migraine - Who gets them? You got one?

[Starscream]

I searched the forums and I did not see a dedicated thread to this topic.

 

I get migraine.

 

I have had them since I was a child - I would call them light headaches because I could not stand the light. People I think thought I meant I had a light headache - as in not that bad. I was about 8 or something, grammar was not my forte back then. It's not really that now - but that's a different thread.

 

As a child I had one so bad, my mum came to get me from school, threw a blanket over my head, belted me into a car and drove me to the hospital. My memory on this his sketchy. I recall being put in a darkened room at school but the teachers were puzzled by me because I was in tears from a "bad headache" - my mum understood, she gets them and her mother, my grandmother, also got them. My sister, also get them.

 

I was taken to hospital later for tests for migraine and it was confirmed. I forget the tests exactly.

 

My triggers for the migraine are - I'd say few in number but ones that I cannot easily avoid. I do have some avoidable triggers - at least ones I know how much I can have before I trigger one.

 

Triggers:

Unavoidable:

 

Perfumes:

There is a specific fragrance that will spell instant migraine. But I am not sure of what it is called. I know what it smells like. It could also be a body wash because that was what my co-worker said when I confronted her about the smell.

 

Burn or smoke smells:

Cigarette smoke can trigger migraine - not always but it has been known to trigger instant nosebleeds for me. My oven can trigger a migraine if it needs to be cleaned. In particular burning chicken fat has the smell that will trigger.

 

Season Change / weather:

Autumn and Spring are my worst times of year for clusters of migraine. I get smaller clusters winter and summer change, but the shift between bad weather and pleasant is at war during spring and autumn and the days can shift between nice and rotten rapidly causing rapid onsets of these horrible headaches.

Weather is one that - where it is a focus of the season change - a change from fair weather to a thunderstorm later in the evening is bound to set one off. Not always - but often.

 

Quite often if its a weather trigger, I will phone my mum (who is getting less and less as she is getting older) my sister or ask my husband - got a migraine today? more often than not we are one mutually miserable group just prior to a weather change.

This is my biggest and most unavoidable trigger I have.

 

 

Avoidable Triggers:

 

Red wine:

Red wine can trigger my migraine, but I have learned how much I can drink of it before I trigger one. Two glasses of red wine are about what I can have. For safety sake, I stick to one glass. I believe the amount of wine per glass is less than 250 ml but I would actually have to measure the next time wine is presented to me. It is also based on the type of red wines too.

 

When I was at culinary school we had to taste wines, and reds were a wine I typically did not finish our sampling of because I knew it stood a chance to trigger and I had a class in the afternoon. I am pretty sure the young red wines have the greatest potential to set my migraine off.

 

When too much red wine is ingested the result is nothing short of agonising. There is a distinct difference between the migraine and the hangover. To have both is unpleasant and I cannot deal with the hangover until that migraine is under control I have had two brutal red wine triggered migraines (both my fault entirely) And both were worst pain I have had to endure outside of the 4 day migraine.

 

Other food triggers:

I am actually quite blessed as I have not found myself to have any other food related triggers. My mum is set off by milk chocolate and red wine and my sister is set off by raspberry juice - she can drink red wine.

 

My Migraine Stages.

 

There are apparently 4 stages to a migraine.

 

prodrome

Aura

Migirnae

Postdrome

 

To date I have no idea if I get a prodrome or what I would be looking at to determine if I get one. I usually treat for a potential migraine in Aura Stage. I do not get the fortifications often (flashy jaggy light things) But I get super sensitive to smell prior to a migraine.

I mean SUPER SENSITIVE. At that point any smell is apt to start a migraine, my above stated trigger smells will-absolutely. I cam smell clovers in a field of grass from 15 feet. Body odours, feet, food just starting to go off that no one else can smell. But I can detect the offness, usually a few hour later others can detect it.

Smells become overpoweringly bad. typically pleasant smells and unpleasant smells my favourite smell - coffee - can be simply nauseating at this stage. Hot dogs, and popcorn smells have been known to set me throwing up - its that strong. I enjoy these foods on a normal day. And Peanut butter... my husband literally lives off peanut butter and this one smell I can't stand. I have to tell him, "I'm getting a migraine, please refrain from eating peanut butter until its gone."

 

Typically as soon as I realise I am getting the signs for a migraine, I take something to avoid getting the migraine. My doctor advised that as soon as I am aware a migraine is taking place to treat it then and I could avoid a more severe onslaught. He said that an ant acid - was it eno? contains aspirin in it, and if I drink that, the stomach can absorb the medicine before the stomach shuts off. (vile stuff) I take some pills and hope for the best.

 

The migraine stage: This is the bit that pretty much everyone is familiar with. the brutal headache, that throbs - typicality in one side of my face crawling down to my teeth giving me this sort of half sided numb-pain like feeling that is simply unpleasant. Pills are taken and bed happens - usually with curtains drawn tightly and blankets piled on my head and eyes.

 

But my migraines are not only situated in my head. I have had stomach migraines (rare) Ocular migraines (flashing lightning in my vision for a week with no pain)... and a Foot Migraine. (only once). Migraine do not have to be just in the head - that is typical for them. My doctor told me that since they are a "dilation of blood vessels, they can happen anywhere where there are blood vessels" or words to that effect.

 

Postdrome: is not fun. The pain is gone, the face feels surreal and numb but I feel like I have run a marathon. I am utterly, totally drained. I called it Post migraine drain before I knew there was actually a word for it. I am too tired to do anything else but sleep at this stage.

 

That is my tour of how migraines affect me. I am different in that I can understand minute changes in my body and understand what is about to happen. Migraine is one that I have had decades of experience with to see the warning signs.

 

I find the worst of it is, when I see the signs, and I am unable to take action is where my worst migraines lie.

 

I take: Ibuprofen and Axert (migraine specific medication but very expensive)

 

typically I use this flow chart to deal with a headache in progress its how I decide what is the cause:

 

Do I have a headache?

Yes: Drink a couple glasses of water or juice.

 

Did this help?

Yes: Cause was dehydration

No: Drink Coffee

 

Did Drinking coffee help?

Yes: Coffee Addict you.

No: Take Ibuprofen or aspirins.

 

Did the Pain pills help?

Yes: you win.

No: Take the migraine medication.

Yes, but then it returned: Take Migraine medication.

 

Did that migriane pill work?

Yes: Yay!

No: its something else or its a weather trigger, and that pill cost you 18 bucks....ow. :/ Phone your family members and see if they are in your boat.

 

Why am I bringing this topic up? I just did that flow chart yesterday. To the no result of the migraine pill. I think the weather is about to shift :/ I am in a fade phase of it right now. But if I start to move about it will resurge.

 

Other notes:

I have also found that people who do not get migraine have no idea why taking a couple Tylenol ( I can't take those) won't help. They are typically take a pill and suck it up people. But they have no frame of reference for how unpleasant it is, and it really cannot be described the "Ice pick" I think describes how isolated the affected area is, but as to how the pain is no where near the mark.

 

My stepfather was one of those people who never even got a headache - lucky man. But he had seen how migraine affected my mother, myself, my sister. He understood what we went through was not fun and he did what he could to help us out.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Starscream

[Fuzzbucket]

I get them - but not as often since menopause (assuming that happened; I AM 69, but have had - um - no way to tell for sure since 1984 !)

 

Avoidable Triggers:

Cheap red wine (it's the congeners; at parties I have to run with white unless I know the host well enough to ask how much it cost !!!)

Stress

Not enough sleep

Missing too many meals (this only sometimes happens and drives me nuts as I am HAPPY to miss them, but it can have results !

 

I THINK air pressure can have an effect but have never been paying attention well enough to tell... I'm sure there are others.

 

Never QUITE sure about the prodrome; I do usually have a nasty feeling one is on the way. (I'm also not sure about dividing the whole experience up that neatly.)

 

My first for sure indication is little circles of tiny tiny spinning lights blotting out parts of my vision. These days, at that point, I usually take ibuprofen and repeat every hour or so.

 

If it gets REALLY awful, I take my Real Stuff - Cafergot plain. But I feel so vile the day after that I will do almost anything not to. Coffee can help as long as I take it WITH meds. On its own it makes it all worse. I can't take aspirin, and paracetamol/acetaminophen does NOTHING. So there I am TOTALLY with you - it isn't the thing for migraine (ASA and Ibuprofen are antinflammatories, ad I assume that is what makes the difference.)

 

The vision thing will usually spread happily, and I'll get black patches over parts of my sight - if I'm lucky, these will start to dissipate sort of in the order they appeared (as in while they are starting up at one side, they will be dissipating on the other) and I will just be left feeling horribly sick and with - yes - amazingly - a blinding headache on one side - it sort of SQUEEZES my eye in a very nasty way. I do get a little confused, but as I am also deaf, few people notice - they just assume I didn't hear - as usual.

 

That is just something to live with. If I have to I will go and lie down for a nap.

 

In the "olden days" before I got this down pat, when the lights started, I'd know I had EXACTLY 20 minutes to get home/somewhere else before I was totally blind for a while. A pain in the neck, that.

 

The next day I will have a blinding headache on the other side (makes sense, blood-vessel-wise) and have to pee CONSTANTLY. I will also feel very cold.

 

Ha. People who don't understand. They are the living END. I've had a kidney stone once or twice - passed naturally owwwwwwwwwwwwww. I told someone once - I would rather that than a migraine - not least because of the INSTANT relief when it drops out of you !I think she FINALLY got the point !

 

My commiserations, Lord Star.

Edited July 25, 2014 by fuzzbucket

[Thuban]

Yep. I get different types, based on the trigger thats causing it.

 

Things that affect blood pressure are surefire triggers every time.

 

Stress (as a result of panic attacks and similar situations): I normally have stupidly low blood pressure. "Normal" blood pressure is HIGH for me. When it goes up, I get a tension headache bad enough to lock my neck and shoulder up If my blood pressure comes down slowly, the tension headache will eventually change, to be a migraine that sits on the right side, in the jaw/ear area, just behind the ear.

(While its still a headache, it gets treated with a salty snack, a bottle of water, a bit of fruit, and 400- 800mg of ibuprofen. If it starts to move into migraine territory, I have stretches I learned at PT, and a muscle relaxer that I can take on doc's orders. Once its full blown migraine however, I have to make the choice between riding it out, or taking a tylenol based medication that my doc gave me.)

 

If you are scratching your head at what I do while its a tension headache, there is an explanation for that. When my blood sugar drops, or my blood pressure tanks, both things cause a similar physical reaction for it. Since I am not always quite sure what is causing the reaction, I treat them all at once. Salt + water to raise blood pressure a little, sweet for the sugar, and if theres still pain, then I smack it with Ibuprofen, and wait.

 

Weather:

 

Really not much you can do here. Weather based migraines sit in the center of my head, and refuse to go away, even with awesome meds. A few years ago, I figured out that antihistamines worked much better for me, than the good meds.

I usually go straight to 2 tylenol PM OR a dose of benedryl (the PM in most medications tends to be benedryl, so its one or the other)

 

Websites with light colored backgrounds... whenever possible, i prefer to have everything i view in dark backgrounds. I love black with white font. It doesnt hurt me as badly.

 

I'd post more, but.. headache

[Spottedleaf]

I had one at school once. Not fun at all. I couldn't leave because I had tests t o take. And then another one I had I woke up with it one morning before school but Ithought it was just a headache so I told my mom and she said my forehead felt warm. I wound up not going to school that day. 102 fever.

 

and FYI I am only 9 years old so I haven't really taken anything for them other then Tylonal (or however its spelled)

Edited July 25, 2014 by Spottedleaf

[Fuzzbucket]

I had one at school once. Not fun at all. I couldn't leave because I had tests t o take. And then another one I had I woke up with it one morning before school but Ithought it was just a headache so I told my mom and she said my forehead felt warm. I wound up not going to school that day. 102 fever.

 

and FYI I am only 9 years old so I haven't really taken anything for them other then Tylonal (or however its spelled)

Ask your mom to look into Advil instead. If you have migraine, Tylenol is USELESS !

[Fiona]

Ugh. Migraines. I don't get them as often as I used to as the biggest culprit for unavoidable ones was that time of the month. Which was surgically removed back in 2003.

 

The other unavoidable trigger is weather. Specifically, changes in the weather. Like you, Starscream, if it's going from fair to stormy I'm going to get a headache. Any changes in air pressure can trigger one. Because these seem to be sinus related for me, if I'm current on my sinus meds they don't get too bad. Ibuprofen seems to be enough then. I take 600mg and try to avoid anything else that would trigger.

 

Another trigger for me is motion. Flashing lights can also trigger one. Basically anything that can make it hard for my eyes to follow. These are normally avoidable so they aren't too much of a concern.

 

But my worst trigger is when my sinuses are fouled up. I have severe sinusitis, chronically. If I am on an effective treatment plan and follow it I can avoid most of the sinus headaches. Left untreated a sinus headache will almost always ramp up into a full blown migraine.

 

I know I'm in trouble when I start pulling blankets over my head. Migraines make it hard for me to focus visually and making things darker helps, plus something about the pressure of the cloth on my scalp eases the pain. Next step is nausea and dizzyness. Sinus related migraines always start in the front of my head, usually the forehead. Weather migraines usually start around the back of my neck on one side or the other. They creep up the back of my neck and down across my shoulders until I want to scream. Nothing really helps those except a change in the weather. Coffee and Advil will usually take enough of the edge off so I can function.

 

Thanks to my insurance company giving me grief over switching to a new sinus med I have a small migraine right now. They didn't want to pay for it, so the doctor gave me samples to try to get through, but I ran out for a couple days in between samples. Those couple days with no sinus meds have caused a problem. Now that I have more medication again I'm hoping it kicks in fast enough to stop this before it goes full blown or turns into an infection or bronchitis. (Yes, I'm sitting here with a blanket over my head as I type.)

 

Edit: and yes, Tylenol is useless against migraine. Not much good against sinusitis either.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Fiona BlueFire

[Spottedleaf]

I didnt think I was allowed to have anyything else because of my age.

[Fuzzbucket]

I didnt think I was allowed to have anyything else because of my age.

If you have migraine, you have little choice. Just make sure and check with a doctor. As far as I recall I got that cafergot for the first time when I was about 11, and that is BIG stuff ! Lots of things are not OK just bought on a whim, but if you NEED them, medically - that's something else.

 

Just took a look at the bottle of mine - they are DOUBLE STRENGTH and it says for adults and children over 12 - but that is because they ARE double strength. I just googled and there are details of what several CHILDREN'S hospitals recommend as suitable dosage.

 

Like this one:

 

http://www.stlouischildrens.org/articles/k...en-dosage-table

 

If you have migraine - you want to get it under control before it controls you. But if you had fever, it may not have been migraine at all. Look into it with your doctor.

 

ETA OOOH Fi - lights, yes - strobe lights set me off JUST like that. UGH. HORRIBLE things and what are they FOR anyway ? Is there any reason for them AT ALL ?

Edited July 25, 2014 by fuzzbucket

[edwardelricfreak]

A lot of medications have directions for those under twelve. There are also several children's versions of medication, so I'd suggest looking into those.

[Starscream]

Interestingly, how I mentioned weather trigger and communicating with family, my husband, who if he gets them tends to one day after me for weather. He's come home, taken pills and dropped into bed.

 

He had not been officially diagnosed with migraine until I took him to the doctor after I had found him sprawled in the hall face on the tiles (he said it was pleasant and cool) it kinda freaked me out, so on the off chance it was a migraine I gave him the imitrex I had (but cannot take due to reaction)20 minutes later he picked himself off the floor then went to bed.

 

The doctor, when I told him of what I had done said it would not have worked for anything that was not migraine, so was okay to give Paul a prescription for Imitrex.

 

but he is in a bit of a state right now poor man.

 

[tjsweepers]

I like your flow chart Starscream, just substitute soda for coffee and add something to rule out lack of sleep.

 

 

My triggers are frustration and certain noises.

 

I have a annoying habit or ability or whatever you wish to call it where my emotive state causes a physical response. Yes, everyone douse it to a degree, my degree is just set a tad higher then average. When i'm nervous or scared, I throw up. When excited or joyful, i shake like a small dog. When angry/ frustrated it feels like my head is about to explode.

On one hand I'v learned to handle my emotions well and typically know when to take the meds before I get waylaid by the pain. On the other hand, I would like to be able to be mad at something and not have to back down because I know I am going to end up curled in bed, in the dark, waiting for the magic pills to make it stop.

 

Noises, I have Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears from my time serving in the Navy where I worked on the flight deck. It's not a constant sound, but there are certain tones that...echo long after the original sound stopped. The worst are wrist watch alarms. I have gotten put of bed and ripped my room apart looking for that long lost watch that HAS to be hidden in a drawer somewhere because i hear it, even though I heard it originally in the checkout lane at a store several hours prior. Its kind of like that dripping faucet concept where you only hear it when its quiet and there are few other noises. After a few hours of the constant muffled alarm, the migraine sets in.

 

Once they start I lay down in the dark, and try to press something cool against my forehead. Lights, and sounds, especially high pitched sounds feel like a punch to my heated head.

One thing that I found to help, especially if i'm driving and don't want to take something (I am on the road a lot.) Is to clear my mind and to not think about anything. I'm not going to call it meditation because I have never looked up what the heck that entails. I just blank my mind, where there is nothing but the road, myself, and the other vehicles.

 

It doesn't stop it, but it helps me handle it better.

[Starscream]

I generally like to make sure that I am working with the right cause of headache/migraine. No point in taking the expensive stuff if all I am dehydrated. Sometimes the caffeine related headaches actually fades when I start to smell the coffee brewing. Usually I know if it is coffee related because I probably had little to no coffee the day before - I am such an addict.

[diaveborn]

I take vitamin B2 and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to help with migraine prevention, and have noticed a helpful difference (I think the CoQ10 has more impact for me than the B2 but I'm not sure).

Edited July 26, 2014 by diaveborn

[Obscure_Trash]

A lot of medications have directions for those under twelve. There are also several children's versions of medication, so I'd suggest looking into those.

^ One of the kids I watched at the community center (5th grade, IIRC) had migraines and anytime he felt one coming on, he just let one of us know so he could go take his medication. I don't know what he took, but I do know he had a specific medicine for it. ^^

[Starscream]

Has anyone, who lives in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) been getting any migraines the past few days?

 

I have had several small clusters. Or anyone in the area near the great lakes - I presume the weather systems could affect people south of the boarder as well. The weather is unusually cool. Very little that I am taking is helping.

 

Hydration is not an issue, nor is caffeine intake.

[Shienvien]

"Did Drinking coffee help?

Yes: Coffee Addict you."

 

Actually, since caffeine does somewhat affect the nervous and cardiovascular system, it can help simply because of its physical effects. (A number of painkiller-pills also contain caffeine.) Doesn't do much with migraines, not on its own, at least, but a light headache might be alleviated.

 

I seem to have escaped the migraine curse (I think by this age I can claim it), but my mother has a long history with it, as does her mother.

[Fuzzbucket]

Has anyone, who lives in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) been getting any migraines the past few days?

 

I have had several small clusters. Or anyone in the area near the great lakes - I presume the weather systems could affect people south of the border as well. The weather is unusually cool. Very little that I am taking is helping.

 

Hydration is not an issue, nor is caffeine intake.

60 k south of Owen Sound - and no.

 

But I am zapped out after GA three weeks ago -I wonder if that helps . We've had a BUNCH of thunderstorms.

[Starscream]

I am feeling these thunderstorms right now - thinking at this point crawling into bed because ugh, its not fun.

 

The caffeine in some of the medications such as AC&C's is to offset the codeine's tendency toward drowsiness. Lack of the caffeine can cause withdrawal. I stopped taking AC&C's for Ibuprofen. I may switch around again. I find IB is less harsh than AC&C. I never take Tylenol because it makes me feel "as high as a kite" and I really do not like getting the I'm floating in clouds stupids from the stuff. I only allow the stupids to happen with Axert and that I can still feel normal - only dumber.

[Fuzzbucket]

Tylenol isn't that effective anyway, as the pain comes from - kinda - swollen blood vessels, and ibuprofen is an antinflammatory - that's why it helps. Same for back pain, my doctor says - Tylenol is pretty useless for anything where there is any kind of swelling. It's good for ORDINARY headaches - but OUR headaches are special.

 

Unfortunately

[Syrup]

A few weeks ago I woke up at about 5 AM because the area just above my left eyebrow was hurting really bad, and the pain shot to the left side of my skull halfway through. I threw up, had some gatorade, pain meds and an ice pack and I was fine.

 

I've never had anything like it before, nor am I sure it was a migraine, but that did NOT feel great.

[Shienvien]

"The caffeine in some of the medications such as AC&C's is to offset the codeine's tendency toward drowsiness."

 

Not with what I was thinking of. The other component was not drowsiness-inducing in that occasion. (Also speaking of over-the-counter generic painkillers, which by my recollection anything with codeine doesn't fall under.)

[Fuzzbucket]

Caffeine augments the effect of a painkiller. That's why they sometimes suggest taking them WITH coffee.

 

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2012/caffeine-giv...s-effectiveness

 

But of course if it's a trigger for you - not such a ho idea.

 

http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/g...iggers-caffeine

[Fiona]

Has anyone, who lives in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) been getting any migraines the past few days?

 

I have had several small clusters. Or anyone in the area near the great lakes - I presume the weather systems could affect people south of the boarder as well. The weather is unusually cool. Very little that I am taking is helping.

 

Hydration is not an issue, nor is caffeine intake.

Great Lakes Area. Yes, pretty much. Today is particularly bad. The headaches aren't especially bad, just constant. There's a glassiness to the air today that I've learned to recognize as trouble.

[Starscream]

today was rough as hell. One of the worst ones I had all week. I was very close to throwing up. Currently it has back down, but It does not feel gone. My cheeks feel "numb". Spent most of the afternoon buried under blankets. Lights were far too bright - was not a good one.

 

Yeah weather around the great lakes was not great at all. Apparently some funnel clouds were spotted.

 

My understanding of the current weather system is it's a polar vortex bringing us unseasonably cool weather. Which is probably the triggers.

 

Arya10, sounds like migraine. Wake up, pain in brow, throwing up... yeah. Quite possible.

 

I HOPE this weather backs off tomorrow and the migraine with it. I have a job interview and I need to ride across town.

[Spottedleaf]

I have a headache right now and I haven't taken anything for it yet. I'm just watching a movie right now