migraine sufferers

[Sophia23]

I'm just curious. I know there are a lot of people who deal with these. I remember there was someone else on the boards who use to complain about migraines often, so if there is another thread already... sorry mods.

Anyway, I'm curious what people take for it, if you have found something that works. This has been one of my worst years with them so far. I take naproxon and fioricet, this use to work... but the last few times, I've been given generic fioricet, which never works and if anything makes things worse.

I once read that vitamin D helps, and I seriously thought it did because I quit getting them so often, once I started taking a vitamin D supplement every morning.

I had an ice pack on my right eye off and on for almost a day and half with my last one... and that's what usually numbs it enough to ease it, but this barely works anymore... just curious for those who deal with them often, if you've found some stuff that works.

When the pain in my eye gets to be a dull pain rather than severe, I've found a hard run on the treadmill will kill it completely. Just curious how others deal.

[HUMCALC]

My mom and I suffer from migraines. Unlucky me, I can't find anything to make me feel better

[JakeNbake]

When I get them I start to lose vision so if I notice my vision getting a little blurry I try to take excedrin. If I wait any longer than that nothing I do will help. Once my arm starts to go numb or face start to go numb it's way too late I just have to lay in bed. I get them intermediately when I was about 15 I had one for 2 weeks straight I couldn't do anything.

I don't really have a good answer just know how bad they are.

[Peanut]

I'm sorry you all suffer from migraines. Such an awful thing to go through.

Sophia, I checked to see if there were any other threads and found one. Wasn't much in it. I thought perhaps someone had some good recommendations. One person said that going to a chiropractor helped him.

I've seen ads for Botox injections. Have no idea if that works.

[DevilSpawn]

Sorry to hear about this, Sophia.

I've suffered from Migraines since 1996 and have not found a single cure for me or anyone who I know or have read that suffers from it. The longest one I had was Thanksgiving 2 years ago where it lasted from then until Sunday morning.

My type of migraines are the "ice pack on the eye" kind, the stabbing pain that just hovers there like an unwanted guest. It starts on one side, travels to the other side, goes back to the original side, appears where the hairline begins and then disappears slowly like a rising fog. ]

Knock on wood luckily for me, I suffer mainly from chronic headaches with an occasional migraine which can last from 24-60 hours. I used to get them 2-4 times a month. Now I get about 5 a year. I think I've only had 1 this year if that many because I found my main trigger, which is listening to headphones at a certain volume. Even when I listen to music I start to get a headache. Now of course the easy solution is to stop but unfortunately it's part of my job, and I can't find one this easy that pays me this much lol. The rest of the triggers are all kinds of stress.

One thing I found that works for migraines some of the time is coffee. I used to never drink coffee. Instead I took over Excedrin, but after 10 years they stopped working. No other over the counter meds even puts a dent in my migraines. But I quit Excedrin because I didn't want to rely on meds any longer. One day when I had a migraine, my father in law suggested that I try coffee. I didn't hate it but it wasn't my cup of tea. After drinking it and taking an hour nap. my migraine was gone.

Unfortunately this doesn't work all the time, and if my migraine gets to a certain apex, I can't do anything about it. So my advice is as soon as you feel a migraine coming on, take a cup of coffee and find some place to lie down or rest with your eyes closed for 30-60 minutes. This may work, but you have to attack it early on because once it gets to the icepack stage, you may not find something to get rid of it. If you don't like coffee, a caffeine pill should do the trick.

Good luck. I say we use this thread for tips and suggestions. Who knows, we may find the cure ourselves.

[Rastic]

I've had migraines since the fourth grade - severe enough that I had a neurologist for some time. Interesting though I've never had associating vision problems many who suffer have. When I was younger I tried almost everything from resting in a dark, quiet room to ice, cold showers, etc. The best escape was to somehow fall asleep if I could but now I just wake up with them so I have to deal with them if I feel one coming on right away. Generally, if they get real bad they make me very nauseous on top of the usual debilitating pain.

I was on meds for a number of years but was finally able to wean myself off them, thankfully because one of the prescriptions I was taking for pain was later banned by the FDA for increasing heart problems and was an addictive opioid to boot.

Now they are mostly controlled by diet now and, for me, most notably by staying well hydrated. Ice packs, cold showers and over the counter meds are usually enough if I start to get one.

On the coffee topic, there are medications with caffeine as an active ingredient like Excedrin and Midol as well as others I am not familiar with https://migraine.com/migraine-treatm...dies/caffeine/
I think it might comes down to how individuals react to caffeine as to how effective it is but caffeine can also be a trigger to others.

[DevilSpawn]

I've had migraines since the fourth grade - severe enough that I had a neurologist for some time. Interesting though I've never had associating vision problems many who suffer have. When I was younger I tried almost everything from resting in a dark, quiet room to ice, cold showers, etc. The best escape was to somehow fall asleep if I could but now I just wake up with them so I have to deal with them if I feel one coming on right away. Generally, if they get real bad they make me very nauseous on top of the usual debilitating pain.

I was on meds for a number of years but was finally able to wean myself off them, thankfully because one of the prescriptions I was taking for pain was later banned by the FDA for increasing heart problems and was an addictive opioid to boot.

Now they are mostly controlled by diet now and, for me, most notably by staying well hydrated. Ice packs, cold showers and over the counter meds are usually enough if I start to get one.

On the coffee topic, there are medications with caffeine as an active ingredient like Excedrin and Midol as well as others I am not familiar with https://migraine.com/migraine-treatm...dies/caffeine/
I think it might comes down to how individuals react to caffeine as to how effective it is but caffeine can also be a trigger to others.

Yeah Excedrin worked for me because it had part Tylenol (the pain killer Acetaminophen) Aspirin and caffeine. However, the risk with taking too much Acetaminophen over time was what made me quit, on top of my migraines becoming used to them. Now a cup of coffee with an occasional Bayer or occasional Tylenol is my substitute. I rarely do Tylenol unless I feel it's going to be severe and needs more power to stop before it gets worse.

[CanDB]

I have had my headaches described as migraine by a physician, but I have never had a headaches that last more than a day and a half. But I do get my share of them...though not quite as painful as some of you describe...at least not as far as I know. Regardless. Sophie named one very good reliever of mine....exercise. It seems the harder workouts do something to my veins or whatever, and usually help the cause.

I can not take too many strong meds, especially those that can aggravate one's stomach, but advil is my best bet.

Often sleep helps me, unless it is a headache that is neck/shoulder triggered.

Do others of you get the "aura" affect, which sometimes leads to headaches. I get them about every 2-3 months, and they are so weird! If I ever get them while driving or playing a sport, it can be very hard to see clearly. How about others here...do you get those goofy "auras"?

I feel for all of you sufferers...headaches of any significant level, are definitely uncomfortable and sometimes highly restricting.

[samparnell]

In '96 I had a migraine that lasted for five or six weeks. My wife required me to go see the doctor. My BP was 224/128 after two dosages of nitroglycerin, so I was admitted. I have been on BP meds since sometimes three at the same time, currently using two. I had to wait three months to see a neurologist during which time I was given vicodin. Initially, neurology gave me some meds which were not effective. Hypertension and migraines have some relationship, but it doesn't seem clear which causes the other.

Ultimately, they gave me Imitrex (Sumatriptan) administered via injection. It was effective for a couple of years after which the chronic migraines went away. I have had to be careful with Ibuprofen which can damage kidneys, and Acetominophen which can damage the liver if taken regularly in high dosages. I do drink coffee every morning, but don't know cause-effect on headaches. I do take a number of herbal supplements, but don't know if any are suppressing headaches.

[Lumiere]

I suffer from a strange type of ocular migraine...it only effects my vision and is virtually painless (unless I cough or sneeze, then it feels like my head will explode).

I just lose most of my vision in both eyes for about 30 - 45 minutes, then for 24 hours afterward, as long as I don't cough or sneeze I'm right as the mail.

I feel for the lot of you with debilitating pain. That truly sucks.

[HUMCALC]

I've had headache issues for almost 2 straight years now. Every day I have a headache/migraine

[Rastic]

A good friend of mine gets regular Botox injections to control his migraines.

[Houshmazode]

I get a migraine reading the smack forum.

[Sophia23]

I like what DevilSpawn mentioned about using this thread to learn tips and suggestions from others. I was hesitant to start a thread on it and appreciate the response it got from so many. It's interesting as well how it affects everyone differently. I know i've had several different types, but for me it's typically like a knife in my eye, pretty much always my right eye and nausea, there are times i don't even have a headache with it, so for the longest time I didn't know it was a migraine.

I wouldn't say I have vision problems with it, like some do. When I have the eye pain though, I can't stand light and basically live in a dungeon on those days because I can't open the blinds, it's the light that makes me nauseas. That is interesting to me that you lose your vision temporarily, Lumiere, even if it is without pain for the most part, it would be hard to deal with.

Five or six weeks is such a long time for a migraine, Sam. Was your blood pressure that high from the pain I wonder. I'll admit before I had started taking migraine medicine, I had taken vicodin a couple times when absolutely nothing was working and I think helped for the fact that it allowed me to sleep a little bit. I think being able to sleep with one, makes a big difference if you can just get some rest with it. I have a friend who has mentioned imitrex to me as well, it was something she has said worked for her. I know I would like to be able to find something that was natural, as you mention long run damage from Acetaminophen, and I know I've heard Naproxen is bad for the heart in the long run.

I know as DevilSpawn mentioned as well the concerns of damage that can be done from to much use of the pain relievers, I can certainly appreciate ideas that don't involve over the counter or prescription meds. I know Peanut had mentioned about the Botox, and I've seen these ads as well, I'm wondering if anyone has tried these? I will mention, and I don't know if this is weird, but I'm kinda at that point I'm trying a variety of ideas. I often use various Doterra oils and I don't know the difference or if all oils are the same, that's the only brand I've used. But for several years and I still use it, their breathe oil I would sometimes put a drop under my nose and that would help. Also I had read that frankincense was good for migraines if you put a drop or two under your tongue. I have tried this and I have also tried the Peppermint oil, like just a drop under the tongue. I have found it did seem to work, but it also seems to affect my mood and not always in a good way, so I haven't tried more than a couple times.

My last one started on Monday, seemed to ease a bit on tuesday, but never went away, then came back really bad through the end of day of friday. Part of it I think, is I was trying not to take the migraine medicine, because the current generic stuff I take keeps me awake, and I think sleep is a big deal in getting rid of it. Then they also make me kinda brain dead and goofy, so I try not to take them when I'm working - but then it gets out of hand where I can't do anything but keep the ice on it and it seems impossible to get rid of at times.

For any of you, I know there are several here that mentioned the vision problems, and I feel for you. I haven't had that, I have speech problems and make no sense at times, but haven't had to deal with the vision issues from them.

I hope this thread is helpful to others, to talk about the type the get or find suggestions that they may not have tried. The one thing I will swear by in my case more than anything is that I've seen the difference with vitamin D, when I go a period without taking it I do feel I get more of them. I think it's important to know what your triggers are, I know when I cut back on my sugar intake that seemed to make a difference but I don't know what all my triggers are. I have been thinking about finding out if there is a specialist who can maybe help narrow down what is triggering mine.

[Sophia23]

A good friend of mine gets regular Botox injections to control his migraines.

haha, my post was so long, multiple people posted while I was writing it. How long has your friend been doing the Botox injections, do they see a big difference. I've been curious about this.