Worst Migraine EVER!

[WindingRoad]

Just got outta bed at 4 o clock in the afternoon. I woke up in extreme pain at 3 AM this morning. The pain was so intense it made me throw up to the point I could even keep water down.:( I still don't feel right, I have halo's in my vision and my head is still hurting just not nearly as bad. Anyone here with migraines have any suggestions?

[Tuckervill]

The emergency room?

Hope you feel better soon.

Karen

[malkin]

Opiates.

[KnottedYet]

Oh, baby, I'm so sorry you got a bad one.

I second the opiates. (And the legitimate cocaine derivatives.) Tylenol with codeine is a miracle for mine.

Put on sunglasses and sip the electrolyte you use on the bike (my biking Clif blox and Clif drink mix are heavenly when I've got a bad one) and either call your on-call for a med script or get someone to drive you to the ER for a 3-day supply.

Don't suffer needlessly. Better living through chemistry!

ETA: if you are still puking, the ER can give you a demerol shot. You *must* have someone drive you!

[WindingRoad]

It's about 7:30pm now and I only now starting to feel human again. Knotted it's funny you said the electrolyte thing cuz I had just had a glass of gatorade and it seems to be helping. I am cooking green beans out of the garden in hopes the smells will stimulate my appetite. I've been eating crackers most all day cuz nothing has sounded good. I absolutely love fresh out of the garden green beans so hopefully I can eat them, they are starting to smell like heaven. :) Just wish I had some fresh outta the garden little red potatoes to throw in with the beans, mmmmmmm.

I think I am going to have to get to a doctor soon and get a script for migraine meds again. That sort of bums me out because I haven't had a bad one in a very very long time and I was really hoping I was getting over it. I am getting ready to make some pretty big life changes too so I'm sure that hasn't helped either. Regardless I think I would be well served to have those meds at hand in case I get another whopper like last night. I won't always have my sweet boyfriend to take care of me after I move :( You know it's love when your man keeps you from passing out in your own vomit:)

[redrhodie]

Have you ever tried seeing a chiropractor for migraine? A neck adjustment works wonders for me. It usually stops the migraine in its tracks if I go as soon as I feel one coming on, and can totally prevent them if I go when my neck starts hurting. The adjustment usually keeps me migraine free for about a year. I was previously on Imetrex (sp?) and hated it.

[abejita]

Zomig does it for me, gets rid of it completely. For me, opiates make the migraine go away for a couple hours then it comes back. To bad the zomig is $25 bucks a pill and vicodin is a couple bucks...

+1 on the chiropractor!

[nolemom]

We just had a long conversation with my daughter's pediatrician about migraines. We both suffer from them. He was discussing an article that stressed that since sleep is the "cure" for many people, every migraine sufferer should have some drug that will help induce sleep when the preventative medications don't work. My doctor was of the same opinion and had already prescribed promethazine - it is used to prevent nausea and is also an allergy medication. I have only had to take it twice but it stops the vomiting and I sleep for 2 to 3 hours. Both times, when I woke up the worst of the migraine had passed. I use Relpax as a preventative, but sometimes it just doesn't work or I am delayed to long in taking it. Talk to your doctor about your options. I also recommend reading The Migraine Brain.

[Aggie_Ama]

Sleep is the cure for me, I have to get home, get the room dark and cold, take promethezine if I am nauseated. The plus is promethezine is one of the few things that really sedates me, I even woke up on Ambien. I had a really bad one about a month ago, only my third so I am not yet to taking preventative medicine. My college roommate had the vomit inducing kind and it was get the room dark, quiet and cold that worked for her too. The worst thing for me is feeling hungover and exhausted the next day. It is like you are punished again. :(

[badger]

I second the chiropractic adjustments. I used to need Tylenol with codeine for my migraines but since going for adjustments they're just isolated to my menstrual cycle (still not fun, though!)

You could look into herbs like feverfew and butterbur to minimize the intensity and to decrease the number, too.

[bmccasland]

Massage therapy is good. A chiropractor is either a good thing or a very bad thing - I've had both. One of my worst migraines ever was caused by a quack-o-practor. Fortunately my neighbor, who was trained by her chiropractor uncle, spent the next four days undoing the damage. I diagress...

When you're in severe pain, and you don't have meds at home, get thee to the ER.

I've found that good old phenergan (sp?) works. Considering most prescription migraine meds have limits on how many you can take in 24 hours or you run the risk of a rebound headache, taking a phenergan suppository helps. Yes it makes you drousy, but it knocks back the nausea, so you can hold down the water. Part of my migraines are brought on with dehydration, so it becomes a vicious cycle. OTC meds don't do diddly for me when it comes to migraine.

I've been put on various prophylactics, anti-seizure meds or anti-depressants depending on the preference of my doctor at the time. Both have worked, but daily meds can have side effects. It all depends on how often you have migraines, and how disruptive they become.

Have you determined if you have any triggers - foods, your period, weather changes, allergies, drinks? Some of them you can control, umm, the weather, not so much.

[colorisnt]

So sorry. I have had these for the last 5-6 days. Today is the first day I feel alive. I think a new preventative I am starting is working. Was on Topomax and it worked great, but it may have caused a kidney stone, so I dropped it at my urologist and neuro's recommendation.

I taken either Darvocet (if I want to be somewhat cognizant and awake) and Vicodin for my pain if both my preventative and quick acting drug (Maxalt) fail. So ridiculous, but sometimes the best you can do is sleep it off.

The ER is usually completely useless, so I wouldn't go unless you cannot see or get some other sort of strange symptom. I often cannot see properly when having a migraine and sometimes I lose the ability to figure out words I want to say. It's scary to some because this is unusual. If it is, go to the ER. For me, it is old hat and part of auras, which I have all the time with migraines.

[KnottedYet]

I often cannot see properly when having a migraine and sometimes I lose the ability to figure out words I want to say.

I also have trouble speaking when it's bad, which is why I've got "migraine" on my medic ID.

***Thread Drift***
Everyone - if you've got a condition that might make it difficult for you to communicate with someone trying to help you, PLEASE, wear a medical ID!

Migraineurs can appear to be stoned, hypogycemics and diabetics can appear to be drunk, and so on. Don't risk being a mystery or risk being assumed to be stupid. Diabetics have died in "drunk tanks."

[Grog]

I hope you feel better now. This sounds terrible. My dad has terrible migraines but thankfully I have been spared so far. (There is supposedly a big genetic component...)

Another reminder for migraine sufferers is to also be familiar with the signs of a stroke, and pay attention to signs that the left side of your body is starting to behave differently than the right side of your body. Tingling feelings, especially on only one side, are a big sign that you need more than pain-killing meds, as can be speech disturbance.

Big hug to all - I hope things get under control shortly.... :(

[badger]

oh, and a good reminder about quacks and good chiropractors. I want to put a sort of disclaimer on mine in that I go to a particular chiro who only does necks, and never those jarring adjustments. He's part of NUCCA (http://www.nucca.org/). I would never go to one that will do those abrupt/crunching adjustments.

[beccaB]

This may sound totally stupid, but I used to get migraines up until my late 20's.That was over 20 years ago and I haven't had one since then.The only thing I can think of that I started doing differently was taking multi-vitamins... Religiously. It doesn't seem to matter which brand either.

[colorisnt]

This may sound totally stupid, but I used to get migraines up until my late 20's.That was over 20 years ago and I haven't had one since then.The only thing I can think of that I started doing differently was taking multi-vitamins... Religiously. It doesn't seem to matter which brand either.

They can have something to do with age. My Dad got them when he was my age and now doesn't really have them anymore. So, that may be it.

And the medic ID is a good idea. The worst part is when my speech isn't all English (can't think of the English word). I may substitute words in Farsi or French or both at the same time. It can be confusing from the outside I could imagine.

[WindingRoad]

I used to get them much more frequently but I was also in hormonal birth control at that time which I had to stop because it was causing my migraines to get progressively worse. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maybe this one was isolated being as I haven't had one in over 2.5 years at least, maybe longer? I hate to take meds with all the side effects if they will be this infrequent. Of course if it gets worse or I just can't handle it I will definitely get to the doctor. I am however going to try some of the herbs you all have mentioned. I guess it wouldnt hurt to just get an RX for 'emergencies'.

[northstar]

They can have something to do with age. My Dad got them when he was my age and now doesn't really have them anymore. So, that may be it.

Migraines are horrible things. I had them at least monthly for several years while teaching at a high school. They would start very tricky - like a sore jaw, and if I didn't catch it early, forget about the next day or two.

Then I quit that job, and bam, no more migraines. It could have been a collision of many factors, but I attribute it to my overall state back in those days (stressed and miserable). I'm learning more and more that my health is created by a multitude of factors, my happiness being a huge one of them.

No advice, really, just commiseration. Good luck with tackling those headaches. They truly are debilitating.

[smilingcat]

ughhh horrible thing.

Zomig made mine so much worse, if I had a gun, I would have shot myself. I have relatively high tolerance to pain but my migraine always got the better of me. My doctor was alarmed when I called afterwards. he told me to stop immediately.

Mine has more less gone away since I started on my HRT. Yes I'm making a trade off and my doctor is okay with it too for long term use.

I hope you can figure out what triggered your migraine. It could be stress induced. sometimes food... It's not the same as regular head ache that is for sure.

Only thing I can do is curl up in bed, totally dark and pass out till about 5:00pm. Wake up sweaty and exhausted. have light dinner, nice hot shower and go back to sleep.

Everyone is different and its effect is different.

[malkin]

Opiates never really make the pain go away for me. They just make it like it isn't my pain, or at least not my problem; I am still vaguely aware of it, I just don't care anymore.

And then, I can be easily distracted by things like a treasure map appearing on the wall...

[ny biker]

Opiates make me itch.

I never tried them for a migraine, though.