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.

[Bikingmomof3]

I have severe migraines, several times a week. My migraines begin with an aura- visual disturbance (I lose my vision), then numbness, then intense pain.
BTW, any one of those is also a sympton of a stroke or TIA. I have had a stroke and a few TIAs.

Nothing external triggers mine, it is all brain chemistry and the neurologist are doing their best.

If you do not feel better in the morning, call your doctor. If indeed it was a migraine there are some things that can help some people.

I hope you are feeling better.

[LBTC]

Suzie you are truly lucky to have not bad migraines that only last 12 hours. A migraine for me lasts anywhere from 1 to 5 days. Mine are not always accompanied by nausea, and usually with light sensitivity, but the headache pain is so intense that I end up looking like a different person!! I'm so glad I don't get them often!

I'd never thought about stroke or (what is that other thing) like BMo3 said, but now that someone with experience has mentioned it, it's another thing for me to be worried about. heh.

Duck, I think that she's right, though. Especially if this is a new thing to you - see a doctor to ensure it isn't something like a stroke, and to see if there is a treatment that you can tolerate.

I hope you wake up feeling like $1B!!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Duck on Wheels]

Thanks all! OMG, chocolate as a trigger? I hope it wasn't the brownies!!! What would life be without chocolate?! Glad I didn't try the heat pack on my neck last night. I thought maybe neck tension was the trigger, but that would have been exactly the wrong thing to do.

I'm sure I'll have more questions. The headache was not gone this morning. Still there as a dull all-round pressure + some throbbing on the right side just above where forehead meets temple. Not so intense that I took anything for it, though, and since the aura has cleared and I was running late I drove to work (can't take the day off today because I've got an oral exam scheduled and today is his last chance for the course to count as completed in the Fall term). But I will call the doctor. As it happens, he gets migraines too. I called him when the first aura struck and he kept me on the phone for a few minutes asking how it was developing, just so he could be sure that's what it was. Then he called back a while later to hear if a headache had followed. It hadn't then, but did this time. He said I should call back if my migraines escalated or became frequent, so I will. (BTW, don't let anybody fool you that the service is bad under national health!)

Hmmm. throb moved to left side now. Interesting. Oh well. Back to work. Co-examiner here any minute to talk about the pre-oral grade. Sadly it won't be a good one. The paper may just squeek out a pass.

[LBTC]

{{{{{{{{{{{{Duck}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Right, yeah, I forgot to mention that my migraines were often followed by something I referred to as headache memory. By headache standards these were still pretty harsh, but compared to the migraine that had eased the day before, they were a walk in the park! I've read that it is best to not take anything for these as that will produce a rebound headache....pain goes away with the meds, bounces back worse when the meds are all used up....

Man, I almost forgot. There is a herb that I took for quite awhile that even the medical community has acknowledged is helpful for migraine headaches. For me a small amount each day was a good preventative, so that, while taking it the migraines I got were less frequent, less severe, and didn't last as long.

The herb is feverfew.

What I read indicated that long term use didn't cause any problems. I mentioned it to my doc when I first saw him, and he checked on his computer. That information even said that a high dose would treat an acute migraine effectively.

Good luck, ms. duck! I hope you're feeling super by tonight!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Bikingmomof3]

Duck,

Sounds as though you have a wonderful doctor.

I have suffered from migraines for over 23 years. I have had 5 Neurologists in the past 23 years. I have had several TIA's (mini-strokes or warning strokes) and I had a stroke in August. I am 37 years old. Should you have any questions feel free to PM me.

I must keep a migraine journal for my neurologist. To give you an example: out of the last 22 day, I have had a migraine or a migraine "hangover" (day after groggy hung-over feeling) 15 of those 22 days. And my migraines have actually improved with my blood thinner and Calcium channel blocker (CCB).

Migraines can move from one side to the other-they are "fun" that way.

Rebound migraines can occur, but are usually only triggered when more than the recommended dosage of a prescribed medication is used. Example, one med I have can be used 3 times. If I exceed that my migraine will come back worse. Another one can be used 5 times. If those fail (and for me, they do a lot of the time) I get to live with the pain (which is my day to day experience) or go to hospital.

Feverfew can be good, but if you are any medications, check with a pharmacist because with certain medications it can be bad. I cannot take feverfew as it interacts in a bad way with my anti-seizure medicine.

There are many forms of migraines and many ways to treat them.
I personally like heat on my shoulder and ice on my head. I also prefer to be in a cool dark room. But, that is just me. Oh, drinking a lot of water will help and caffeine will as well. Many of the migraine meds contain caffeine.

Wow I wrote a book. Ignore all the typos please.

[Duck on Wheels]

Thanks for all the info! Typos hereby ignored.

Fascinating that caffeine helps, yet chocolate triggers. I was a bit nervous about taking my one daily latté this morning, but maybe it actually helped. About an hour or so later I had a sort of "Aaaaaahhhh!" sensation, and the headache melted away.

Hugs to you for all you've been through! I can count myself lucky. I'm 57 and just on my second migraine, and that one not too intense either. It was persistent, lasted about 14 hours all told, but only briefly (during that oral exam, shortly before my coffee break) was it intensely painful. I've got an appointmet with the doctor on Tuesday to get some advice on how to handle this in the future, should it become a new regular feature of my life. And next time I'm in the vicinity of an herbal drug source, I'll look for feverfew.

[LBTC]

Duck, I'm glad you're feeling better!

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Jennifer}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

You have endured and are enduring more difficulty and pain than any one person should ever have to! I'd like to send you a hug every single day. Okay, well, I can't do that, but I could send you a picture every day....PM your email address and I'll add you to the picture list. I read somewhere that viewing beauty does something wonderful to the brain wiring.....like somehow it's chemically good for you. (good technical description, right?)

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[uk elephant]

I'm no expert on such matters, but here's what I've been told in physiology class about caffeine...it acts as a vasoconstrictor meaning that in causes blood vessels to constrict and therefore limit blood flow. This is why they work in treating some headaches, the blood flow to the brain gets constricted. So the caffeine in coffee can help certain headaches. Part of the problem is that there are many types of caffeine, and many types of headaches. And chocolate can work as a trigger due to some other chemical in the chocolate not the caffeine. So basically you'll have to find out what is a trigger in your case and what helps.


And on a less scientific note: (((((mom))))) I'm sure hugs help!

[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.