Migraines

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Plymouth 340

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Does anyone else get them? I get about 1 each month and it varies. Its usually a bad one and its not fun. What do you do when you get one, i use ibuprofen but it takes about 30 minutes to a hour to kick in and its not always enough to take the pain away enough to be ok for a while.
 
A lot of people throw around "migraine" to describe just a bad headache. Not saying you are, but with a real honest to goodness migraine, you cannot move. You cannot STAND any light source. All you want to do is stay in bed with the curtains and blinds drawn and the covers over your head. I know because I get them. A real migraine is that bad. I have had good luck with Zomig and Imitrex. My doctor says nine times out of ten, if an over the counter drug will stop the pain, it is not a real migraine, but just a bad headache. For those I have had good luck with Excedrin products, but none of those will touch my mirgraines. Thank goodness, for whatever reason through the years, my migraines have diminished in number. I hope they continue to do so. Good luck.
 
I think meds for each person are going to vary, I dont get headaches or migraines very often, but one thing I have learned is that there is a pressure point in the fleshy part of your hand, between your thumb and pointer finger. If you find it, pinch it with your other thumb and pointer, it does work. It works as long as you put the squeeze on it. Good luck.
 
Try to back-track and remember what you ate for a day or two before your headaches. There are a lot of things that can cause them and certain foods are part of it. I get headaches that vary in intensity based on how much of a certain food/ingredient I have eaten - pecans & other nuts, straight wheat products, MSG (monosodium glutamate - a seasoning ingredient, like in Accent) found in many products, too much sugar at one time or over a period of days, food dyes (candy coloring) etc. Pain relievers usually don't help.
Couldn't hurt to keep an eye on this possibility. I've learned a lot and try to eat accordingly.
 
I'm not a doctor... All babies are born with a small hole in their heart. This hole grows shut by adulthood for most but not all. A new study links this hole to migraines. My wife recently had this surgically repaired have to wait a few months for results. She gives herself injections for the bad ones.Migraines almost daily.
 
My wife has delt with them for years. Pretty dehabilitating when she gets one. She takes the
Imatrex but it does knock her out for a bit. They are prescription and quite expensive.
 
Not all migraines cause symptoms the way Stroker describes.

A "traditional" migraine is an expansion of the blood vessels in the brain, putting pressure on the tissue around them. Which leads to the symptoms he's talking about.

There's another form, one which I suffer from: my blood vessels constrict. My first migraine lead to a small stroke. Nothing impairing, but very dangerous. For mine, Imitrex, which constricts the blood vessels, would constrict them to the point of cutting off blood flow, leading to a full blown stroke. My neurologist, finding out my wife used Imitrex, was very blunt: "take one and die." The same goes for OTC medications like Excedrin Migraine, but to a lesser extent.

A full blown migraine, in my case, is a visit to the ER, usually driven there by someone else, as an aura develops in my sight. My peripheral vision disappears. My speech slurs, I'm at a loss for words, I have a hard time understanding simple instructions given to me by the nurses and/or doctors. Yes, those are stroke symptoms.

There is no pain.

The pain comes afterwards for me. The first one that grabbed my head and damn near blew it up had me on the couch or in the bed for two weeks. The slightest movement made me feel like I was gonna puke. There was no light sensitivity, no noise sensitivity. Just the odd sensation that something was wrong, nothing was right with my world, and the pain was a killer afterwards.

Since that first one happened, about six years ago, I had a constant sharp pain above my right eye. It was a fact of life. Full blown migraines were just around the corner. They'd hit me with the consistency of about 10 a month. Getting treatment for 'em, in the way of two "baby" aspirin to act as a blood thinner, when they'd first develop was the way to fend 'em off. My new doc prescribed topomax, which brought 'em down to about 2 a month. The sharp pain was still a constant above my right eye. About six months ago I got prescription glasses. The sharp pain is gone and I've had one full blown migraine since. I'm still on 25mg of topomax and 86mg of aspirin daily. Until something better comes along I will be for life.

Are you experiencing the symptoms I have before you experience the pain?

Moral of the story: get your *** to the doctor and find out what the hell is going on. Stroker's migraines and mine are two sides to the same coin. Only your doctor, from the description you can give him, and the tests which can be run can tell which is which. The wrong prescription, the wrong OTC medication can be a killer.
 
I had one just today during the test portion of my CPR training class of course.

I get a visual ora. It is almost always to the left of my field of vision. Kinda looks like a snake made of flashing triangles curved around the left edge of my periferal. It is usually intense and makes it hard to focus both on objects and on tasks, like taking a written test. Nausia and sensivity to light and sound are nromal too. This portion usually fades after 15-45 minutes and is followed shortly by a pounding head ache with a duration of 30 minutes to several days. Which I always look forward to because it is way easier to function with an ache in my head that the ora that makes it unsafe to drive or opperate equipment, type an email or virtually anything else important. Some times excedrin migraine or ibuprophen works some times it has no noticeable effect on either the ora or the headache after. I've tried numerous prescription and otc drugs over the last 20 plus years with mixed results. Now I just do what I have to do to get trough it. At times a Coke or Dr. Pepper will help since they have caffine.

In short they suck. Some are worse than others. And in my experience, no two people have the same effects. Its very subjective.
 
I'm sorry, Robert. You're absolutely right......I had actually forgotten that was referred to as migraine as well. My apologies.
 
Mine are like Cevidicus, a strange multi-colored aura which kinda makes me feel almost car sick, then within an hour the pain starts. I found if I take any type of med with Naproxy Sodium, like Aleve, usually 2-3 pills, it helps. Doesn't get rid of it, but it makes it alittle more bearable. Aleve is the only thing that works. Also, I am stuck on prednisone for the rest of my life, and since I have been taking it regularly, I have only had one. Thankfully, at the most they have only happened about once a year. I've had one in the past 3 years, and it wasn't nearly as bad as the others. When I first started having them, I'd lock myself in a dark room under the blankets, just holding my head and moving my legs. I'd wake up afterwards, and actually have hair in between my fingers. I pulled it out without realizing it.
 
Never had one but used to get stress headaches. When I had them sitting in the dark in complete silence was the only thing that helped.
 
Right now my wife is into her 16th week of one continuous migraine (status migrainosus). It's been terrible experience for her and no medication has worked so far, the doctors say that it will go away by its self.
 
I also get the aura of a cluster of multi-colored lights before the real pain comes on. I've had them so bad it felt like my eye (pick a side) was going to pop out and it will water like I was crying. Also make me sick enough to vomit. I see a neuroligist twice a year to keep things under control. I used to take midrin for them but the feds made them take it off the market cause too many people were abusing it so now since I had heart surgery in Febuary I can only take oxycodine for them.... go figure take midrin off the market so now I have to take oxycodine???? :wack:
 
StrokerScamp said:
I'm sorry, Robert. You're absolutely right......I had actually forgotten that was referred to as migraine as well. My apologies.
Click to expand...

Nothing really to apologize for, bud.

These things can be serious, and in some cases, life threatening. Like a lot of medical conditions some symptoms may be similar, some may vary widely. It's best to stay informed and consult a doctor.
 
had them off and on since 1974. the eye problem is always the start. had the worst one about 8 years ago and found out that chocolate has been my problem all those years. old man is a chocaholic. hardest thing i have ever tried to do was give up oreos BUT i did now once in a while the eye problem shows up but no headaches.
 
GT340 said:
Right now my wife is into her 16th week of one continuous migraine (status migrainosus). It's been terrible experience for her and no medication has worked so far, the doctors say that it will go away by its self.
Click to expand...

OMG I am so sorry...get her help some how...... I take mutilple meds, every day as a blocker... check into triximet its 1/2 sumatriptan and 1/2 naproxen sodium she may be able to get one of these over the counter
 
chasduster said:
OMG I am so sorry...get her help some how...... I take mutilple meds, every day as a blocker... check into triximet its 1/2 sumatriptan and 1/2 naproxen sodium she may be able to get one of these over the counter
Click to expand...

The Doctor has tried all kinds of different types of drugs and none have stopped the migraine. The last few days have been a little better and she said that the intensity has lessen a little.
 
There have been some good comments here. Here is my story about migraines/headaches

In 1999 I started getting them but only had one every month or 2. I don't know why but in 2004 just out of the blue I started getting having them nearly every day. Saw a specialist and he said they were migraines and he tried me on several migraine prevention drugs, none helped. He did prescribe Maxalt (similar to Imatrex) and it would knock them out but it also knocked me out for hrs. 2005 was real bad and because I had to call in work late or take the day off so many times I lost my job in Jan. 06 and I have been disabled since because I have 4-12 per month. A year ago in Sept. I went to a different headache specialist and he said I was not just having migraines, some were cluster headaches (a lot of the same symptoms of a migraine but has some differences) and he tried me on one of the previous drugs I had already tried in 05 and told me maybe the reason it didn't work the first time was the acid reflux med. I was taking would neutralize it. I was very skeptical that it'd work but I modified my diet so I didn't have to take the stomach medicine and tried it anyway and man am I glad I did cause it has knocked them down to only 3-5 per month and the intensity is not nearly as bad. The med I take to prevent them is Neurontin. When I start to feel one coming on I pop a Neurontin and most of the time it eases up, but sometimes it's so bad I have to take the Maxalt. Get in to see a good headache specialist and get checked out because there are some life threatening things that can cause them. Their not always life threatening but you just never know. I know a fair amount about headaches and the different types and what helps since I have had nearly all types and I could write for an hour about it but it would be just too much to read here so if you ever want to talk send me a PM and I'll send you my ph. #

BTW: no over the counter medicine would even touch my headaches. They just made me sicker feeling.
 
The Ora and haziness a couple guys have mentioned is an Ocular migraine. I'm not totally sure what causes them, but they suck, and I have had them several times.

Last year I was getting really bad pounding headaches and migraines a couple times a week for months. If I caught them early enough I could break up 2 to 3 Excedrin migraine and get rid of most, if not all of the pain in 20-30 minutes. That **** works for me.....most of the time, but I was getting sick of putting so many chemicals through my liver and not really solving the problem, just masking it. Lots of people get migraines for different reasons, so once you find something that works for you, stick with it. Anyway, I decided to try a chiropractor on a regular basis. I know many people don't believe in them. Plus you have to keep going for a long time, if not forever. You gotta think that if it takes so long for your neck and spine to get out of alignment it is going to take a lot of time to get back in alignment, unless you have damage, then you could be S.O.L and possibly need surgery. All I can say is that after having adjustments on my spine and neck I have not had any bad headaches or migraines for almost a year now. It works for me at least. The central nervous system is a very complex thing and I was getting pinched nerves. Oh, I forgot to mention I have had back problems for over 20 years, so that doesn't help either. And NO I am not a chiropractor.

I wish you all the best. Migraines suck balls and we are all different, so like I said, stick with what works for you. Hopefully 2012 will treat you all better.
 
Botox was recently approved for treatment of migraines. Might want to look into it, too.
 
I have been having them for about 5 years. Got to the point I was having or getting over them every day. Took Maxalt and it worked O.K. Then I was put on Frova. Worked awsome for getting rid of it,but didn't address the cause. Then the insurance refused to pay for Frova. I am currently on a maintenance drug called Amitriptilene. It is an anti-depressant but is also used in pain control. It is very affordable and works most of the time. My headaches are caused by stress and nerve damage in my neck which travels up and over into my forehead/eyes. I take what Frova I have left when nothing else works.
 
not sure if my problem is a migraine or not but i have a shooting pain in the left side of my head from time to time ..when it happen i have to close my eyes and about cry cause it hurts so bad...never thought about it could be something you drink or eat...but man it really hurts and last about 3/5 mins and gone til the next time...some times its a few times a week then some time i go mths and no problem...
 
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