Migraine

[outofpractice]

I am worried about Mum, who suffers from migraines. She has had them for say 10 years and taken all kinds of drugs and tried things like reiki and acupuncture. She even tried things like HRT and some pills which made her gain a lot of weight (which she has now lost). The headaches seem to be getting worse. She is taking pills about every other day, and is unable to do things which we had planned, or even to chat on the phone. She takes all kinds of migraine pills and lies down quietly. Dad thinks it is very connected to stress and wants her to retire, but she is finding the idea of retiring stressful too. I asked if I could help in any way, and Mum just says some conditions have no cure and I have to accept it. I miss Mum so much because she used to be so cheerful and have so much energy.

As a migraine sufferer myself I can sympathise. they are debilitating. i have 3 kids and very often, my dad has to look after them as i can't do anything. has she been referred by the g.p? maybe there is something in her diet that triggers them? i can't eat white chocolate or cheese. i take zolmitriptan tablets and use some new stuff out from the chemist called 4head which you can buy over the counter and use with other stuff. its in a stick which you apply to your head. costs 6 pound but i found it helped. Also, had she had her eyes tested recently? maybe she needs glasses or stronger ones. My migraines improved when i got stronger glasses. If your mum is that bad then surely she can demand to be referred? hope it all works out ok. take care.

I've had migraines since I was about 10 so I sympathise with your mum, OofP. Are a lot of the pills she takes painkillers such as paracetamol? There is a problem with them in that if you take them frequently the body gets used to them. Then when you stop you get a rebound headache, which causes you to take more pills and it becomes a vicious circle. Has she kept a diary, to see if anything particular triggers the migraines?

I'd recommend Migraine Action for lots more info. They are a charity. You might need to be a member to access all the info but it's very cheap, gbp8.50, to join. HTH

Keep trying different things!
Has she been to an osteopath? HAs she had a simple bood test to check for food allergies/intolerances? Reflexology?
Why would retiring be stressful do you think? If for financial reasons then the above suggestions might not be viable (unless she has a sympathetic doctor).

I used to suffer from migraine on average twice a month and they were 'go to bed, go straight to bed, do not pass go, do not collect £200' sort of migraines and I found relieve at the osteopath I now very very rarely get even the initial symptoms but if I do then a quick does of pills and a lie down works wonders.

I'm not suggesting your mum's will be fixed quite so simply but it's worth a try huh? She might of course have got the stage where she's given up trying to fix it and then it's going to be very hard for you.
Can you make the appointments for her and rely on a bit of emotional blackmail if necessary (do it for me mum? It upsets me to see you like this. You're making me unhappy because you're unhappy). Might that work?

Something else to consider though although I don't like to say it - could there be a reason for these headaches that your mum doesn't want to tell you about?

Migraine runs in my family quite badly and I suffer from them for weeks on end - in fact a migraine can last days my doc told me.

My uncle is on steriods for them and sometimes puts his head in the fridge they are so bad. He has had lots of investigation and lumbar punctares to try to get to the cause with little success, though they suspect at one time he might have had some form of meningitis.

I have no real advice, but I would keep badgering your GP. I have had to battle my way through GPs who insist it is the way I'm sleep for Gods sake......I mean these headaches are so bad I crawl around the floor on my hands and knees.

Thank you for your messages and advice. Mum is actually a doctor herself, so it is hard to argue with her when she says she has tried everything and there is no cure. She has seen a couple of conventional medical specialists, several years ago, but it did not help. One of them said it might be hormonal and she has been waiting to "grow out" of it. Someone else has suggested that it is to do with her jaw, but physiotherapy for that did not help either. As an observer, it looks stress related, but I cannot tell whether Mum is stressed and unhappy and that is worsening her headaches, or whether the migraines are making her feel fed up and avoid planning things. I would really like to persuade her to try some homeopathic or herbal treatments, because my attempts to get her to do "relaxing" things at my request don't seem to work, eg we had a lovely yoga weekend together but she got a migraine attack in the middle. Any advice for migraine-relieving Mothers' Day gift?

Syndol are really good for migraine but you do feel sleepy

Theer was some research done about body temperature a while ago and apparently when you have a migrane your hands either get really hot or really cold and you have to conter it - mine get really hot and I keep them in iced water and it really helps - I have had them that last for days and got all the lights and numbness but have not really suffered since ending my suffering at x2bs hands - so maybe it is stress??

What about things she eats - does anything seem to be a trigger??

My doctor tried to put me on beta blockers for migraine as apparantly reduction in the frequency of headaches is a side effect of them.

I found the homeopathic medication Bryonia 30c good for migraine. Perhaps she should see a registered homepath. I was prescribed it by my GP at the time who is also trained in hoeopathy. You can obviously buy it over the counter but a disdussion with a homeopath could be better.

My mum, sister and I all suffer from migraine. For my mum it's hormonal and has a similar experience to Bron's. For my sis and I it's food and the weather that trigger us. Cheese and milk are the main ones for us. If it is food related for your mum it is very worthwhile to keep a diary for several weeks. It's a pain but shows the pattern well. Also learning to take the pills BEFORE the initial headache appears so it can't turn into migraine.

From my Natural Home Doctor book - basic herbs etc. which can help are Lavender (tension relief), Chamomile (for dull throbbing headache with quesiness), Feverfew (preventative if taken daily) and Rosemary (good where stress is the trigger).
HTH

I get a migraine every month, as soon as af arrives. It lasts 3-4 days. It's always in exactly the same place, top right of my head radiating out from my eye socket and it's hell. I can just about manage it by taking painkillers every four hours, but I wish I could find a way of avoiding it altogether. Pre-children I used to take the odd day off work, or go to bed. Those were the days.

So, no solutions, oop, but much sympathy. Hope you can find a way of making your Mum try some more ideas to stop them.