Migraines and cluster headaches

a68postcar said
i've had occular migraines all of my life.i remember my mom telling me i was too young to have a headache when i was around 5.i've recently started to put alot of pressure on my eyes as soon as i see it coming,and it seems to help.the aura goes away in 5 to 8 minutes now, where it used to take 20 minutes. the weird thing is that the headache isnt happening every time i have the aura now.i have a prescription for imitrex.and as soon as i see it coming i take one. it helps but not alot.i kinda feel like the anxiety i get when i see it coming is the worst part. i get bummed and frustrated and it gets worse. but if i rub my eyes and don't take my pills the aura goes away and the headache and anxiety are nowhere near as severe. i also have back/ neck problems. but it don't account for when i was a kid.good luck. i never met anyone i disliked badly enough to wish them on so, i still have them.

I've noticed pressure on my left eye (that's the eye it affects usually) does help some but it only seems temporary. I take Maxalt which has basically the same ingredients as Imitrex and it will usually knock it out if I catch it soon enough. But it leaves me totally wiped out for several hrs.

64dart170 said
Check with doc first but...
Headaches might be caused from back problems.
In the early 80's I had a roomate who was into healthfood, veegan & such, believed in total healing by clamping thier ankles into a gravity table, Now called inversion, company name teeter on tv all the time. I used to use it once a day. stange but effective. I wish I had 1 now! At 48 now, I am really looking to get the inversion style table.
Basicly, you stand up against, reach down & clamp ankles, lean back and the thing inverts and hangs you upside down. It does awesome things to bad disk, might as well say rebuild, & extra blood flow to head (after some getting used to) has a whole slew of positive benefits. Say good by to the chiropractor! Mine has never mentioned one, you never see one in the office, but when asked, he had one at home!!
My $.02, just a thought, but wouldn't attempt without doctor approval.

I've looked into the inversion tables. In fact sears sells them and they had displays set up and let me try one. I don't know if it's my uncontrolled high BP or what but as soon as I laid back I nearly passed out from the head rush. My BP usually runs about 170 over 100 even taking 3 pills a day for it so I can't bend over without problems.

homecloned said
I managed the local Play it Again Sports a while back and sold a bunch of these, great item to reverse the effects of gravity on the body. Just be carefull as to much of it is not good for your eyes. 20 min daily, just like most excercises.
Headachs can be caused but a number of things, stress being one, back problems, etc.
Has anyone tried cannibis to elleviate the symptoms? You can ingest it to eliminate the nasty part. Despite what is said it does have medicinal uses.
Sorry if that statement is off base with some members. Please feel free to have it removed if so.

Never tried cannabis but I have heard they used to use it for eye problems. I have only one problem with that. When I was young I was a drug addict and when I finally quit I swore an oath to never touch it again. that was 89 and I'm 100% clean since. Even if I knew it would help I'm not sure I could do it. Even taken internally like you mentioned. I appreciate the thought. I know it was meant with good intent.

RPM said
There is a local guy in town here, who happened to be a recipient of one of those houses that Ty Pennington builds for people on tv. They got the house because the guy was pretty much disabled with horrible cluster headaches. That all happened like... 2 years ago. Well he was just recently back in the news where it has been so bad with the cluster headaches that he hasnt been able to work and was going to lose this nice home. Strangely.. the community got together (again) and scraped enough money through donations to help that family save their house. Not only that they raised enough money to pay his medical bills AND pay for a major surgery that they think will cure him. So far after the surgery... things look promising. Just like on this site... people came together to help another human out. I keep losing faith in this world as a human and it keeps getting restored as I see these acts.

-RPM

I hope he does good. Sounds like he sure lives in a good community. I also lost my job due to missing work from the migraines. I worked there 11 yrs. and had numerous customers ask for me by name cause they knew I'd do them right and even that wasn't enough. You know how it is with some places. If they can't get rich off of you your nothing.

Xstream_1 said
I have clusters. As a matter of fact I am going through them now. Sometimes I will go a couple of years without them and then tey will start and last as long as several months. Mine only occur when I go to sleep, including naps, they start almost exactly the same time every night and sometimes I will have 4 or 5 a night. I have tried everything, steroids, ergotamine, Imatrex, my Wife is a Chiropractor and some times she can help a bit, but not always. Something I have been doing lately and it seems to help is I take Benadryl before I go to bed. I use the sinus headache and allergy formula. It doesn't always stop them but it definitely decreases the intensity.
I feel for you brother! They are so frustrating to deal with and really sap the energy out of you. It's really hard for anyone that doesn't have them or isn't close to someone who does to really understand the pain that they cause. The only way I can describe them to anyone to tell them to imagine having a brain freeze, like eating ice cream to fast, that last for 45 minutes to an hour.
One more thing, stay away from all alcohol, and I mean all including most mouthwashes and cold medicines! PM me if you want to talk about them.
I'll be sure to pray for you!

Garland

That's how mine do too except I haven't gotten any good time off from them. The longest I've went in the last 5 yrs. is 3 weeks without a flare up. Sometimes they're really bad and I will have a 2-3 day flare up then a couple days off then another 3-4 days of them. I don't drink at all but do use mouthwash once in a while. Never though about it but I'll keep it in mind. Rest of this week I'm pretty booked up but early next week I'll pm you. Thanks for the prayers. Prayers are all I feel has gotten me through this.

RedFish said
The worst headache I ever had was right after I had 2 discs in my neck removed and replaced with donor bone. it was explained to me that the loss of ceribrial fluid lets the brain sink, thus the headache. Mine lasted 3&1/2 days.
Could it be that an increase in ceribrial fluid pressure would do the same ?
A shrinking spinal column could inrease the fluid pressure.

Wow that sounds painful. I'd bet an increase in fluid could cause more pressure. I have lost almost an inch due to the disc problems so maybe that has something to do with it.

RedScampi said
I have headaches all the time. I blame much of it on sinus issues and (don't laugh) weather changes. My headaches usually happen when the weather clouds up and gets rainy, often at night while I'm asleep. I wake up with a so-so headache but by the time I'm up and moving it gets much much worse. I can take drugs like Ibuprofen, Aspirin or Tylenol to blunt the pain but it always leaves me feeling drained and worthless. I usually don't feel better until I've slept for an hour or two. This occurs on a very frequent basis, as much as a couple of times a week in the rainy season but much less often in the summer. I have found that using breath-rite strips to keep my sinuses open and making an effort to sleep on my back has helped some. I also saw a specialist and he told me I had a somewhat deviated septum and therese things called turbinates that were pinched together that might be causing the headaches. He said he could fix it but I'm not sure I want sharp instruments so close to my brain. I need all the cells I have!

I know weather changes and sinuses can have an impact. I can always tell when a front is coming through. I use the Breath Right strips also. Does help some and lets the wife get some rest from my snoring.

ramcharger said
Tracy,

It's interesting that you say that these headaches happen while watching TV or using the computer. It makes me think that it may be vision induced, have you seen an eye doctor lately?

Yeah I just got new glasses a couple months ago. I also have special computer glasses. They happen alot of other times also. They can hit just in the middle of the day. Or I may feel fine for days then one eve. when I go to bed I wake up 2 or 3 hrs. later with a migraine or cluster headache.