Migraines , who suffers from them here?

[Rroff]

I get classic migraine with visual auras - typical painkillers like ibuprofen can't and won't do anything for a proper migraine. I've tried most prescription medication and nothing works for me whatsoever, fortunatly I know my triggers and one of thems avoidable and the other very rare so I only get 3-4 a year tops. For me the only thing that works is lying down in a dark room and getting some sleep - even an hour or so will take the worst off it.


EDIT: As above there are many different triggers for migraines - mine for instace is dark chocolate which is avoidable - milk chocolate, etc. is fine - and freak weather conditions (certain combination of pressure and humidity).

 

[Andr3w]

Never ever had one luckily

 

[West]

I get them very ocasionally but when I do it knocks me about.

 

[Bearclaw]

I get them a few times a year, get the auras and all, much fun used to get them a lot more frequently though when i was younger.

 

[PhillyDee]

You need to find out the cause. Start by cutting certain foods from your diet. Usually its the C's. Caffeine, Citrus, Cheese and Chocolate. Cut one out at a time then reintroduce.

I discovered mine was Citrus! Specifically anything from Concentrate, any sort of concentrated juices. So diluty citrus juice, anything with has 100% orange juice (From concentrate - The fresh squeezed is fine!), tango, fanta, any sort of citrus dessert. But its perfectly fine with fresh oranges, mandarins etc.

Stress is also one of the biggest triggers!

 

[Neil79]

I get them a few times a year, get the auras and all, much fun used to get them a lot more frequently though when i was younger.

I remember having one at school, went blind in one eye and ended up sitting in a seat for hours hearing screaming kids booming through my skull. That was the worst i can remember pruelly because nobody could pick me up till school was finished which had a good 3-4hr to go. Migrains when i was a kid wasn't such a known thing either, oh he's got a bad head was the term

Bad Head?!? you have no idea

You need to find out the cause. Start by cutting certain foods from your diet. Usually its the C's. Caffeine, Citrus, Cheese and Chocolate. Cut one out at a time then reintroduce.

Last night for me it was getting too hot in this place i was at then a messed up sleep pattern, so a double whammy!

 

[Apopcalyptic]

I've suffered with them for about 20 years with varying degrees of severity. I don't have a known trigger though sadly, other than excessive tiredness.

My usual warning sign is a 'tingly' numbness in one of my feet. If I pop my meds (Sumatriptan) then, *usually* it won't hit full fruition. If I don't, then the numb patch travels up one side of my body over 15-45 minutes, progressively numbing me, until it hits my face/head. At this point, I tend to look like I've had a stroke, I lose the ability to speak and see, and then...well then comes the pain. Completely debilitating between the aura and the pain. I'm prescribed Tramadol for the pain, but not even that touches it. Usually, I'll dose up on triptans and pain relief and try and sleep it off. The after effects can usually be seen for 1-2 weeks afterwards (poor co-ordination, brain 'fuzziness' and a feeling of drunkeness).

Then sometimes I'll have very little warning until I start losing vision. I'll get a bright spot (like you've looked into a really bright light), which grows until I can't see at all. That will pass, and then I'll be wiped out with a crippling headache and nausea.

And THEN there's the ones that wake me up in the middle of the night. Generally these follow the same formula as the first ones, but I can't catch them at the warning signs, as I'm asleep! My last one of these was last Sunday. I woke at about 5am, with my hand going berzerk (tingly/numbness). Between getting downstairs for drugs and getting back into bed, my face and speech had gone. I woke about 8, and apart from the residual headache, and drunkeness, all was good.

I have 4 CT scans, and several overnight stays in hospital for pain control and rehydration now. Curiously, they seem to be mostly seasonal - From February to June I have loads, the rest of the year, I'll have very few. Which reminds me, I need to get to the quacks for more nasal spray!

 

[Neil79]

^ i feel your pain fella

 

[Tummy]

I used to get them really badly a few years back.

I still get them occasionally they cripple me.

 

[ringo747]

I have had a few every year since I was about 16. I have no idea what causes them.

Sometimes I wake up at around 4/5am with this headbanging pain. The fact that I'm not too awake until around 9am means that I can tolerate the pain not too badly but I get 'tremor' headaches which keep floating around after the migraine has passed.

The worst ones are when I'm going about my daily work and things start going blurry, then I freak out, then I start seeing spinning objects. No matter where you look you can't avoid seeing stars and flashing things. The aura is totally horrible and makes me feel sickish. I take Zomig tablets which help a bit if I get it in time but you still are wiped out for a few hours.

Regardless of when they occur it is guaranteed that my day is wiped out. Either I don't go to work or come home early. Dark room, try to sleep, feel very sorry for myself, and occasionally be sick. The next day I remember than other people have much worse complaints so I tend to not worry.

I just wish I could work out a trigger. I have stopped drinking tea/coffee and now just drink green tea. I think it has helped me feel good generally but there is still something else that causes them. I had one on Christmas night - maybe it's the turkey/stuffing. Who knows!

 

[Rroff]

Then sometimes I'll have very little warning until I start losing vision. I'll get a bright spot (like you've looked into a really bright light), which grows until I can't see at all. That will pass, and then I'll be wiped out with a crippling headache and nausea.

Those are the ones I have - never had the ones with limb based auras - drizzly opressive/humid damp days in the spring/autumn usually trigger those for me.

 

[Judgeneo]

I've had about 4 or so headaches that I can remember, never a migraine.
And thats despite spending hours on end at the computer and being dehydrated most of the day

 

[Naffa]

I have never had one before, and going on what I have heard about them, I consider myself very lucky.

 

[Frenzy]

I usually get them every 2 months like clockwork. I have to sleep for 2 days and apply pressure to my head with a scarf. Sometimes it happens for a second week during that month. I have no idea what causes mine...

Ah the reason i sleep is because if i have any kind of medication I throw up due to already feeling sick, and I only have pain on one side of the head usually. Sight does go blurry and Im extremely sensitive to light, low or bright.

I started getting them around 22 years old, im 25 right now.

 

[UncleRuckus]

The missus gets them really bad when a storms brewing, she's a good weather lady with a great rack to boot!

 

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

I've had four. They were so awful I remember each one, and the 'rippling' vision in the corner of my eye that preceded it. A darkened room, a cold wet flannel and two or three hours sleep was the only way I could deal with them.

Thankfully, I've not had one for six years. This probably had a lot to do with leaving the job where I started getting them.

 

[Neil79]

Motion sickness occurs in ~ 50% of migraine sufferers. Understanding motion sickness in migraine patients may improve understanding of the physiology of both conditions. Recent literature suggests important relationships between the trigeminal system and vestibular nuclei that may have implications for both motion sickness and migraine. Studies demonstrating an important relationship between serotonin receptors and motion sickness susceptibility in both rodents and humans suggest possible new motion sickness prevention therapies.

Interesting, i felt that today more so than usual with a migraine!. It was like being in a plane that had just done a 360 loop, every time you looked up the plane would loop. I suffer from awful motion sickness and especially in certain games!

 

[Fireskull]

I get at least couple a year, they started when I was about 18 I think.

If I can I usually go to bed as soon as the spotted vision starts and hopefully wake up after the worst has gone, then have a numb head for a few days after.

 

[Parsley]

I get migraines every now and then. In my case I am light / movement sensitive, if I move my head even slightly it feels like someone is trying to bash their way out of my skull with a sledgehammer and the feeling of pressure on the inside of my head is really quite disorientating. Bright light just makes the pain much more acute. Alongside that it makes me feel nauseous and if I move too much I inevitably vomit.

Fortunately I seem to have a lead in time for mine where they are much like a normal headache... so I have time to finish what I am doing before they really get going.

Not much to do other than try and sleep it off in a dark room and take any medication if you have it. A "True" migraine can be incredibly debilitating whilst it's active.

I find the range of symptoms people get quite interesting really, movement / sound / light sensitive, nausea, spots in vision, weakness of movement etc etc. (In the sense that they vary so much and the possible reasons for it.)

 

[PhillyDee]

Me - Insane headache. Light sensitive, dizziness. Sometimes get flashing lights. Usually cannot think at all, simplest things become difficult. Just want to curl up in a dark room. The headache is so bad that it pulses, evertime it pulses, I stop whatever it is I am doing as it seems my brain wants to explode out me ears. Good luck with that! I have insanely bad earwax