What helps you when you know a migraine is starting?

[Autumnleaves83]

Has anyone found that you can stop a migraine from developing when you get the first signs? I’ve realised that my first sign is my vision going blurry and black spots, then gradually less vision. The headache, sickness, etc. usually come after this. Is there anything I can do as soon as I get the first signs to try to prevent it developing?

Would anyone mind giving me some tips please? My daughter , 16, has been complaining of feeling tired at school and her hands bring too tired to write. It’s recently come to light she’s been having visual disturbances and now accompanying headaches daily and so we finally have a migraine diagnosis. We think it’s brought on by fluorescent lights (which are in all room in school). I’m in the process of getting her glasses with coloured lenses and she’s tried a couple of the trip tans (but hates the accompanying dizzy side effect). Can anyone suggest anything else baring in mind she’s at school and can’t lie in a dark room. Not even sure whether she’d be able to eat a salty snack or drink a Coke due to school rules. She’s doing her GCSE’s in a few months so we are wanting to get something that works in place before then so we aren’t trying new things in the thick of it. Apologies I’m not actually answering the op.

I had forgotten about the after effects. I always slept for hours, which was a luxury as I’m an awful sleeper, then I would wake up feeling absolutely euphoric. Like I could climb a mountain.

My migraines stopped once I had children, then returned briefly at the start of menopause. I sometimes get the feeling that one is on its way, complete with dry mouth, palpitations and a numbness in my head, but no aura or migraine has arrived thank goodness. I reckon mine were mainly triggered by shifts in hormone levels, but sometimes stress or bright light brought them on. My eldest son gets them from time to time. He’s a teenager, so possibly hormonal too. I hope so, because then they might stop.

For me it’s co-codamol with either 900mg aspirin or 400mg ibuprofen, a heated wheat bag on the back of my neck and a ice pack or menthol stick on my forehead along with a lie down in a dark room. All this has to be done within 10 minutes of the visual disturbance starting any longer and there’s no stopping the migraine.

Wrapped ice block in a towel on head for ten minutes and it doesn't develop or bag of peas...the extreme cold calms the blood vessels down quickly. Learnt it from migraine clinic as used to suffer badly now I don't

I have a small mug of strong tea with 2 sugars and then lie down with a Spacemask on. I use the original one, haven't tried the others.

Has anyone else tried them? I think they're tremendous - I always fall asleep for about half an hour and then wake up, migraine gone!

Taurine, caffeine and paracetamol helps me. As soon as I get a patch of visual disturbance I have taurine supplements, coffee and paracetamol (can’t take NSAIDs). If I am out then a can of Red Bull and paracetamol. Usually the visual disturbance stops within 10 mins and I just feel a bit spaced out.

The back of my neck also seizes up and an ice pack helps too.

It’s quite common to feel spaced out for a day or two afterwards. I am usually very happy but struggle to find words quickly.

Lots of really useful tips here and I do most of them. I had an accident last year and in the 12 weeks I was off work I didn’t have a single migraine! was having 2-3 bad ones per month 24hrs vomiting etc. I use a computer all day and switched to a laptop/monitor with a higher refresh rate and that really helped reduce them to every couple of months. Find your triggers.

2 x dissolvable Solpadeine plus tablets. Works every time!

Something cold on my forehead (eg cold/dark cap things from Amazon), something hot under my feet (eg microwave hottie, hot water bottle, or if I’m at work, radiator on under my desk!), lots to drink and an anti inflammatory eg paracetamol or ibuprofen and a little snack. Maybe an iron sachet too. I have managed to cut down frequency/severity with regular magnesium supplements and vitamin D which I massively recommend - the difference now is startling.

As soon as I get visual disturbance, I take paracetamol and codeine and it tends to move it straight to the migraine 'shadow' and avoids the actual migraine.

Darkened room.
And stay away from lights and screens.

Initially[well it took me a year] to discover fatty foods were setting them off.
I went to no fat, and each day or week introduced a new fat.
In my case, eventually worked out that butter and nice ice cream were the worst culprits. Eventually I could eat them as usual.
Nowadys I have few migranes.

If I can get it right when the visual aura starts and take 2 paracetamol and 2 ibruprofen, ideally washed down with something like a coke or a black coffee then that usually means once the aura has stopped after 15 min ish that the headache isn’t too bad at all. I can carry on with my day just fine.

If I don’t catch it in time it’s so much worse and would require darkened rooms and me feeling sick with a horrible headache etc. Thankfully I don’t get them frequently, but I don’t go anywhere without painkillers just in case!

The aura is such an unpleasant sensation, but I’m grateful that it’s the early warning because the migraine headache itself is just so much worse.

900mg aspirin soluble, one anti sickness tablet (Stemetil) as prescribed by my neurologist, and a pint of full fat coke cola and a pint of water (mine are triggered by dehydration and stress)
Ice packs to back of neck and forehead
Lie down in dark room and generally it works quickly.
I have tried just about everything but this works for me, I don’t get an aura or warning signs 😵‍💫

I used to put my head under the kitchen cold tap/shower in sheer desperation.

Ive had migraines for years with vomiting for hours

I take 2 cocodamol and 1 sumatriptan plus a slathering of tiger balm all over my forehead - then try and go to sleep. It works 99% of the time now.

I also get the excessive yawning and not quite slurry but I struggle to get my words out well, I have to really concentrate.

Tiger balm hasnt been mentioned before - but I find it to be great, the tingly pain from it, takes away from the pain in your head. Im not sure if that makes sense!

I don't get aura so I can't always tell it's one initially unless I start feeling sick. I can very occasionally head one off with most of these: starchy food like mashed potato or white toast and butter, using a facial steamer to steam my sinuses, having a bath to calm myself down, going to bed early.

However most of the time it develops and then I faff about for ages waiting to see whether it will go by itself (never does) and then take omeprazole and metachlopramide and triptan (currently nara) and naproxen. I faff because the medication makes me feel really ill.

If I wake up with one that I didn't go to bed with the methods in the first paragraph don't work, it's straight to meds.

Does anyone else get a weird cartilage clicking sound/feeling in their nose or sinuses when the migraine is on the way out?

Yes!! Me!! Non-stop. It’s a real thing.

Darkness. At the onset of visual disturbance, I head for a darkened room / put an eye mast on.

My son (now 14) has suffered with migraines since he was little. Dr’s wouldn’t help as he didn’t have them every week or have cluster headaches. However, over the years we’ve developed our own coping mechanisms.

He doesn’t have a particular ‘trigger’ so now whenever there is something important/exciting going to happen he has two paracetamol and Pepsi about an hour before hand. This is totally preventative and of course, and so far he’s not had a migraine when he’s done this.

IF he does get a migraine and we don’t catch it quickly then he will be quite ill for about two days. He won’t be able to take pills as he can’t even keep water down and he will be sick twice (very specifically) before basically sleeping it off. I can tell when it’s likely to happen as his attitude and behaviour hits rock bottom and he goes a ghostly shade of white.

As he too is going into more stressful times at school with mocks and exams, I plan to ensure he has paracetamol with him at school (whether they like it or not) and if he has a particularly heavy day maybe suggest he takes two with breakfast to stave off any possibility of getting one (fingers crossed).

I agree that fluorescent lights are definitely not ideal - they give me headaches at work constantly 😩. But I do wish your daughter best of luck with her GCSE’s 😊.

Maxalt 5mg, heaps of water and a sleep.

Yes. Yawning and a runny nose. I don't know why!

Aspirin is new idea, will try thank you

If I’m at home, I take two nurofen plus as soon as the aura begins, lie down in dark room, ice pack on my forehead and that’s usually enough to get me through the worst bit. Dull headache continues for a couple of days managed with lower dose of ibuprofen. I never leave home without meds just in case… been caught out a couple of times! Once felt one coming while parked in a supermarket car park on lunch break between appointments. Ran in to the pharmacy, skipped the queue (everyone was lovely about it!), got water and pills just in the nick of time. Mine are worse since I had covid a couple of years ago 😕

sumatriptan as soon as I have symptoms (visual disturbances)
dark room
lay down
preferably sleeping

Thankyou so much. And best of wishes to your son. I’m worrying about high much paracetamol that is since she has migraines every school day and she could do with losing a little weight (haven’t told her this) so a full fat coke every day is not ideal either. Feels like we a playing whack a mole!
so sorry to all of you with these horrible symptoms.