Migraines

I get migraines.  Probably one or two a month, maybe less.  Maybe one every six weeks.  Enough so that I have prescribed medication to take at the onset. 

Easter morning, my kids woke me up at 4:46 a.m.  When I heard them yelling, I sat straight up in bed and swung my legs over the side, all in one motion.  My next movement was to grab my head.  It felt as if someone had taken a ballpeen hammer straight to the center of my skull.  You know how you sometimes see commercials for migraine medication, and the announcer intones, “If this is the worst headache you’ve ever experienced, please go to the Emergency Room.”?  That was going through my mind, except I couldn’t figure out how, exactly, I was going to get there.  It was, truly, the worst headache I’ve ever had.  I sent the kids back to bed and lay down myself, wrapping the pillow around my head and rocking back and forth, trying desperately to dull the pain.

I took my Imitrex and an hour later, 800 mgs of ibuprofen.  I went to church for Easter services, where every blast from the trumpet and every crash of the cymbals reverberated through the bones of my skull long after they had ceased. 

Eight hours after the first dose of Ibuprofen, I took a second.  Better living through chemistry, that’s always been my motto.  I decided that if the headache hadn’t cleared within an hour, I was going to the ER, dinner company be damned.  It eased a bit, enough that I could focus.  Finally, twelve hours after it started, the pain had mostly vanished. 

Do you get migraines?  To what do you attribute them?  Have you ever found a “cure”?  Does anything you do make them worse or better?  I’m convinced that mine are hormonal – I never get a single one when I’m pregnant. 

Comments

[Queen B]

I get them but only about twice a year. The funny thing is I get them more often when I am pregnant! I have a prescription for Fioricet (when I'm not pregnant.) Time is usually the only cure for me. Crying makes them so much worse, but usually I can't help it.

[Karen Patrick]

I usually get them 3-4 times a year. For awhile I was getting them 2-3 times a week. Figured out I had switched to Coke Zero and it was the Aspertame in there that was triggering them. Went off Coke Zero and within a week I was back to my normal routine. I must avoid "fake sugar" like the plague. Aspertame, Splenda, etc....they all set me off.

I do have Imitrex, but HATE how it makes me feel. At the first sign of aura I take 600 mg of Motrin and down something caffeinated (regular coke, coffee....whatever...) the caffeine does something with my arteries that wards off the worst of the headache.

[Mensch71]

I had the same situation as Karen... is the NutraSweet that triggers my migraines. Sometimes though, I get them when the weather changes abruptly.

My sure-fire cure:

1. Down 1 very large regular Coke
2. Take several Ibuprofin (or whatever)
3. Nasal spray of Imitrex (tastes HORRID but works fast)

Then I go lay down for about an hour. When I get up, I can usually function on 90% for the rest of the day. No movies, TV or radio for a few hours though. Good luck!

[kalisah]

I do get migraines but I've mostly been able to control them over the last 10 or 20 years w/ advil. They were much worse when I was in high school.

I get the vision things - the auras and loosing my eye sight. That's always the first sign. Numbness in one hand or 1/2 of my face. If I take 800-1000 mgs of advil at that point and lie down in a dark room, it usually prevents a full-blown migraine. Then I'm left with the residual dull achy pain for about a day and a half.

Full-blown migraines usually last about 3 days and I'm completely incapacitated. But I haven't really had those since HS.

Someone told me recently that I might benefit from the daily preventive therapy of anti-seizure meds. She said her neurologist diagnosed her migranes (w/ the vision and numbness, etc.) as a type of seizure, and I have those same symptoms. One thing I've never had w/ mine is nausea which seems to be common w/ other people.

Caffeine does seem to help a bit, too - I mean, it won't get rid of the headache on its own, but it does seem to help. It's b/c its a vasoconstrictor. Also, putting your hands & feet in hot water helps to draw the blood to the extremities and away from the brain, relieving some of the pressure.

I had a migraine today myself. Maybe it's the weather???

[Rachel]

Ugh... migraines.
I used to get them once or twice a year starting when I was around 12, then they increased to once a month and then, a few years ago I was having them almost daily for months at a time. One of my biggest triggers is atmospheric pressure so there are certain months I just might as well go to the hospital and be hooked up to morphine permanently.

I've been on Topamax for about a year and a half and it works for the most part at warding off the worst migraines. I still get them just not nearly to the extent that I used to. I can still always tell when it's going to rain. I also have Axert (a stronger version of Imitrex) but it's so expensive I save it for my worst migraines only and even then it doesn't completely stop it.

I get auras too so I have about a half an hours warning to take something and get to bed (my auras cause near blindness though so I can't drive or anything with them). For me the ONLY cure once I get a migraine is sleep.

I'm glad you were able to make it through. You're a braver soul than I... church would have definitely been out of the question.

And if you don't mind my asking, have any of your kids shown signs of migraines? I know that's one thing I worry about passing on... it's really a stressful disease.

[Cheryl]

Mine seem to have something to do with allergies. I usually wake up with one, get up, take an allergy pill, a migraine tablet and put some eyedrops in my eyes, then back to bed for an hour or so and I'm functional by the time I wake up.

[Love2learn Mom]

My husband gets them fairly regularly. He's learned to get them under control by a large extent with a combination of ibuprofen and acetametaphin - he starts taking them (I don't know the quantities - he worked that out with the doctor) as soon as he gets a tingle of a headache. It's really helped immensely. He hated the prescription things he tried, by the way, they tended to make him feel weird.

[margalit]

I DO get migraines, although a lot less as my hormones have reaches the depths of menopause. I guess that's something to look forward to. My son also gets them.

I can't take any of the prescription medications like imitrex because they are terrible for someone with heart problems, so I just have to bear the pain. Ibuprophan, sometimes some sinus tylenol on top of that, and caffeine all help.

I have specific triggers. Chocolate, seasonal allergies, tree pollen, and a lack of caffeine all bring on the migraines.

They really suck, don't they?

[Patricia]

I've only had a handful of migraines, but oh how bad they suck!!!

But, I read your last sentence and instantly thought -- well, then -- the answer is simple....more kids....then I amused myself for a bit thinking about the angry eyes you might give me and that I'd only appease you with a knitted diaper cover.

Ducking for cover.

[amy]

I am sorry that you suffer with this awful malady. I can only offer the advice I was given by one of our very dearest and oldest friends who has suffered from terrible migraines since he was in high school -- it took him about 20 years to figure it all out but his were the kind with the auras, vomiting, bedridden for 2 days sort and he has found that all the triggers:caffeine, chocolate, alchohol of all sorts and certain foods which I now forget had to be completely wiped out from his diet. Since he did that about 3 years ago, he has not suffered from migraines very often -- it had gotten completely out of control. I think it is down to something like once or twice a year. He was a coffee addict big time and loved red wine and beer too so it has been a hard adjustment but he said he really couldn't deal with the migraines anymore. I know you love your Starbucks too so??? My sister's migraines are hormonal too, and she takes I think the Topomax but I am not sure. Good luck and I hope you never have a headache that badly again!

[Brandy]

I've had migraines since I was a teenager, they disappeared when I became pregnant with my Daughter. I would get one or to a year, until I became pregnant with my Son, then it became one or two a month. Now, I get about 2 a month. I know that sweetners are a trigger, as are chocolate, nuts and certain other foods. My FIL suffered BADLY for years. He was taught that Bio-feedback helps to a degree. Oh, and I haven't seen a Doctor about mine. I hate going there!
Good luck with some remedies.

[Kelli]

Just recently my son's doctor was talking to me and I had to tell him that I was not even sure how I had managed to drive that day that my head was killing me. He told me to start taking herbal magnesuium pills form the health food store...so I have...dont know if it is working yet or not or if I am just going awhile between headaches, but it was definetly worth a shot.

[Kelli]

A follow up to the above comment he said I had to take them everyday like a regular pill or vitamin for it to be effective.

[Kassandra @ Blessed Quiver]

I also suffer from migraines and I am sure mine are hormone induced. I occasionally get them in early pg or towards the end of the pg. I am currently pg with my 5th child and I had one bad migraine in the first 6-7 weeks. I just took alot of Tylenol and went to bed. It took me 2 days to get rid of it and then my body was exhausted from the trauma and I had to rest for 2 days doing very light things around the house. When you mentioned laying in bed with a pillow over your head and rocking to dull the pain, I FELT your pain! I do the same thing! Something about thinking/focusing on the rocking motion to stop thinking of how bad your head hurts. lol I don't have any prescrip meds anymore since the past 2 years I have either been pg or nursing and can't take any of them. I used to take Relpax and it worked wonders along with sleep. I pray that you don't get anymore migraines. May God heal us All of our afflictions!

PS. My mom gets migraines also, but the Dr found that Mushrooms trigger hers.

[wookie]

Mine are hormonal but they actually get worse for the first 4 months of pregnancy.
I don't have many triggers except cranberries and red wine.

I recently read an article that suggests combinging Naproxen with the triptan type drugs (read the label of your migraine med to see if it's in that family) has shown pretty decent effectiveness. Naproxen is an NSAID drug (non steroidal anti-inflammitory) that is the same family of drugs as ibuprofen, just more powerful.

[kyooty]

Mine are also as other have said hormonally induced. I started getting them at age 9, (genetic too, my GM would lose days from having to sleep hers off) and then after I had my first son, I realized it was 10months PP and they were gone. AF showed up at 3months PP but no headache. I would get 1-2 every 28-30days before MR7, and I got them from 4wks-22wks pregnant, and one day noticed it had been a week since my last one. The following pregnancy was 17months Mr5.5 later again headaches (not sever migraines as you discribe) that went from 3wks-20wks pegnant. With Mr2, I only had the headaches from 4wk on and off and then a big surge of them from 12-18wks, and again after having the baby the headaches vanished, I haven't had a headache for about 20months now. When I was in highschool I was seeing a nutritionist for my weight (yep big girl) and she gave a huge list and one of the things on the list was seeds liek sesame seeds or sunflowerseeds, I find that interesting now since flax and sunflower are now very good foryou, hmmmmm wonder if they may have ended up on the don't eat list when infact they should have been on the eat more of list? hmmmm? there are new findings all the time. Also pickles was a trigger but I LOVED pickles so ate them more, and suffered.

[Melene]

My sister got migraines when she was young and if she sat under a hair dryer with the warm air blowing on her head, it helped her feel better. I know we don't all have those in our homes now, but I still wanted to share. I'm sorry you have them, and especially on Easter.

[Emily]

I used to get the most terrible migraines once or twice a month. In high school and college, mostly. Then I met Josh. He taught me how to relax and not be so anxious and uptight and ready to freak out about the slightest thing going wrong.

Mine were almost entirely brought on by stress and poor eating--hormones didn't help, if I was ovulating then the migraines would be much more intense.

I haven't had a migraine in years now, but Imitrex was my best friend there for a while.

[Deb L]

I get migraines, the stabbing pounding-in-the-skull sinus/tension combo migraines. They coincide with changes in barometric pressure, and hormone shifts in my monthly cycle. Weirdly, if I know I have a migraine approaching (like the Grim Reaper), and I have the luxury of being able to take a nap; I can take a cocktail made up of a decongestant, an antihistamine, and a couple OTC migraine pills.

I skip the benadryl if I can't nap, because that stuff knocks me out. And I wash it all down with a caffeinated beverage- coffee or soda.

Being able to take the drugs and then nap in a very dark and -quiet- room is bliss. It's even better if I heat up a rice sock in the microwave first, to drape over my neck/head/face. The heat seems to help a lot.

[Becky]

Mine are triggered by hormones, hayfever, and sunlight (too bright in my eyes), but my husband has almost exclusively food triggers. Any meat with preservatives: ham, lunchmeat, hotdogs, bacon. We buy the preservative-free lunchmeat, but he really misses ham.

[CharmingDriver]

I think there is a hormonal component, too. I had fewer migraines both when I was on the pill and while pregnant. I've tried Topamax and all manner of over-the-counter pills combined with caffeine.

My sister has good luck with acetaminophen, aspirin and coffee but my allergy to aspirin makes that and numerous other prescriptions out of my hands. Handfuls of advil coupled with caffeine works for me, sometimes as does Ultram (when I remember to fill the prescription).

[stacey]

I used to get them regularly. They seem to have calmed down since I quit caffeine and soda. Maybe that's just a coincidence. I was also prescribed some medications (Imitrex and some extra strong Alleve) but I've never had to take them.

Now at the first sign of a headache I pop an Alleve or a Midol (if it's that time of the month) and it takes the edge off. I haven't had a debilitating, call off work headache in over a year!

[Lisa]

Oh yes, do I get migraines. All the imitrex, caffeine, ibuprofen, darvocet in the world won't get rid of them once they are full on. I'm pretty sure it is hormonal because when I'm nursing and pg-no headaches. This is awful, but if I vomit enough, the headache usually goes away. Sort of sad you're praying to be ill so you'll feel somewhat better. Sorry it happened to you on a holiday.

[Tammy]

I don't get them often, but when I feel one coming on the only thing I can do is lie down in a quiet dark room and take a nap. When I wake up it's usually gone or at least bearable. It's usually easy to find quiet since I only have one child and she's a teenager. Once I was at work so I went home for lunch and took a nap then went back to work late after calling my boss to tell him I was taking a long lunch.

[Suz]

I get migraines too-- I get the aura with partial blindness, numbness in my face and hands, and nauseous. I take a few advil and go to bed, if I can sleep or vomit enough, I sometimes feel better.
I don't seem to have them when I'm pregnant or nursing frequently. My two kids are 20 months apart, and I only had one in between them, other than that I haven't had any since the week I found out I was pg with the first one.

Sorry you felt bad for Easter!