Migraine suffers - how do you cope when you get one and you've got kids around?

[amousehaseatenmypaddlingpool]

First full on migraine since I had kids yesterday. My speech, balance, everything went. No local help at that moment so ended up having 111 call me an ambulance. Very embarrassing but I was a mess.

Going to see the GP next week but hoped that I might get some practical coping tips here. DS is four and not sympathetic!

When mine were little, I'd put CBeebies on with the volume low, give them a Bowl of snacks (nothing they can choke on - so no grapes etc) then make myself a bed on the sofa with cushions over my head, take lots of meds and sort of doze till DH got back, then just go to bed and let him deal with them.

Oops, sorry just saw the bit about no help. How insensitive.. sorry.

But - to nest on the sofa. It's the only way.

Now mine are older they are trained to fetch ice packs (always in the freezer door in easy reach)

Thanks. I don't have them often but I'm pretty useless when I do.

Will stash some snacks and juice boxes where he can reach them. At least he won't starve!

Have you ever found anything to ward them off? The migraine, not the kids!

If I'd had Almotriptan when my kids were small, life would have been quite different.

Thanks @Footle , I'll ask my GP about this.

50mg of sumatriptan when I feel one coming on and 50mg of topiramate every night to reduce them

Hope you can get it ( or one of the other drugs like it ) and it helps you as much as it helps me.

Why did you call an ambulance when you knew you had s migraine? Am I missing something. (I'm a migraine sufferer).

Rizatriptan at onset. Incredibly effective. And TV and food for children until it works!

To answer your question I let the children watch tv all day and give them the easiest good option possible. At the time I don't care and afterwards I just think they were fine, safe and enjoyed their day.

Take your triptan at the very very first inkling of a migraine. Don't wait and think about it or wonder if it will get better. Straight away. Usually stops it in its tracks before the craziness has a chance to happen.

No ideas about the kids as I don't have them - I've lost speech before and had visual probs at work. Absolutely no choice but to lie down until it goes away as not safe even to drive home. I am over the embarrassment now

How often do you get migraines? If several times a month you should give prophylaxis a go. Not worth it if only a couple of times a year.

Most common options are amitriptylline and propranolol - I can't take either but topiramate definitely has reduced my migraines.

I called 111, they sent the ambulance. My migraines never involved paralysis before and 111 thought it might be a stroke. I was alone at home paralysed with a toddler and all my neighbours were out.

What would you have done?

I only have them every couple of years, but this one had much worse symptoms than usual. It's. It nice when you can't remember it say your own name.

Sorry, I'm preaching to the converted here aren't I?

Clearly there's a lot of stuff the doctor can do to help me!

Sorry, my typing is still a bit weird!

DD gets really bad migraines. We saw a neurologist who gave us various treatment options, but said the very best thing for now was ibruprofen at the start of one.

She has been taking turmeric (curcuma), which I take for my arthritis, daily for a couple of months. Since she started she has not had a migraine (touch lots of wood). You can get it from health food shops in tablet form and it isn't expensive. We wait to see if it is a long term cure (at its worst DD was hospitalised as she had lost her memory) but it is worth a try.

Should have also said, I take this every day and it has made a huge difference. It contains all the supplements which are thought to help reduce migraines, in the right dose. If anyone does buy it, there is another brand with an almost identical name but it isnt the same stuff.

No need to get get arsey op. As a migraine sufferer I'm very familiar with all the symptoms. But I'm always 'raised eyebrows' when fellow sufferers, who should know better, call ambulances.

You shouldn't be raised eyebrows at people who call ambulances. When DD was hospitalised they thought it was a brain tumour. Much better to be safe than sorry. Just because you have had migraines in the past does not mean you are immune from something more serious.

French - I know serial offenders. Yes, more than one. It's a waste of precious resource and doesn't do anything to help sufferers be taken seriously. It doesn't help their migraine either

OP, as earlier post stated, sumatriptan is good. I take it at early signs of migraine. It takes about 2 hours I properly kick in, but when it does it gives massive relief. Good luck

If you want something that works more quickly User, the studies I've read show that Rizatriptan works faster and is more likely to work. It's definitely the best I've tried