Migraine Headaches

[Caecilia]

If I can get some plain ol' ibuprofen during the aura stage (which for me is visual special effects and weird lightheadedness) I can ususally get it under control. I've taken 10-12 different migraine meds, but ibuprofen works the best.

If I miss the golden opportunity I get to spend the day hiding from the light and trying not to puke curled up in bed hoping I just pass out.

This is my experience also. Four ibuprofen and a cup of coffee at the aura stage often works, if not all I can do is go home and sleep it off. Zomig works like a charm when it works, which is not every time. Imitrex is even more hit and miss.

A couple years ago I had cluster headaches - one migraine after another - missed nearly a month of work because I could only get out of bed every second or third day. The doc ended up prescribing verapamil as a daily preventative medication and it worked like a charm. I took it for about six months and haven't had a major migraine since (knocks wood). You might look into it since it sounds like yours are getting more frequent/severe.

[BeeLady]

I've never had headaches and then had a migraine every day for 8 days, starting between 8:30 and 9 a.m. and over around noonish. Several of those days I was wiped out for the day even though the tremendous pain was gone.

Went to neurologist - MRI normal but slight cervical spondylosis (arthritis in my neck). Anyway, 5 days on steroids and continuing daily naproxin (Alleve) has kept them at bay. Seeing a physical therapist who has me wearing a cervical collar and doing neck exercises (McKenzie Method) to get my disks back into place.

Anyway, he says I should never ride a bike with drop handle-bars again! Is he kidding? Says I can ride my bike with flat bars.

The headaches started when I began running again. Haven't been on my bike since they started. In neck collar, etc. . . .

Anybody heard of anything like this? Is this non-cyclist PT right about no drop bars?

[uforgot]

bumping this thread because I know absolutely nothing about this. I have a student who gets these and had an episode in my class yesterday. She could barely walk the pain was so severe. She had to be helped to her mother's car. Anyway, I talked to her boyfriend awhile about it, and he is concerned that she doesn't eat correctly. I read this post and there were references to food triggers. She has been to doctors, emergency rooms and just gets sent home. Is there anything she can do to maybe identify a food trigger? Would an allergy test show this?

I know she is also under a lot of stress also. Any suggestions there? Will Yoga, relaxation tapes, even a massage help? I guess I'm looking for alternative methods for her. I live in a red meat high fat part of Missouri. The local store doesn't even stock whole grain pasta because it will sit on the shelf. I have to drive to the next town. Healthy eating is rare around here, and isn't even something people think they should be concerned about. Oh, yeah, lots of obesity. A food trigger would be something people around here wouldn't think about, or believe would be a cause.

Anyway, I'd like to present her with things she can do to try to get rid of these headaches, including the food triggers. She's 18 and has had them for about a year. Doctors aren't helping, and I certainly can't put myself in the shoes of anyone who has had a migraine. Just seeing her in such pain yesterday was awful.

TE?

[Tuckervill]

Check out the last paragraph. I also just googled "food triggers migraine" and got lots of hits.

http://chetday.com/migrainetriggers.htm

Foods that Trigger Migraine Headaches

Someone wanted to know what common foods can trigger off migraine attacks, and it may be worth listing them on the board too for all, since migraines are so common today. But, trigger foods are not the be all and end all of the matter, because there are stress links as well as emotional inputs, hormonal influences, and some medications as well.

The commonest foods which can cause difficulty (but sometimes what affects one person is fine for another) include

* peanuts and peanut butter
* caffeine in all products, not just coffee
* dairy products
* yeast
* some beans (which includes peanut), as well as broad, lima, Italian, lentil, soy, peas
* avocados
* dried meats
* sauerkraut
* pickled herrings
* canned soups and packet soup mixes
* chicken livers
* ripe banana
* soya products as well as the bean itself
* sodium nitrate, which is used to preserve hot dogs, bacon and cured meats
* the preservative benzoic acid and its associated compounds
* MSG, common name for monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer which is now in almost universal use in almost all processed foods
* nuts
* sourdough breads
* cheeses which have been aged, i.e. cheddar
* red wines, beer, champagne, vermouth
* chocolate
* anchovies

And if the list seems depressingly long, there are other food triggers as well, but the good news is that most of the list comes from the highly processed and manufactured food products so aren't too difficult to identify, test, and eliminate from the diet.

[CorsairMac]

another sufferer here: mine are triggered by food, hormones, bad pillows, and weather. Drastic shift in the air pressure and I've got a "bad headache". My answer:

Relpax!!!


The Greatest drug in the world (in my humble opinion). I don't tolerate medications well - I'm the person that has the reaction to a drug that is sooooo off-the-wall it's listed waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy down at the bottom of side effects. I don't have any problems with Relpax and am Very thankful every time I have a migraine that I have them.

The catch with Relpax is it takes about 45 mins to an hour to take effect, the upside is once it kicks in the headache is completely gone as is the over-whelming fatigue that I always get "after" the headache. Within 2-3 hours of taking the Relpax, I don't even feel like I Had a migraine.

[northstar]

Used to get them at least once a month. Usually mine would start when I'd feel soreness in my jaw, neck, shoulder, arm...maybe a bad taste in my mouth. If I recognized this as a migraine coming on, I could usually dull it with Aleve if I caught it early enough. Otherwise, close the blinds, crawl into bed, and curl up and wait. I even pop my retainer in sometimes...the pressure gives some weird sense of relief in my jaw/gums.

Funny another poster has had oculars like I have, too. I've never had the headache develop afterwards...but boy, is it freaky! One moment, I'm teaching a class, the next I realize I can't see what I'm writing on the board or a student's face when I'm talking to her.

If you think you're having migraines, get thee to a doctor. They truly are debilitating for many people.

I also have to say that my migraines were most frequent when I was working in a very high stress job. Once I quit there, the headaches only showed up once every couple of months. Hmmm...think stress was a factor?

[mcoleman]

My mom has done the testing for food triggers, but it was years ago. Her family doctor initiated & monitored it. She can't eat cheese, sour cream, chocolate, red wine, hot dogs or similar processed meats and a few other things I can't remember. It can be a pain to go out to eat, etc, but it is so much easier to just avoid what makes you sick.
Your student should definately pursue this with her doctor.

[uforgot]

Thanks for all of the great information. I've printed out all of the responses for her and she is definitely interested in pursuing the ideas I've gotten. She's back today, headache gone, but after talking to her, I think she is going back to her doctor to get tested for allergies. She said they asked her if she had any food allergies, and she replied that she didn't know. Nothing else was done about it, so I suggested she go back and insist she be tested.

Anyway, thanks for all of the input.

[OakLeaf]

Really, the best way to identify food allergies is a challenge diet. Skin tests and blood IgG/IgE levels aren't as accurate, for one thing, and plus when you're doing it yourself, you can test for allergens that your allergist may not have antigens for. It's a PITA... but then, sticking to an allergy diet is a huge PITA too, so she may as well get used to it Myself, I'm lucky that I don't have anything horribly severe, so I just manage my allergies, and I'm only really strict about my diet when the pollen counts are through the roof.

To do a challenge diet, you have to begin by eliminating all allergens from the diet for at least four days. Then re-introduce them one by one, a day at a time, and see if you have a reaction. Which, a reaction to a food usually doesn't show up immediately unless you're very sensitive, it's often a matter of how you feel several hours later, or when you wake up the day after you eat it. So keep a symptom journal and a diet journal.

If you're going to eat anything you don't prepare yourself during the challenge (or afterward, once you've identified a trigger), get a *complete* ingredient list, and be aware that things like corn oil (for example) contains trace amounts of corn proteins, so those have to be eliminated to get accurate results from the challenge. Yeasts/molds are especially hard, because it means no vinegar, no mushrooms, no sauerkraut, no alcoholic beverages (even distilled ones - trace amounts, again), no pre-prepared fruit products like juices or jams, and no fresh fruit that can't be peeled. "Aged cheese" means anything other than pressed or pureed fresh curds - i.e., cottage cheese, mascarpone, cream cheese, ricotta, paneer, but nothing with cheese culture, which is a mold again. Miso, tempeh and soy sauce are cultured with molds, too, as well as more esoteric Asian products like natto and preserved tofu.

Once she's identified her triggers and/or allergens (if any), she may or may not find that, like me, she can have small amounts without making herself horribly uncomfortable or triggering a migraine. But to do the challenge, you have to be really strict.