Tell me about your migraine...

[TartanMary]

Just emerged from a particularly horrific migraine episode.

Woke up at 4am with a bad headache on Thurs morning. Wasn't sure if I needed a triptan or just an ordinary painkiller but took the triptan just in case. Went back to sleep, and woke up again at 6am with the dreaded migraine pain... like a vice over one eye. Took another triptan and anti-nausea pill but by 8am I was vomiting.

The vomiting continued all day... every 15 mins, I had to sit up and wretch until every last drop of bile had been expelled from my body. Exhausting when you're totally dehydrated. Every sip of water immediately came back up.

And the pain! Like a drill in the head, and totally relentless - couldn't even sleep for 5 seconds to get away from it.

The vomiting finally abated at 10pm but the unbearable pain went on until around 4am this morning. I still have a headache now, and am weak, dehydrated and exhausted, but the attack is over... and I NEVER want to go through one again!

But I will of course. I know I'm lucky to only get attacks like this around twice a year. If it was more, I don't think I could stand it!

I have had horrific migraines in the past. I was advised to take dissolvable tablets at first sign, so I take Solpadeine. I’ve tried all sorts from GP but nothing worked.

Im very lucky I only get a bit of nausea but no vomiting so I don’t know how that would affect you taking painkillers.

I always have to go to bed. I draw curtain and open window, turn off lights.
I have a stack of pillows so I can recline half sitting/lying with a pillow under my knees.

I have cold flannels and gel packs which I put behind my head/neck and over my eyes. I will also massage my head and face (sometimes just to help change the sensation from inside my head to outside my head.

Lastly, I listen to the radio (usually Radio 4), very quietly and just using one earphone. The idea is that to follow the talking you need to concentrate on what is being said so it stops you just dwelling on the pain. It helps a bit in fits and starts. I also try to breathe slowly and ‘force’ myself to relax as much as I can.

If I think I may have missed a meal and someone else is around I will try having caffeine/carbs/protein. As I said I’m lucky as my stomach is usually ok. I will ask for fresh cold flannels/gel packs.

Then it’s just a case of enduring it until the pain starts to go. If I’m very, very lucky I might doze off briefly. I’ve been known to slap my head head quite hard just to distract my self from the pain.

The next day I always feel rubbish, like a really bad hangover, except that painkillers will take the edge off the headache this time.

My migraines have always been due to hormones. The worst was when I started taking HRT and had 4 mega migraines in 6 days. Couldn’t even get out of bed and had to miss a family wedding. Luckily post menopause I get far fewer.

Poor you, I not sure how you cope with the pain if you are retching constantly.

The only thing I know was that I had certain triggers (poor sleep, missing a meal, physically doing too much, getting super stressed, flickering lights). If any/some of these triggers happened just before my period was due, then bingo, I got a migraine. But then other times I wouldn’t.

Hope your recovery continues and do try to take it easy.

Thanks @Isheabastard for all those tips. Sounds like you really suffer too. It's hellish, isn't it.
I really can't abide any noise at all when I'm suffering an attack, so I don't think the radio would work for me.
I find the pain so intolerable, I can't lie still... but no one position offers any relief really. It's just a case of waiting it out!
I've thought about trying HRT, but as my migraines also have a hormonal element, I'm very wary... and your experience is a case in point!

Have you been prescribed a nasal spray or injection for the triptan? They come in this form and work quicker. I use a dissolvable wafer type triptan and it works much better than a tablet but been meaning to ask for the nose spray. Recently got told high dose ibuprofen when they start too so 600mg in one dose. It’s tricky when you wake up having one though because it can be a bit too late for the triptan to be effective. I’d get back to the GP as that is uncontrolled and you are suffering unnecessarily. One of my triggers is the weather 😆 total nightmare I feel for you they are awful

Lying still is difficult. That’s why I do the thing with the pillows. It replicates the position that astronauts use (I think?), in thats it’s a position that’s very comfortable and you don’t need to keep changing positions because one part of your body needs a change.

I find I need to keep very still because of the pain, but being still also helps me relax a bit more.

Ref HRT I was finally put on a low dose continuous patch which didn’t cause too much trouble.

The first one was a pill with a change to a different one (same pack) after two weeks. The very first course after the two week changeover was when I got the migraine tsunami.

Botox for migraines is amazing!!

I'm sorry OP. That sounds so miserable. 💐

My childhood was dominated by my mum's migraines. She had them so frequently but was a teacher & would never take time off. I was in the same school, secondary, and she would be ghostly white, barely able to see & vomiting between classes. She just made herself keep going (very ill-advisedly, driving etc).

I used to fume inwardly when people described bad headaches as 'migraines', knowing they were nothing alike.

I got a very occasional migraine in my 20s & 30s. In my 40s, clearly hormone related, I started having them every 3 or so months. Triptans really didn't make a significant difference for me, and the sickness was awful with them

For me, it's primarily focused on light sensitivities & aura - I cannot bare the light; when a migraine has come on suddenly, I've barely been able to get home, to avoid the light. The pain then develops right across my eyeline & my stomach becomes queasy & I'm nauseous, not usually vomiting. I can't sleep and lying down will only be of some use if I'm very propped up. I also find being very warm - like wrapped up in a dressing gown in a heated room with hot water bottle, type of warm - really helps, the idea of anything cold like a flannel is horrifying to me!

The subsequent days are what I find tough, I'm drained, tearful, shaky.

However, HRT has massively helped. It's much less rare and severe.

I usually get a sense that it's coming now, and often paracetamol with caffeine will take the worst of it away.

I feel very sorry for anyone who is frequently trying to manage migraine attacks.

I suffered hormonal migraines every month for around 15 years. I did manage well with the dissolvable triptan as one would usually take the migraine away, occasionally needing to take two. Before taking these I would be in bed for 3 days unable to eat. Have you tried other types of medication.

I had increasing migraines about six per month with very similar symptoms to yours. The GP took me off tryptans and onto propranalol (daily preventative beta blocker) and it has stopped migraine. Sometimes wake early morning with throbbing head if late night, stressed, dehydrated, stormy weather etc but goes by drinking pints of water and eating. Try propranalol OP? Also have you kept diary of when they occur and what you have been doing, eating, drinking etc to find pattern?

For twice a year you don't need a preventer and triptans are the best treatment.

I thin you need an anti-sickness to go with your triptan given how much vomiting you have. One of the effects of migraine is to slow emptying of your stomach resulting in nausea, vomiting and a long time for your triptan to be absorbed and work.

I have prochlorperazine from my GP which is absorbed into your gums - it's been a game changer.

Thanks all... I'm going to ask GP about betablockers. I get around 2 horrific attacks a year but many more potential migraines. My triptans do the job normally (although I hate how they make me feel -tired and irritable).
The anti-sickness gum meds sound good too. The nausea pill I took had no effect at all but my stomach was already shutting down probably. And the nasal triptan spray too... that makes sense.

@EarringsandLipstick Goodness knows how your mum managed to teach with them. Poor thing, she must have felt dreadful.

Only started getting migraines when I went into peri menopause and they are vile. I have to lie down and keep still because moving my head makes me feel like I'm going to throw up. The last one I had went on for 3 days and I still felt wobbly for 2 days after the migraine went. I've bought a cold migraine cap which helps the severity of the pain. But doesn't reduce the incidence of them.

HRT has more or less obliterated my migraines.

Keep a headache diary for at least three months , TBH two bad migraines a year is unlikely to gain you access to preventative drugs. If your headache diary shows you are getting one to two a month you have a better chance of accessing such. GPs follow the NICE and BASH guidelines to help manage headache disorders.

Botox is for those with a clear diagnosis of chronic migraine 17+ days per month that has proved treatment resistant to three different preventive drugs. It’s a bit hellish to live with and can be very disabling. Pretty sure botox for migraine reduction can only be accessed via a neurologist.

I can recommend the advice on the Migraine Trusts website for anyone trying to cope with migraines.

One word of warning about nasal spray triptains, they are like inhaling the contents of a sixth form chemistry sink. The taste as it hits the back of your throat is a tad unbelievable and can make you throw up. They do kick in within 15 minutes. Auto injections sting like bees and hit in very fast 2 to 5 minutes BUT they are very expensive for the NHS to prescribe. My GP winces authorising my repeat prescriptions for those.

It might be worth speaking with your GP about trying alternative triptain drugs to find the one that suits your type of migraine best. All are very slightly different and some work for prolonged migraines. Some come as melts that you can dissolve under your tongue. Antiemetics can help combat nausea but the better ones for severe acute migraine can be difficult for a pharmacy to source. the trick is to use drugs them before your migraine fully hits once its in you will have no choice but to ride it out as best you

I had nasal sprays but they gave me sinus infections