migraines?

I took pain killers today for the first time in LONG time.

Wasn't for headache or a migraine though, but for the aftermath of a tooth extraction.

Stu :)
 
I get em too... Pain in the ass (not literally!) :p
Recently they haven't been too debilitating, but I used to HAVE to lie down and rest... Now I have some medication which helps a lot if I take it when I feel one coming on... (Zolmitriptan)
Still, it sucks...

-Nick
 
Just finished reading Seymour Hersh's "The Dark Side of Camelot"--- in it, he quotes JFK as saying "I get a migraine if I don't get a strange piece of ass everyday."
Might be something for you that are so afflicted to consider. ;)
 
My signifant other (we've been together for ten years - I guess that's "significant") gets severe migraines at least once weekly. Sometimes she'll get more than that. She is completely decommisioned. If she catches the onset in time and takes an Imitrex (injectible) she might be OK after an hour. Otherwise not a pretty picture. I can't figure out what the trigger might be. She doesn't drink (although still smokes, darn it), doesn't drink coffee but does drink about 3-4 cokes daily - otherwise normal diet. Doesn't eat chocolate, but will, on occasion, eat "classic coffee ice cream."

I never get headaches, unless someone hits me with a black jack.

Any thoughts on something that might lead to the cause of her migraines will be deeply appreciated. She's a fine artist whose work is regularly interrupted by migraines. Yuck.
 
you know ted, the world of migraines seem mostly unchartered. there are almost as many theories as headaches.
the net has a ton of info if you ever need some late night reading.
my triggers have changed over the years but some of the regulars are--things that are aged, like strong cheese or wine. things that have caffiene (sp?) in them, like coke or coffee. and strangely enough, some of the 'cures' have caffeine in them also.
if i eat chocolate 3 days in a row i get a migraine yet i can eat it 2 days in a row and be fine.

it's so damn frustrating cause they never seem to get nailed down.
even the drugs i get from the doc. almost every one o have gotten over the years worked on the first headache or 2 and then never worked again. it's like my body figured them out.
immitrex has been the besy and sometimes it works beautifully and other times- nothing!

sorry, this is turning into a rant, i better sign off now.
joe
 
I've tried to figure out migraine triggers since I was in elementary school. While in high school I kept a journal in which I wrote everything I ate in the 48 hours before a migraine. My doctor concluded that it was hot dogs and chocolate that caused mine. This, however, was wrong because 98% of the time I ate either of the two I had no problems. To this day I'm a dark chocolate junkie, and my secretaries know that if they want me to be happy, they'll surprise me with the occasional Scharfenberger semi-sweet dark chocolate.

I have figured out that sulfites, especially those found in red wines and the msg in certain meats (yes, some hot dog brands) and asian food are a killer. One sip of red wine and I'll have a headache in minutes. I have since found a good butcher that makes fresh additive free sausages and hot dogs and I'm safe.

Nevertheless, I still get migraines. I left work after three hours today because I started seeing spots, my vision in my right eye blurred, and I started feeling nauseated. Nothing except sleep seems to work consistently for me. Imitrex worked maybe 15% of the time, tylenol w/ codeine and fioricet did nothing.

I'd be interested in hearing whether the other migraine sufferers are left handed. In my family, the left handed ones have been those who get migraines the most. I've read medical studies supporting and refuting any connection, but hey, who says small samples of anecdotes can't take the place of peer reviewed medical studies. :)

SRMC
 
I started getting migraines about 5 years ago, but found that it was directly linked with drinking coffee. I had just started a new job, and there was a social ritual around sitting around on breaks drinking hi-test coffee. I only had at most two cups a day, but the migraines would hit about once a month. As soon as I stopped drinking it, they went away. I haven't had one in years (knock on particle board).

I still have the odd coffee, but go only for high quality espresso drinks. Drip coffee is worse. Decaf is fine.

Nothing else seems to trigger them.
 
SRMC,

Right handed here...

One of my triggers: lack of coffee (!!).

Two years ago, I decided to cut significantly my coffee intake and simply didn't have a second cup of coffee. My migraines (sometimes related to temperature... this was in May-June) started to hit to a nasty point. Add this to the fact that I had to work on my own research in front of the computer and you get three days of sheer hell...

But the morning of the fourth day, tired and cranky, I said to myself "to heck with the world, I need a good mug of coffee!"

That was it! :)

Still, the only trigger I can pin down (besides sitting in the computer for too long and constipation) is chocolate. I can live with that... Or thought I could, until you, SRMC, mentioned the terrible curse of the "Scharfenberger semi-sweet dark."

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ;)
 
it's the caffeine withdrawal that gives those headaches when people try to quit coffee.

myself, i think coffee is the nector of the gods and i don't want to anger the gods.

joe
 
Hmmm ... interesting thread here ...

I'll get them occasionally, once every several months. {knocking on wood}

Sometimes I'll go a year between them, the worst was 2 in 2 days once. :(

I can usually avoid any real pain and make them go away, fortunately, usually that is. Once I notice the "aura" coming on, if I just take it easy, lie down, close my eyes, remove stimulus and relax, often they will subside and there will be no onset of any major pain. The aura will then go away after maybe 30 minutes or so and I'll have a general disorientation and malaise for a couple hours.

I've never been able to figure out any kind of trigger. It just seems to be random and unpredictable. I don't smoke, I drink socially, I seldom drink coffee but drink more than enough soda to make up for it. I'm a chocoholic, but I try to watch it. :)

Anybody who has these regularly sure has my empathy. :(
 
Joe, you're definitely right about migraines being uncharted territory. I was woking for a PA (physician's assistant) a few years back who suffered migraines and she said she'd never run across anything in the medical literature which was terribly helpful with helping her manage her headaches. They seem to be very individual in nature which really makes diagnosing triggers and coming up with effective prevention and treatment tough. She said the best you can do is to learn what it feels like when one is coming on and do the best you can to head it off... failing that, she recommended sleeping it off in a dark quiet room. She was right, at least in my case.
 
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