how I used to be mizu

When I cut out extra sugar, the first 6-8 weeks were miserable. It's not like I was even eating that much but it felt almost like trying to give up a drug. I had terrible sugar cravings and got headaches and migraines the whole time.

Then my body appeared to accept what I had done!

I feel so much better now. I cannot believe the change to my life from where I was then to where I am now. I still get them but probably about 10x less. But I do suspect I had proper hypoglycaemia.

I used to also wake up at night or first thing in the morning with them but I have a snack before bed and that helps stop them.

Anyway good luck to everyone else. I still utterly HATE it when I get them and wish they could find a wonder drug that worked for us all!

Hi all. I get occasional stress migraines that seem to be hormonally related, but my ds gets them really really badly, BUT we seem to have maybe, fingers crossed, found a way of preventing them!!!!!! He started at age 9 with intractable common migraine. The first one lasted 6 weeks on and off, but mostly on (he missed 4 weeks of school). Then the next year he had a series of intractable migraine, then some weird (thought he had meningitis at first) migraine that made him completely blind for 2 days. Then that all morphed into abdominal migraines and finally into Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. Along the way he was treated with Ibuprofen (ended up causing rebound headaches), Imitrex (didn't work), Depakote+compazine+Toradol+Frova (worked, but he was high as a kite and fairly non-functional....missed 8 weeks of school that year). Along the way we added Magnesium and Riboflavin to his supplements (already taking Vit D + Multi). There is a fair amount of scientific evidence that Magnesium and Riboflavin work to help prevent/reduce migraines. The frova also worked where imitrex hadn't....health insurance considers them equals but neurologist does not. Anyway, once he started getting the Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome, we did a little more research and discovered that there appears to be a mitochondrial DNA mutation associated with CVS which is associated with migraines. My father happens to be a scientist who works on mitochondria so he had a colleague test ds' mito DNA and turns out ds had this mutation. So we got a referral to world expert on mito genetics and he has been treating patients with very high doses of L-carnitine (ds takes 2000mg/day) and CoQ10 (ds takes 500mg/day). They have no side effects at all AND since he has been taking these, ds has had numerous triggers (sleepover birthday parties and math tests seem to be his top triggers) and has not had any episodes of migraine (head or abdominal) or CVS at all. The specialist has had this successful result with all of his patients. I don't know if it will work on just simple migraine sufferers, but the l-carnitine and CoQ10 are so cheap and completely harmless, that I would suggest it's worth a try at least. (takes a few weeks to get levels up to working...so be patient)

I used to get migraines quite a lot; often related to tiredness/stress etc. but sometimes to food - spit roast pork was a guarantee, for e.g., and weather - hot thundery weather would often bring one on. Also, neck and shoulder tension could bring one on - a crick in the neck would be almost a dead cert but would also bring back my vertigo, and a trip to the osteopath would be essential.

When I changed my diet and eliminated a few foods, the migraines diminshed enormously - far fewer of them.

I mostly knock them on the head with 3 ibuprofen (4 if it's already bad) and sleep.

Last time I was pg, I think I maybe had one migraine which of course I couldn't take my ibuprofen so had to live through it; this pg I have had several, one of which went on for days on and off, interspersed with terrible sneezing/runny nose (luckily not both at the same time or my head might have fallen off!). Keeping my neck sorted via the osteopath helps; that bad one was after returning home from the UK (24h flight, lack of sleep, extra suitcase - argh!) and I couldn't get to the osteopath immediately, had a 2w wait for an appt.

My migraine can be either side - R side ones aren't so bad, L side ones are terrible; I sometimes get light sensitivity, have occasionally had the aura (once or twice had the aura without headache, which was most odd, just had the eye thing and this strange "fizzing" sensation in the bridge of my nose!) and sometimes been sick too. It's in my family - both grandmothers, my Dad and my brother all suffer - slight variations on symptoms but none of it pleasant.

My Dad's actually improved enormously when he started having to take BP medication; even though beforehand his BP had never really been high, perhaps it would go up around migraine time - certainly he's had far fewer migraines since being on it.

Thanks heavens for that! I thought talking nonsense was something only I did but a few of you have set me right. Saying completely the wrong words goes with my migraines if I can't get them under control early.
I start with aura, coloured geometrical flashing and missing bits of the visual field that moves in an arc across my vision over 20 minutes or so. Then, if I don't act in time, or it doesn't work, I get the speech disturbance and talk absolute codswallop when the only word I can say which is the one I want is 'no' to indicate I know I'm incoherent. This is followed by numbness all down one side but interestingly no change of side in the neck so if it's left lips and face, it's also left side of body (don't ask me how that works!). All this is followed by hammering headache and vomiting.
The first time it happened I was dressed as a pantomime goat in a rehearsal for a work panto and found it very hard to get anyone to take me seriously. I thought I was dying!
Simple paracetamol, taken at first flash of aura, together with plenty to drink and a sugar hit (ribena and a mars bar is good) usually helps to limit it at the aura stage and I just get a slight nagging headache that I can live with. If I don't get there fast enough though, it's the whole lot for about a day. Sumatriptan does nothing for me. Wish it was a magic bullet because I get up to two migraines a day for a couple of weeks sometimes and just want to be able to make reliable plans sometimes.
I know I'm not as badly affected as some of you but I'm in the middle of a cluster at the moment and am feeling sorry for myself. Cross fingers - nothing but out of focus vision today. Might be a few days before that comes right, even if this is the end of the cluster.
Chin up me, and hugs to all of you. It's good to know I'm not alone.

Mine finished at 8 days, but yes, the incoherent thing too. It feels like my tongue is too big for my mouth and I get all confused. I can't imagine getting clusters of them though!

Mine finished at 8 days, but yes, the incoherent thing too. It feels like my tongue is too big for my mouth and I get all confused. I can't imagine getting clusters of them though!

Sofia do you buy those in a health shop?

Yes, you can buy them in a health shop, or online. (I think body builders take L-carnitine) and CoQ10 is the current fashionable get-young-quick supplement, so should be easy to find too. We get the L-Carnitine on prescription as it's such large amounts and the insurance pays for it on prescription (we're in the use)...but it's the same as what's available in the shops.

make that USA not use

Thanks

Seem to have been clear since Wednesday but still feeling slightly out of focus. Anyone else get this sort of hangover?

My headaches are back :( although I think it's more related to the chest infection I've had for a month now - it really hurts my head when I cough.

Had a few dizzy spells yesterday and the back of my head felt all tingly. It was like having pins and needles in my brain. WTF

I've had them on and off for around the last 10 years and might have a few in a month then nothing for a year. However, since last Sunday I've had 5 which have all come on without the normal 'warning' (lights etc) They've all ahem, come on when DH and I have been 'intimate' and all of a sudden its like I've been hit over the head with an axe. Its always the right side of my head and I feel like my head is going to explode and it lasts a few hours. A friend suggested it might be stress related and when I have high blood pressure. I don't/didn't normally have high blood pressure but have been under a considerable amount of stress the past few weeks so wonder if that is the cause?

Hello MOS! Don't be - attacks after are actually quite common. DH has had them, it was quite alarming until the doctor reassured us.

Hi fuzzpig, but the thing is, its never happened before and its before you know what, its literally just when we get started. The only thing I can think is that it is stress related. Am seeing doctor tomorrow and hope I can get some answers as can't carry on like this

Aww MOS ((hugs)) :(

Hope the doc is helpful. Headaches are completely shit.

I mean