Stupid sodding migraines

[lizzieoak]

I have had migraines for over 40 years. Thankfully they took some years off in my late 20's-early 30's. However they came roaring back about 12 years ago.

I've seen a neurologist and she recommended magnesium and coenzymeQ10 & hats dialled it back a bit in terms of symptoms, if not frequency.

Yesterday, though, I had a mega one. Wiggly lights in front of my eyes, lots of puking. It was nasty. And the anxiety that comes with it makes me feel a bit bonkers. I feel very, very vulnerable and anxious about being out of the house & at work (as they tend to start at work - partly because I'm always at bloody work & partly because if I was at home & felt ill I could lie down and sleep rather than try to soldier on & get worse). So I end up spending 12 or so hours puking, in pain, unable to tolerate light & worrying that I can't go to work because work will not protect me (last bit not entirely rational, but anxiety is a symptom).

The next day I'm fatigued and have a residual anxiety about going in to work.

Anyone else? Mostly I would like the emotional symptoms to go away. I can tolerate the pain, but the panic is no picnic!

I sympathize as I have terrible migraines that make me physically sick and I am unable to do anything but lie in bed and sleep. A Vietnamese friend of mine gave me a head massage one day just pressing around my temples, my four head, the back of my neck and the back of my head and that helped somewhat. I also put a cold cloth on my four head and neck. If you can tolerate an audiobook, it may help to put you to sleep so you just forget The pain. Sorry I can't be of more help, but I understand how bad migraines can be.

Thanks :) it's comforting (in a not schadenfreude kind of way) to hear other people who understand.

When it was really bad a couple of summers ago I was massaging my head one night and the pain was intense but then there was a sort of crescendo and it started abating. But that was after days of pain, so I'm not sure if it was on it's way anyway?

Yes, cool face flannels are a godsend. Sometimes I keep frozen ones in the freezer and lay them on my face and the feeling is incredible. Distraction partly, but also my temperature goes odd when I have a migraine. My wonderful teenager brings me a cloth bag we keep in the freezer that is full of little beans and he tells me to put that under my neck.

I take triptans, but if I don't take them early enough they don't work. And yesterday I threw up & doubt they'd been metabolized by the time the piling started.

It's the anxiety I dislike the most though. In the midst of it (on top of being in pain) I start worrying I won't be able to work, but also won't be able to get disability money and this makes me feel even more insecure and panicked. Anxiety is a symptom, but knowing that doesn't help much.

Stupid autocorrect- not metabolized by the time I started puking, not piling! Heaven knows what the word piling would imply!

Lizzie, I work from home. Many people do. So please don't let that scare you. :)

These are amazing and they are non-medicinal.

www.superdrug.com/Kool-N-Soothe/Kool%27n%27Soothe-Migraine-Pain-Relief-Cool-Soft-Gel-Sheets-4s/p/937227?gclid=CJzB4r22itQCFQs_GwodAy0O8g&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hope you get some relief soon

I gave up chocolate, coffee and alcohol and drink 3L of water a day and had ear pierced in certain place and have been free for over a year.

Had ones calls FH migraines which had me admitted to hospital as people thought I was having a stroke!

Might not work for everyone.

i get the stroke like ones often as well, at least once a week its chronic for me now

Totally recommend this free course from a consultant neurologist

www.severe-headache-expert.com/

last 2 parts of a migraine attack

Glad you got relief @Twinkie1

Have you tried the Imigran nasal spray? After over 30 years of suffering they actually work!!
Only available on prescription at first but you get a card to say you are suitable and can purchase over the counter in an emergency after that. .

My DS gets them. Hasn't been at school since November as they were daily.

He has been having acupuncture and it really seems to have helped.

Things we have tried:

Triptans - worked twice but only taken with coke
Betablockers
Chiropractor- worked for me years ago but chiropractor doesn't think ds's are muscular or skeletal related.
Osteopathic treatment including cranial osteopathy
Kinesiology - bonkers but we were desperate and friends had had good results

The acupuncture has def helped. It's been gradual. Initial change was just that he stopped being sick with them. We are now down to two migraines a week. From every day.

Have you had your iron levels checked?

I had migraines as a teenager that came back postpartum, was given iron tablets for anaemia and they went away - came back at times I ran out of tablets!

May not be linked but certainly seems that way!

I had Migraines with Aura from mid teens to late 30s, increasing in frequency over that time. In the end they were pretty much running into each other. In addition to migraines I also had "normal" headache very very frequently, also increasing as I got older, had various medications, brain scans for tumour etc.

I very rarely get a headache now and have had maybe 3or 4 migraines in the last 10years (no medication), before I was getting 2or 3 a week!

What changed? I went gluten free (very strictly) as part of adopting a low carb Paleo/primal diet... for weight, didn't expect all the MANY health gains I got.

I don't have coeliac but I certainly do have a problem with gluten(or maybe the wheat itself), looking back I can't believe I managed to function at all with that many migraines. I know people are wary of the whole GF "craze" at times, but I think it's worth trying for a few weeks to see if it's a trigger for you... similarly, other common triggers such as citrus, aged cheese, sulphites in wine etc (sadly red wine is a trigger for me)

I get classic migraines with aura, but luckily usually less than ten a year. There are times when I get more, when we go skiing for example, or to the theatre, and I have had a few periods in my life when I've had a migraine every few days. That gets hard, because it's difficult to work or look after children or just do normal things.

I take naramig, on prescription, which I find does help, but I still need to sleep the migraine off.

The problem is that they can come out of the blue, with no warning. It means I am afraid to go to far on my own, in case I get a migraine. I will drive alone to a local town, but no further. I have a friend who lives a three hour drive away. I'd love to go and visit her but wouldn't drive it on my own. I'm terrified of getting stuck on the hard shoulder of the motorway, unable to do anything.

Thanks all. Basically I'm hoping I age out of them as they started with puberty, were suspended with pregnancy, and now the only time they go away for any length of time is when I don't have a period for a while (perimenopause, so they come and go).

I'm a bit reluctant to think about triggers as (for me( it has led me to believe it's controllable, and therefore my fault when they come anyway. I eat the same stuff all the time, so cutting out chocolate seems a pretty extreme response.

The magnesium & coenzymeQ10 are the only things that have turn down the severity for me. Most migraneurs are more deficient in magnesium than the general population - not sure why the neurologist recommended coenzymeQ10, but it's helping.

However it's 6:10am here and I already feel a bit off, so we'll see if it pans out to a migraine or not. Stupid period.

I had my iron levels checked recently as part of a general health makeup - they're fine. I am definitely not giving up wheat (!), and I don't think for my migraines that it's linked. I go to acupuncture quite often for tendinitis and did try for migraine (worked for tendonitis but not migraines), but maybe I needed to persevere.

The cool gel things look great - my skin is fussy though so I wonder if it'd like that?

I keep forgetting to ask about the nasal spray, thanks!! I'm seeing my gp Monday so I'll ask.

Mostly I want to stop panicking about work. I don't like my job anyway and this makes it worse. I've found out that where I live the employer should be sending me home by cab, which they should pay for!! Decades of this with not a single cab called - that's annoying.

In an ideal world I could get a drs note excusing me from work for however long the migraine cycle lasts (1-8 days normally). I get sooo stressed about work being pissy about me being ill. It's a neurological condition, migraneurs are more likely to get strokes, it's not like I'm fussing about nothing.

Forgot to mention - I had a cycle of migraines in March but managed them with triptans. You have to be careful with triptans not to take too many over a 30 day period as they can cause even worse (!) bounce back migraines, so I was cautious but diligent about using them.

I think with this one I became disoriented too quickly to react sensibly.