Migraines

[dissentowner]

Anyone else get them really bad? My trigger is weather, any drastic change in weather but most often when it is going to rain can lead to as doozy for me. What is every ones favorite drug of choice to deal with it? I have no medical benefits so it's crappy T3's for me.

[Claeren]

I get them really bad too. My vision goes for about an hour (kaleidoscope vision) before the pain comes, and that is almost worse than the pain because i am so incompacitated, and then the pain comes. Usually the pain is bad but not horribly bad (with exceptions though, when i feel like i am going to die).

I find weather is a major trigger, along with glare (from the sun, off the snow especially - and sometimes computer monitors and tvs), msg, and artifical sweetner/aspartame.

But having gotten in pretty good shape now, and by watching my diet, i have reduced them about 90%. I used to get them in clusters, but averaging them out over a year, maybe 2-3 per month. Now i get maybe 0.5 (or less) per month.


I tried some big ones name drugs like Imitrex, but found they made me feel pretty funky - in Imitrex's case like the veins in my neck were going to explode. So now i try to get advil gel caps in my system ASAP and it works pretty well. AS long as i get the pain killer really early, my vision goes but then the pain never comes...


It is rare for men to get (true) migraines though, FAR more women get them. But too many people call other headache problems migraines - which can be a big problem in trying to prevent them. Unless a good doctor has diagnosed them as migraines they are not necessarily migraines....


Claeren.

[dissentowner]

Mine have been diagnosed as migraines and they run in my family. My sister, mother, grandmother, and my uncles and aunts on my mom's side all get them too.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Mine have been diagnosed as migraines and they run in my family. My sister, mother, grandmother, and my uncles and aunts on my mom's side all get them too.

Lucky you!

lol


Claeren.

[Torture]

My identical twin brother gets migraines and I don't.

HAHA!

[onetwo_threefour]

I get 'weather' headaches, and they certainly hurt pretty good, sometimes causing me to see spots. But since a coule of
motrin usually fix me right up, I've never been inclined o refer to them as 'migraines'. My worst are right before chinooks come, but I do get them sometimes in the summer before storms.

[badnarik]

i take prescription maxalt-mlt, and it works like a champion.

[I_am_Beast]

LOL, the doctors say i "could" actually die form mine, it really effects my brain...

I go through the normal, lose of vision goes down to 100% loss sometimes, really bad pain, body goes numb...ect..

then i get my own special surprise, random part of my brain as they said, kinda shuts off...they mapped my brain a fee times, pumped me full of dye.... fun stuff I've lost the use of my legs, my left arm, hearing, taste, my left foot once..... never the same thing twice, just a guessing game as to what happens next, one docotor saying it's just a matter of time before it shuts off something i actually need to live...

Tried all sorts of drugs, in my teens i was actually a test subject for new drugs, nothing works at all, might be able to control the pain bit... but whati find works the best, and suits this place... is Booze! once i feel something coming on, i have a couple of shots to thin the blod, and relax for 20 min... works great haven't had a full blown Migraine for awhile...knock on wood.

triggers can be anything, even talking about it will trigger one... typing this was hard to do..

cheers
Booze baby booze!

[I_am_Beast]

@#$% this triggered one...

[Thor]

Weather change for me, certain smells like people with too much strong cologne/perfume.

I use Imatrex and it works great, absolutely messes me up though

[Daradon]

Yup I get em. Usually the kaleidoscope vision that gradually gets bigger and blocks out your vision then the pain, but I have had the full deal ones too where you lose vision, or hearing, or feeling. Extreme nausea. Not fun.

But I haven't been getting as many anymore, so thank god for that! Used to have prescription everything from the nose spray to the 12 dollar pills.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by I_am_Beast

@#$% this triggered one...

I hope you didn't die yet. I need some answers.

What is your physical condition? I have been talking to a lot of people about their migraines since I started getting them a year ago. I've noticed a consistent theme. People who rarely exercise tend to get them a lot more frequently than people who get exercise 3+ times a week.

I tried a lot of painkillers with limited success. But since I started to jog for 30 min every day I don't have a hockey game, I haven't had a migraine since.

Shinsplints. But no migraines.

[Claeren]

^ THAT is hilarious, not only have i seen a drop in migraines since i started excercising/running a lot (as i said in my original reply in this thread) but i too have shinsplints!!

hahaha


I lost 40 pounds last year (I am 6'4, and a fit 200lbs now), and can't think of the last time i had a serious migraine? I have had a few minor ones (5 in a year+?) where my vision went a bit funny but no real pain - just that funny empty headed feeling you can get after a quasi-migraine? (I find it is not just in the head, but like a tightness in the front of the neck/throat?)

I run roughly 4 times a week now. I was up to about 6km/day 3 times a week, plus one ~12km session on Sundays - but then i started playing rec soccer in Spring and that is now two of my running sessions. The cleats are what gave me the shinsplints.


Claeren.

[Ice]

My doctor has determined my migraines are blood sugar related. I am mildly hypoglycemic and I have to be careful not to allow my blood sugar to fluctuate too significantly throughout the day. Until I was going to the doctor about migraines I was never diagnosed with hypoglycemia.

The exercise thing is interesting, because I used to get migraines ALL the time. Although I am careful not to start my day with a breakfast high in sugar, I would still get migraines about once a month. That is, until about four years ago, and that's when I decided to exercise every day in an attempt to make a habit of a healthier lifestyle before I'm older and it won't be as easy. Now I get maybe one or two per year, if that.

I just take four Advil as soon as I get that queasy feeling with a headache, even if the pain isn't that bad yet.

[pope04]

Originally Posted by Claeren

I find weather is a major trigger, along with glare (from the sun, off the snow especially - and sometimes computer monitors and tvs), msg, and artifical sweetner/aspartame.

The last one I had was last summer at the Glenbow Museum......the Telstar Drugs exhibit in all its twinkling, flashing glory set it off.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Ice

My doctor has determined my migraines are blood sugar related. I am mildly hypoglycemic and I have to be careful not to allow my blood sugar to fluctuate too significantly throughout the day. Until I was going to the doctor about migraines I was never diagnosed with hypoglycemia.

The exercise thing is interesting, because I used to get migraines ALL the time. Although I am careful not to start my day with a breakfast high in sugar, I would still get migraines about once a month. That is, until about four years ago, and that's when I decided to exercise every day in an attempt to make a habit of a healthier lifestyle before I'm older and it won't be as easy. Now I get maybe one or two per year, if that.

I just take four Advil as soon as I get that queasy feeling with a headache, even if the pain isn't that bad yet.

That is interesting about hypoglycemia, i just read up on it and i think i am going to bring it up with my doctor.

Of course yesterday, after writing in this thread and then 3 hours of soccer, i got a migraine! For the first time ever my fingers went all tingly? Pins and needles? And my vision went of course, but the pain was not too bad. But the point is, the not eating and then the pins and needles (which i read is a sign of mild hypoglycemia (or neuroglycemia rather?)) lead me to believe it is worth looking into.


I just thought of another trigger i had that i have managed to eliminate! I used to have a piece of gum sometimes inbetween meals, or before breakfast if i had to rush to work without eating, and i would get a migraine! The aspartame was enough to trigger them! So once i started using tictacs instead it was no longer a problem. I imagine that if there is some hypogycemia and some reaction to aspartame it is a recipe for major migraines...




Claeren.

[Kolbe31]

I get migraines aswell, but I only get them after I play hockey (not all the time, though). I've been told it's from dehydration.

As far as treatment goes, the one thing I've found by talking to people and reading on the internet is that different things work for different people. I had a friend who told me as soon as I know I'm going to get a migraine (my vision goes weird), that I should drink a can of Coke and take like 4 Advil. I found that this really worked for me.

I've been getting migraines for about 12 years now, and I used to get maybe one a month. Now I only get them maybe once every 4-6 months, and it's usually after a day where I haven't drank that much water, and/or I didn't eat that much. I agree with Claeren though, when my vision goes funny and I get this numb feeling throughout my body, that's typically the most uncomfortable part of the whole migraine process.

[Matata]

I find mine are usually stree related. But I think being lazy triggers them aswell, based on this thread.

I haven't found any painkillers that do jack. The best thing for me is to smoke a little weed and go to sleep. When I sleep i pile every pillow in the house on the bed to keep my head elevated above my heart, this drastically reduces the pain and hastens recovery.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by Kolbe31

As far as treatment goes, the one thing I've found by talking to people and reading on the internet is that different things work for different people. I had a friend who told me as soon as I know I'm going to get a migraine (my vision goes weird), that I should drink a can of Coke and take like 4 Advil. I found that this really worked for me.

I think its the anti-inflamatory/caffeine combo that does it. When I have a migraine I always take my advil with diet coke.

One thing I forgot to mention, my nutritionist and I stumbled on this completely by accident. What I refer to as the "migraine funk" is the feeling after the major pain is gone, there's that slight hint that my head and eyes are still not right and I have some residual queasiness, and it can last for the rest of the day. Mashed potatoes gets rid of it. As soon as I can tolerate light again, I will eat mashed potatoes and it really helps. I'm sure it has something to do with how potatoes affect insulin levels, but even people I know who's migraines are not blood sugar related find relief from mashed potatoes. It doesn't matter if they're real or instant. I've gotten relief from both.

[kermitology]

It's Advil for me. I used to get them really bad as a kid, they would make me sick and that would only make my head hurt more.

I can feel them coming on with pressure in the back of my head and take some Advil right away. Within the hour it's gone for the rest of the day.