Help me with my migraines

[migrainemum]

After any advice please as I'm at my wits end with my migraines. I've always suffered but recently they have become more frequent (about one a week).

It's ruining my home life, and having to keep calling in sick to work. It's awful.

I literally cannot function when I have one, I'm sick and I physically cannot even lift my head.

My GP isn't really interested. Just keeps giving me anti sickness and various drugs to help with a migraine once I have one.

I appreciate there's a lot worse I could be suffering with but it's really affecting me.

Anyone have similar or tried anything that's helped? (Rather than the obvious dark room, sleep, hot cold compress etc)

Sorry for the essay!!

sometimes migraines are hormone related, mine were, personal question but what do you do for contraception? My migraines improved after having a mirena coil fitted.

I do suffer with PCOS, so not great with hormonal contraceptives. I had the copper coil for a long while but had it removed as going to start TTC soon.

Have a look into Riboflavin (vitamin B2) and migraines. It can help reduce symptoms by 50%. It’s worked wonders for my daughter who suffers from both abdominal migraines and head migraines.

Migraine sufferer for over 30 years here.
I take Imigran nasal sprays.

Sickness returned after being absent for about ten years. Pills that dissolve on the tongue - taste really bad but help.
Also chocolate allowed to melt in the mouth is helpful. As is eating cream crackers with salted Lurpak - lesser results in store butter - honestly!
Shower and bed on a towel but not dry off in a cool room is soothing. Def windows open.
Sleep obviously.
And the most important ime is a sympathetic /supportive dh /family.

do you see them coming?

I didn't for ages and then finally worked out that mostly any headache I had was an actual impending migraine.

I'd have a lurky banging headache for a few days, it would come and go, put me off kilter, I might take the odd painkiller, but nothing really would shift it then BAM...day in bed vomiting for eight hours wishing for an early and swift death.

I realised that tackling the lurky head early on could fend them off...so painkillers for 48 hours (ibuprofen and paracetamol) plenty of rest, plenty of water, avoid any aggro if possible, sunglasses on if out doors (bright light is a huge trigger for me) and it stopped it getting a hold of me.

Mine are/were mostly hormonal with the odd random trigger thrown in.

Also went to get my daith pierced about three years ago, just to try it, as the migraines were ramping up again (it's my age, is it hot in here?) but my daiths were inadequate, so I had a rook piercing instead, but in spite of the off position piercing and menopausal symptoms getting worse up until last autumn the migraines did ease off...so who knows if that helped!

Coil also updated late last year, but the first one (years ago) never seemed to help so not sure that has any particular sway over my migraines now.

Now my migraines are very infrequent, last couple have been because of light/sunshine and they are usually over much more quickly...completely different to the vomiting type. Maybe I have finally outgrown them?

Will look Into B2 thank you.

I have the anti sickness melt in the mouth tablets. Funnily enough I always have to have toast with lurpack if I'm suffering!! Not tried chocolate though but don't know how I'd get on with that with the sickness but I'll give it a go!

I had my diath pierced for the exact same reason but made no difference. I haven't tried the nasal sprays though! I am the same the headaches, every headache will eventually turn into a migraine.

(Although not nice for any of us) I'm glad I'm not the only one! I struggle to find people who understand, my ' heachaches '

You can be prescribed preventive medications for this severe migraines, such as propranolol, and if they work it's brilliant. Mine doesn't work at the mo, but I had a decade of hardly any migraines, so I would look at that given you can't get on top of them with nasal sprays/painkillers.

Thanks summersup I've tried propanolol with no luck.

It’s taken a long time, but I’ve learnt what my triggers are and try to reduce them as much as possible. If 2 or 3 collide, my sensitivity threshold is breached and a migraine triggered.

The main 3 for me are hormonal (just before period), bright light (artificial light of office in winter is particularly bad) and a stuffy atmosphere. If I can reduce exposure to bright light and stuffy rooms before my period, I can usually avoid them.

Too much really dark chocolate in combination with the above can also flip the switch but is not a trigger on its own.

Sorry, hit post before I could add that it’s worth trying to find a pattern in when your migraines appear - are they at the weekend, after a change in sleep pattern (long lie in can trigger), stressful time (ironic as frequent migraines are stressful in themselves!).

I’ve got triptan medication on prescription for when one does hit and that works quite well.

try the pre-emptive painkillers then...set reminders on your phone once you spot the headache and do 3xdaily for the ibuprofen and 4xdaily for the paracetamol. I usually would do that for 48 hours, but sometimes 24 was enough, you wake up next day and think "oh it's gone" and know you have beaten it!

Have you tried rizatriptan (Maxalt)? I have to take them at the first inklings and they work really well for me.

Have you tried sumatriptan? You take them when you get the warning signs.

My mum used to suffer with terrible migraines too. She had acupuncture and didn't have another migraine for 6 months! It's probably not for everyone (I've never tried it personally). I hope you find something that works for you.

I get a lot of hormone-related migraines. The only thing I have ever found to take the edge off is aspirin.

I now take topomax as a preventative and imigran for when I get them for time to time. Has reduced them for several a week to once every month or two

A long term suffer hear, you really need to be on a preventative at this level. I'd see if you can see a different GP at your practice who maybe more helpful. I've taken several different preventatives over the years. Everyone is different but it can take 3-4 months for them to work.

Something else to try is magnesium I find it helps reduce the severity of my migraines.

Don't take any codeine baised painkillers as they can increase the frequency of migraines. It's best to take triptains if they work for you, several have already been mentioned hear like sumatriptain but there are a few different ones you can try so if one doesn't work ask to try a different one.

I'm on preventative number 4 I think. This one is topiramate. So far it's been brilliant! Propanalol was useless. Sanomigran was great, but gave me sweating screaming nightmares every night for months so I had to come off it in the end for my sanity.

I'm also on triptan version 5. Imigran nasal sprays were great for years, but stopped working. Maxalt melts were ineffective. I'm on Naramig now which is holding the fort for the time being.

Google for the migraine pathway for your NHS Trust. Take a copy back into the GP with you and ask for more preventatives.

Keep a diary to show them. I printed a paper calendar and marked mine on them in highlighters. There were more days of migraine than without, which soon got the GPs attention.

After 20+ years of migraine, I'm having an MRI of my brain on Saturday because I'm getting hemiplegia symptoms, so they're ruling out more sinister things before moving me along the pathway.

I'm afraid you have to push, and t it's taken me decades to get on top of things and I'm not letting it go again. Kick them!!

I've suffered with migraines for 15 years. Used to be 3 a week, and I'd take a Zolmitriptan nasal spray at the first sign of even a headache and it'd be gone within an hour.

As you're TTC, for the 18 months I was pregnant/breastfeeding I had no migraines at all. I also felt the healthiest I've ever felt so I think my migraines are down to some sort of hormonal issue that pregnancy ironed out.

Now they're back but seem to cluster together depending on where in my cycle I am so I at least get two weeks or so a month with no migraines. Fortunately, the triptan still works for the other two weeks I'm plagued with them so I'd recommend trying that if you haven't yet!

Have you ever been tested for IIH?

I was diagnosed in 2014 when my haemoglobin dropped to 50 and needed blood transfusions. They originally thought it was a transfusion migraine but one lumbar puncture later and they knew what it was.

Not on long term meds for it but August was my last attack and 5 lumbar punctures and emergency admittance to hospital for 10 days sorted the issue out.

I'm 35 weeks pregnant and funnily haven't had any since then and I can't have my go to meds if they do come as ibuprofen is a nono.

Have you tried Ibuprofen and lysine- it's branded as Feminax but Asda, Sainsburys etc do it as migraine relief.

Could they be triggered by food? If I have too much cheese, plain chocolate, red wine or bacon I get really bad ones. Maybe keep a food diary to work out what triggers them, this could be half the battle. Good luck x

I've suffered before and I feel such sympathy for you. It was actually my partner who suggested I eliminated things from my diet to see if we could find a cause. We found it to be caffeine. I no longer drink tea, coffee or coke, I was such an addict too, first thing out of bed and Id drink tea, And I'm happy to say no migraines since stopping! Maybe it could work for you. I wish you all the best.

I suffer from migraine with aura and seemed to be
Hormonal / stress and tiredness related. Used to get them so often and would normally be triggered also by bright lights frequently.
Since getting prescription glasses with photochromic (reactive) lenses I have reduced their occurrence by about 95%. It's great for outdoors as they tint according to the brightness of the sun and also indoors they also have a slight tint to help affects from fluorescent lights, especially shop lighting. I used to avoid supermarkets due to the lighting causing sensory overload. They seem to make everything more manageable and not too bright. I'm a fair haired Scot with pale skin so sensitive to bright sun and anything too intense really!

Its been quite life changing for me.

My son's migraines were cured by chiropractic treatment. Neck tension was the cause.

You need to see someone who takes this seriously instead of fobbing you off all the time - the GP's response isn't acceptable. He/she needs to step up, or refer you to someone who knows about migraines.

Whereabouts are you? If the GP won't help, it's really worth going to see a specialist at the National Migraine Centre in London. I've done this and they were brilliant. They're the experts and will sit and go through a detailed history, then recommend a treatment plan for you. You do have to pay, though, as they're a charity and not NHS. It cost about £200 but quite honestly it was worth it. They see people from all over the UK and abroad.