Any migraine sufferers?

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sev112

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Got knocked sideways by a migraine 6 weeks ago, lasted 5 days, massively painful.
Lost 3 weeks of work because had continuous headache, but a partial loss of vision, and couldn't look at computer screen for longer than a few minutes at a time and couldn't read - in fact couldn't see letters in words and words in sentences
Been back at work for a couple of weeks, and headaches almost completely gone

Then yesterday took day off in half term to look after daughter. Went ice skating and smelled ammonia. Went to the park, still smelling ammonia, then to a garden centre for lunch - the ammonia smell followed us.
Anyway got home, and then WHACK, really bad migraine just hit me. went to bed at 5.15 and slept until 9 this morning.

Hd a docs appointment today and told her - apparently smelling ammonia is not uncommon as a precursor to migraine.

Worryingly she has upped the meds, and suggested they, or the migraines might be a permanent.

Ay other sufferers? Any hints/tips ? Not something I want to stick with, nor the drugs.
 
I do, and kept getting them after golf. One of the reasons I gave up years back. Finally found out that it was not eating at the right time. If I miss a meal I still get them, but I am now careful with my tee off times, and if I do get one around 11.00 will always stop at the half way hut. Migraines are also the reason I never play 36 holes, as I would always get one in the evening. I have heard people say they have got a migraine when they have a bit of a headache. Any one that has suffered with them, will know how awful they are, and how they knock you out for days.

If I do get one I always try and get under the shower, as the hot water seems to reduce the pain at least temporarily, The temporary relief gives you a chance to sleep off the migraine.

Sorry to hear you are suffering Steve.
 
Thanks Rich - the doc said to get outdoors and get exercise, so grabbed some golf (incl H4H @ West Hill) during the period she had me signed off
Will try the shower tip
 
sev has anyone mentioned colours to you as a way of possibly managing them?

theres some very respected experts who are confident about certain colours helping to alleviate of ward them off at first signs
 
HomerJSimpson said:
The wife is a sufferer but hers is triggered by things like chocolate etc although she has said she sometimes gets a chlorine like smell before an attack but not always
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Homer, i read somewhere (now that I'm reading up on the subject) that chocolate can bring them on, but that coffee is understood to stave them off - freaky weird
 
sev112 said:
Homer, i read somewhere (now that I'm reading up on the subject) that chocolate can bring them on, but that coffee is understood to stave them off - freaky weird
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Coffee and red wine are also triggers for her as is skipping meals like Sev. I reckon I need to trade her in.... no wait who else will clean the clubs. Best I stock up on the medication and just be there for her when shes next ill!
 
sev112 said:
Homer, i read somewhere (now that I'm reading up on the subject) that chocolate can bring them on, but that coffee is understood to stave them off - freaky weird
Click to expand...

For me, it's caffeine - more specifically caffeine withdrawal.

If I feel a migraine coming on, I need to have a cup of tea, or a painkiller with caffeine in, or a few sips of coke... then usually it goes away fairly quickly. If not, I need to sleep in a pitch black room... it's the only thing that works.

I went cold-turkey off caffeine once and had migraines for 2 weeks - then I was fine and didn't get any more.

Now, I manage my caffeine intake... I can't live without chocolate, so I make sure that I keep my levels as constant as possible... not too much, and not going without some for longer than a day or two.

I've heard this is quite common so maybe check your caffeine levels too :thup:
 
I suffer with them from time to time, normally when I have not eaten properly during the day. Mine show themselves as vision loss first and if I'm quick 3 Asprin, prescribed by the doctor, knocks it on the head before it gets to being a full blown headache.
 
I used to get them as a kid, usually triggered by humid weather or missing a meal. Back then they were short and sharp, I was usually sick and then slept it off for a good few hours.

Now as an adult the migraines have taken a completely different form, I usually get them if there is a sudden change in seasons or weather. They can last for days and usually affect my vision, sometimes like looking through cracked glass but also red and green, like looking through 3D glasses. The best medication I have tried is Sumatripan, knocks me sideways and I usually pass out, but more often than not I wake up without pain.
 
I tend to get my migraines either in one eye, which is just like someone has stabbed me with a knitting needle, or in my neck. I find that really strong massage of the neck can relieve the tension. I remember going on a tennis week, intensive coaching, and getting a migraine the night we arrived. Some how I got onto the court the next day, but it was just about the most miserable few days of my life.:(
 
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If you look up the migraine project it might be of some help. I misread the title at first, I thought it said danny mcgrain suffers, specsavers for me. :lol:
 
I used to get about 3 or 4 bad ones a year up till I was about 40 years old.
Worst cases would involve numbness and vomiting.
Citrus fruit, strong cheese and dark chocolate I avoid to this day.
I think it is the combination of intake of different foods that can start a reaction also lack of food and tension. eg strong cheese followed by strong coffee.
For some reason bright autumn sunlight can also trigger.

When I stopped getting migraines I started to get severe hay fever.
Hay fever attacks stopped when I moved back to Scotland.

Horrible thing to suffer and sympathy to OP.
 
I've had them for the best part of 30 years. Triggers can be things others have mentioned such as lack of food and bright light, but I am also prone to getting them if I fall asleep when it's light. The worst is waking up too early in the morning and going back to sleep without thinking about the consequences. I'm 50/50 to wake up with one then.

I don't get tunnel vision or see things, but it is very painful to be anywhere other than a darkened room.
The pain is always in one eye or the other, very rarely both. I also get terrible neck pain at the back on the same side as the eye that's affected.
The shower tip is brilliant. Much to everyone else's annoyance I can stay in the shower for an hour or two when I have a bad migraine. Letting the water hit the part of my neck that hurts is the most effective, but sometimes I'll lay in the bath with the shower on my chest/stomach. Very relaxing.

It's quite rare for mine to last into the next day, although it's happened more frequently recently.
Usually I'll go to bed and try to fall asleep. Every time I wake up and it's still light the pain is still there, but normally the first time I wake up when it's dark the pain will have almost gone.

I went to the doctors a long time ago about them and never came up with a satisfactory cure (or prevention) but recently went again and was prescribed Sumatriptan (Imigran), which has worked well so far.
The best over the counter painkiller I've found is called Syndol, but it's not easy to find. It has normal painkiller type ingredients but also an extra one which I found out after I'd been using it for a while is a muscle relaxant. I guess they worked well for me as they would have helped with the muscular neck pain.

I hope you find something that works for you.
 
Yup, annoying buggers they are too, I find if I feel sick when I have one, then being sick helps calm it down, but then it's a dark room, lie still as possible, a cold towel over the forehead and just sleep it off.

When I was a kid, the Dr told my mam to avoid giving me to much Chocolate, Cheese, and Beef extract spreads like Bovril, I can add Banana's to that list as I found out in later life.
 
A little tip I found useful was to gently circle massage the base of your skull with the tips of your index fingers where you have the 'hollows' on either side of your neck. ....difficult to describe but I hope you understand.
 
I forgot to add, I get temporary relief (about 30 seconds, but it feels worth it at the time) by running the cold tap and putting my (closed) eye under it. Do it too much and it makes it worse though.
 
A couple months ago I had one that lasted nearly a month before I could take no more and went to the docs. Got put on 80mg propranolol a day and since then no headaches! *touchwood*....
 
I was a sufferer until I was about 21yrs old.
They would be brought on by bright light, ice cream, chocolate, cheese, smokey pubs, flashing lights, wet roads when the sun comes out, driving at night in the rain ...................... in fact, most things. Life was a misery, particularly in the summers!
The final straw was a migraine that lasted about six weeks, culminating in total loss of sight.
I went to bed & in the morning it had gone, but I didn't want to ever go through that again.
I decided to try accupuncture, which in the late 70's was really alternetive. I was cured!
Since my first session I have had two migraines, one a couple of weeks after my first session and one about 15yrs later.
I'm supposed to have accupuncture every six months, but, haven't been for many years ............................ and I still don't get them.
Accupuncture HAS to be worth a shot ..................... it certainly changed my life.
I hope this helps, I really do,

Slime.
 
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