Migraine

[PerkyOchrePeer]

Recently I've been getting migraines. I've had one every couple of weeks whereas before they were every couple of months and before that every two or three years. I had one this evening.

Previously I have asked the doctor to send me to a migraine clinic but each time I ask, they say no because my migraines are not severe. As they are now more frequent I contacted the doctor again and was given tablets. These are meant to calm the migraine and so it doesn't last as long without the tablet it lasts 20 minutes but I took a tablet this evening abd the migraine had died down in 5 minutes.

That us good but I am getting scared because of the frequency cy and I am on tenterhooks now knowing from day to day if i am going to get a migraine. H can't live like this. I am having sone blood tests too try and determine what is causing these migraines. I dont think it's food. I would like a brain scan but I dont think I will get one

I've not been rude but you have by suggesting I am wasting everyone's time

I went through a period of getting 5 a month. It was awful. Like you it was more visual disturbances and no severe headaches just dull ones. I learned to live with them and just take an hour out when I needed. I occasionally got them when driving and would just pull over when I could. I was prescribed propanol which helps to reduce the frequency but also helps with the anxiety. Cutting out coffee and alcohol has also helped and now I don’t get any.

I've not been rude but you have by suggesting I am wasting everyone's time good thar you dont get any. Was it cutting the coffee and alcohol that stopped then? I stopped drinking alcohol 5 years ago. Not because of migraines but because I never really enjoyed alcohol. I couldn't see the point of spending money abd drinking alcohol when you dont like ut just because other people are. Now when I go out I just say I dont drink.

As for coffee, I never really drank coffee very often. Maybe about 3 times a year. I do enjoy a coffee but I prefer tea so that's why I rarely drink coffee

I wa t to get to your stage where I no longer have migraines do you have to take regular medication to stop them occurring in the first place? If I could find a drug that I could take on a daily or weekly basis to stop another migraine from happening I would gladly take it, just like people with epilepsy take a drug to prevent a seizure

Your post has been very useful. I am going to see if I can have medication to stop them coming back. I have medication to stop the migraine lasting as long which is good but I want medication to stop them in the first place. I dont get 5 a month so I think they will say mine are nit frequent enough. Recently mine have been 1 or 2 a month a d another one 3 or 4 month later. There is no set pattern

No, you won't be likely to be given preventative medication. More than once a week on average is the numerical criteria.

You need to speak to your GP about management of these migraines though, as I'm unclear on what medications you're taking when you get an attack. Is it a triptan?

The medication i have is called sumatriptran. It is designed to shorten the amount of time the migraine takes and when I took it for the first time, I was a bit sceptical but was amazed to find the flashing lights gradually stopped within 5 minutes whereas they usually take about 20 minutes

The medication i have is called sumatriptran. It is designed to shorten the amount of time the migraine takes and when I took it for the first time, I was a bit sceptical but was amazed to find the flashing lights gradually stopped within 5 minutes whereas they usually take about 20 minutes

Like with the other poster, I am getting anxious because I dont know when the next one will happen. But mine are very erratic. A year ago I had a migraine one evening and it disappeared, and the following morning whilst I was walking to the shop I had another one but by the time I got to the bottom of the road and into the shop it was over. I was in two minds whether to turn round and go home until it stopped abd then go to the shop, but knowing g my migraines never last that long I decided to carry on and after that I was OK to carry on as normal. No idea what triggered that because I just woke up and went straight out to buy milk for my morning tea.

Very odd

The anxiety around migraines is common.

At my worst it was 27 days a month. I've just had my second this week and I'm absolutely exhausted.

Essentially, you cannot let this rule your life. If your unmedicated attacks only last 20mins, that's brilliant. Mine last days. You will need to learn to live with it, which includes not stopping living for fear of an attack.

Honestly, you’re complaining about nothing. A migraine that lasts less than a few minutes and stops without medication is nothing and probably not even a migraine at all. Most people with migraine have attacks that last for days.
Mine mostly stopped with menopause but I would have three or four days of crushing fatigue and depression in the prodrome, followed by violent spinning vertigo for my aura lasting several hours, then a crippling headache that lasted for three days and then several days of recovery afterwards. Some were shorter, but I was dealing with this 15 days a month at least. They were completely medication resistant and I just had to put up with it. Yours stop after a couple of minutes and you’re still complaining. Count yourself extremely lucky, if you even have migraine at all, which frankly I doubt.

Please don't downplay the impact of migraine just because some of us have it worse.

It's very obvious from the description that OP has migraine with aura.

It's sad when a fellow migraineur is saying "I don't believe, you, you're a wimp, suck it up". There's just no need for that. If you want to make it a competition, 15 days a month is roughly half of what I get, in a mix of hemiplegic attacks, aura which leaves me blind in one eye for days, vestibular attacks which lead cyclical vomiting - does that mean I can tell you you're a liar and pathetic as well?

Most of us with migraine can wish we had such short lasting attacks (my Dad has the same 20min attacks as OP) but they still have the full prodrome and postdrome cycle to live with and all the shit associated with migraine. OP is struggling to come to terms with their complex disease of the brain. As we all did at some time.

I said at least 15 days, if you’d care to read my post correctly. They rendered me completely unable to work and I ended up on ESA for years as a result.

She won’t get a referral to a migraine clinic on the NHS with such a mild presentation anyway because it isn’t having any significant impact on her quality of life, and such limited resources will be allocated to those who are much more severely affected. She seems to think she needs referral to neurologists and for brain scans and migraine clinics but why? Assuming it is migraine, she has a very mild presentation of a condition that is generally a lot more significant and needs to be more realistic about what can be offered. She has very infrequent episodes and has been given medication that stops the attacks within minutes and she can carry on with her day. What else does she want? She’s already getting the best treatment for her condition. What else does she think is available?

Isn't that the point of a conversation on here though @TwinklyStork - she doesn't know what is available, what she needs, what to ask for?

Not everyone has had a lifetime of researching the disease like I certainly have - I'm unquestionably far better read on this than 99% of GPs for example and feel personally able to TELL the doctors what I want, not wait to be told or asked.

Someone who has limited experience of the condition like OP is only just working it out. You don't have to be a massive gatekeeper or give out a massive attitude.