now this too? ... migraine

[Duck on Wheels]

I was supposed to drive dh to the train station tonight (night train for a morning meeting in Oslo). 10 minutes before we should have left, I had to back out. Vision disturbance like a circle of broken mirrors turning round and round, reflecting, difracting. Kind of pretty, actually, but unnerving. I've had this once before and knew it would become very distracting, so not a good idea to drive. I also figured it would take 20-30 minutes. Last time there was no pain. This time a headache followed. Not the worst headache I've known. The pain, at least so far, is not all that sharp or strong, more like somebody tightening a belt around my skull, tightness and pressure more than pain. So now what? Will there be more of these? Will they get progressively worse? What do you do if this happens while you're out on your bike? Oh well. I'm off to bed. Hopefully it'll be gone in the morning.

[kelownagirl]

Ugh, I feel for you. I had one the other day. I too sometimes get the flashing lights stuff without the pain, but that's seldom. Anyway, maybe you'll be lucky like me and only get them every 2-3 years. It's rare though. Try to figure out what triggered it if you can.

good luck and hugs,

barb

[7rider]

Hi. I take it you've never had one before?
Yes - see if you can figure out what triggered it. Some common things are red wine and chocolate (I think I'd die if those triggered mine!). For me, it is intense bike rides - I don't get vision disturbances, but I get sensitive to light and sound and have severe nausea. I need to pre-dose with Ibuprofen before the ride and then rest and drink lots after hard efforts.

[LBTC]

My migraines haven't yet had that level of vision disturbance, but had migraines off and on for years (was in denial - and I was really stressed then); and the last two had nausea included for the first time ever.

I was able to try a migraine medication as my doctor gave me a sample to try - the good thing about taking that is that if the drug works you know for sure it actually it is a migraine, and not a headache caused by something else.

Triggers I know of for me: red wine and sucralose (splenda), luckily no sign of chocolate being a trigger!

Things that have helped, other than drugs, an aromatherapy blend that includes geranium and bergamot; it's very important to rest and not move; and there are a few interesting yoga things that would help, all involving a bean bag on the head and the feet (weird, I know, but it helped). You probably know this one - but avoid heat on your neck and shoulders. A migraine has something to do with too much blood going to the brain, so heat would just cause the blood vessels to dilate further and allow even more blood in there....if you can handle a cool cloth on the back of your neck it may help...

I'm sorry that you have this to deal with too! Don't we each have enough? Since I moved here in February I've had 2 migraines, which is much more frequent than usual for me; but even stranger is that since the symptoms of Crohn's started I haven't had one. Go figure.

Good luck and take care of you. Definitely if you can figure out the trigger you're way ahead! (sounds like Crohn's, too, doesn't it?)

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[kelownagirl]

Splenda - really? I tried that for the first time week. Will have to give it another try this weekend and hope it doens't give me a headache.

[suzieqtwa]

I get migraines..... as far as migraines go I don't think they are that bad ,but they last 12 hours ,and I just have this dull throbbing on the left side of my head..its on the same side all the time. Sometimes I see lights ,and halos ,and get very nauseous. I've been prescribed imatrex ,vicodon ,nothing works...sometimes I just take an ambien ,and sleep.
I think red wine may set them off ,or stress. If I'm drinking red wine I always take an aspirin first. Seems to work.
Splenda doesn't give me a migraine, as I use it everyday. It could be anything. I know chocolate dosent give me one.

[bmccasland]

Just reading this, the right side of my head is twitching in sympathy pain..

I'm another memeber of the migrainer club. The only trigger I've found is dehydration. So I try to drink lots of water. Unfortunately, another trigger I can't control is smells. I think I'd take the visual premigraine than a hyperactive sense of smell. You notice thing's that normally wouldn't bother you, which becomes a downward spiral. Last week I had a H.A. started by someone's cologne, also triggered an asthma attack. Had to walk out of the meeting. "Excuse me sir, but you put on WAY too much aftershave, I need to move, you stink." (OK, I only thought it)

So I guess I'm saying, drink plenty of water and get some fresh air.

[ladyfish]

Good thread. Migranes are a real pain (ha, ha). My son has been diagnosed with them (he's 13). It has been a long painful road. We still haven't found a workable solution. He's missed so much school this year. We are trying to narrow down triggers and I think chocolate may be one of his. Also stress.

We've eliminated nitrates and he doesn't eat at school anymore (who knows what is in the food). Some days are good, some days are bad and some days are horrible.

So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

[traveller_62]

I had frequent classic migraines (one sided intense pain, sensitivity to light and noise, lasting three days) for about 30 years. Typically I would have 3 or more attacks each month. What I discovered about 8 months ago was that my primary trigger was disrupted sleep. If I drink...even just a beer or glass of wine...it completely messes up my sleep cycle and I wake up feeling like I drank an entire keg of beer or a cask of wine.

I've stopped drinking at all and in the past 8 months I've had only three migraines (typically would have had about 24 by now). One of the three was caused by food that I ate that I didn't realize was loaded with MSG (to which I react VERY badly).

Figuring this out was an amazing blessing in my life because I am one of the people that react badly to the new super migraine meds like Imitrex.

So in addition to keeping track of how food impacts your migraines, note how well and long you have slept. If you keep well nourished and hydrated and cut out things that keep you from getting good sleep that might help.

I think when young people get migraines it might be because of the sleep issue. Teens, in particular, have very goofy sleep patterns sometimes!

Good luck to anyone who lives with migraines!

-traveller

[Meaux]

My mom told me that she used to get migraines because of changes in her hormones. Right before her period, she would get them. I also worked with a woman who suffered from this as well. I get migraines from stress, I've been having them for the last year or so. (Thankfully, not many.) Good luck on your oral exam, Duck on Wheels, and I hope you don't have anymore migraines!

[Duck on Wheels]

The student's oral went well. He "talked his way up" from a D to a C, knew the litterature well although his term paper was pretty disorganized.

Headaches aplenty, but no new migraines so far. My doctor has them too so we "compared notes" on the psychedelig visuals, then he wrote me a prescription for a nose spray that can (if you're lucky) stop a migraine after it's started. And if I get any more I should write down what I remember of the day (events, food, etc.) to see if I can work out what triggers them. Definitely not periods in my case, since the first migraine was some years after the last period. Too bad, that. If it'd been my periods, I'd be done with migraines now.