migraines

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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:29 am

anyone else here suffer with migraines?

any treatment youve tried etc?

Baiting Guru Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 2922

Cold wet flannel on the face and laying down in a dark room. Oh and apparently breathing in the cold air from your freezer helps too.

Other than that-medicine cabinet time. Hope that helps. Very Happy

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:36 am

Head On- Apply directly to the forehead

Head On- Apply directly to the forehead

Head On- Apply directly to the forehead

Head On- Available at drugstores everywhere

Just kidding. I don't suffer from them, but they have prescription medication for them. Or good old fashioned bed rest I have heard works.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:41 am

If it's really bad, like seeing dots, you should just go to your GP/local equivalent.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:44 am

Only thing that works for me whenever I get a classic migraine is a large shot of pethedine or morphine Crying or Very sad

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 7103 Location: Yes

Have a family member who suffered from them for 30 years. Went to every doctor you can imagine.

They stopped about 3 weeks ago. The most recent doctor said to have a cup of coffee before bed - amazingly, this worked (but the doctor said that it only worked for her particular kind). However, and perhaps not coincidentally, this family member also retired this summer -- so it's hard to say which is the chicken and which the egg.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:02 am

i had a stroke from a migraine in april 07 which has left me with a little bit of blurry vision in the top of my vision.

after that i was put on amitriptyline, a preventative, which has worked. ive only had one mild migraine (last night) since january 1st.

i just wonder whether the body gets used to that drug etc or if anyone has tried any different preventative treatments?

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:40 am

I get the flashing lights, pin point/tunnel vision, hot nail in the forehead ones about 3 - 4 times a year, I've had or tried nearly all the prescription drugs, some of them have side effects worse than the migraine.

I don't take much for them now, disprin/aspirin to thin the blood down a bit, I'm not condoning or promoting illegal drugs, but I've found a herbal smoke helps, and the usual darkened room, and ice pack

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 3:17 am

About Head-On

Don't waste your money on that product! It works as well as a glue stick.

This is coming from a pharmacist. It should be illegal to sell that in stores. It'll work just as well as any old placebo.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:14 am

I've had migraines my entire life. The only thing that has worked for me was chiropractor. Once a week I have a neck and spine adjustment and it increases the blood flow to the brain. I ended up in hospital a few times, but they just put me on a drip and send me home. I use to get numbness in my face and right side of my body. Since I've been seeing a chiropractor, not even one headache.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:29 am

Mine aren't as bad as some described here,but even a mild one will knock you on your tail.Aside from the darkness and cold compress,I have found that caffeine works well for me.I usually keep some no-doz or it's equivalent around,taken with a cola beverage if nausea is a problem.I have never heard of the trick of breathing air from the freezer,but it does sound like it might be soothing.Good luck

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:52 am

I’ve had migraines, at least 1 a week, for over 15 years now. I’ve tried all the different medications over the years. The only ones I’ve found to be of ANY use are the ergotamine-based ones, and most of those are no longer available. Cafergot, [ergotamine-tartrate & caffeine] is what I use now, but I’ve found it’s only effective if used within the first half hour of migraine symptoms appearing. Before I had the migraines properly diagnosed and treated it was either lose 1 or 2 days lying in bed or a pethidine shot. [I’m told pethidine isn’t used any more so that’s no longer an option]. I’ve been so desperate at times I’ve tried some more unconventional methods, like extracting large quantities of codeine from paracetamol/codeine tablets, but I can’t really recommend doing that. Different treatments work for different people; there’s the newer types of migraine medication such as Imigran, which some find work very well but which are very costly. It’s really just trial and error until you find what works, but there’s no cure as such.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:16 am

That's the problem isn't it. So many people get them and so many treatments that never work. I'm surprised at the amount of people here who have exactly the same type with the same symptoms. My worse one was a few months back where it was like I was having a stroke. The paralysis in the face and limbs, loss of vision, nausea, tunnel vision and white stars. I hated them.

Rockaway, that ergotamine-tartrate is a blood thinner isn't it? I use to take that years ago.

I serious recommend getting some chiropractic work on your neck. My chiro told me I had a severe neck issue. The muscles and bones in my neck were cutting off the circulation of my blood to my brain. After my first adjustment he told me to stand up slowly. I did and still fell into the wall. He said, 'That's the blood flowing back into the brain.' I wish I'd done it younger. I wouldn't be such a mess now. I feel your pain guys and gals. Migraines really do suck!

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:53 am

I have had them for the past 50 years or more, they started when i was at school and i have suffered with migraine attacks, ever since.

I was told you grow out of them as you get older, unless you hit your head. Laughing

Need to narrow down to what can also cause them, lack of sleep, not eating, certain foods, flashing lights, might need a eye sight test, etc.

I have found that you need to know when the first signs of a migraine are starting, in my case it's zig zag lines in my vision.

That is when to take your medication. in the UK i take 2 Migraleve Pink tablets however if in the unlikely event they do not work then there are Migraleve Yellow tablets, that knock you out.

Don't know about sitting in front of a freezer, but wearing dark glasses and going for a walk in the fresh air helps, colder the better.

Did read that they are caused when the blood vessels at the back of your neck relax and the blood rushes through again.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:46 am

I had migraine attacks for years. They started out of the blue when I was 25 (I'm 48 now). The first one was a killer and put me in bed for two days.
I'd say it was the classic type. Blurred vision, flashing lights with jaggardy zig-zagging worm creeping around my peripheral vision. Then I would feel nauseous and sick, followed by a pain right across the front of my face like I had been hit with a cricket bat. It could last anything from a few hours to a few days. And I was very sensitive to light so would retreat to a dark room and try and sleep it off.

It turned out to be related to something going on around the side of my face and having treatment for that about three years ago has helped. Where I would get one or two attacks a week I now get one or two a year, but nowhere near as bad as before.

One thing worth investigating is that your jaw is aligned properly. Tell your dentist that you get migraines and he may be able to help. But finding the cause is tricky at best. That area around the jaw/ear/temple (the trigeminal zone) can cause all sorts of trouble when there is a malfunction. Getting treatment is hard if not impossible.

One thing that I know works for me and others is:

if you are able to get it. Here in the UK it's available over the counter and I believe is the strongest non prescription painkiller going. You need to take it at the first sign of an attack coming on.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:53 am

NN, you may have been using a drug called Ergodryl which contained ergotamine-tartrate, benadryl & caffeine, which is no longer available here, or Ergodryl Mono which contained only ergotamine-tartrate, also no longer available. Ergotamine tartrate is derived from ergot alkaloids [the same toxins in the ergot that affects grain crops]. I remember having a brief discussion about this on the forum a couple of years ago, and also that LSD can be synthesised from ergotamine tartrate; but that's getting away from the point.

Quote:

.....they are caused when the blood vessels at the back of your neck relax and the blood rushes through again.

That's what I've heard, and ergotamine is supposed to work by constricting blood vessels, thus counteracting the dilation caused by relaxation of the vessels. I believe ergotamine was originally used to reduce bleeding in women during childbirth. Many migraine medications started out being used for other puropses and the benefits to migraine sufferers were later stumbled upon. Inderal, the blood pressure medication is another example of this.

I've tried other non-chemical treatments like acupuncture and physio, with little benefit but haven't been down the chiro path because my doctor advised against it [although I have heard it works for some people; doctor just being over-cautious I suspect.]

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:42 am

rockaway wrote:

Ergodryl Mono

That was exactly it. I remember I could only take a maximum of 8 per week, or they would do something bad. Can't remember what it was. Just bad.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:05 pm

Only once have I ever had a migraine, in my early twenties, and it lasted a week with one day when it disappeared in the middle.

The first session began with the feeling that my stomach had just dropped a thousand feet down an elevator shaft and the second one with the pinhole vision thing.

It still ranks as the worst pain I have ever had, even though I have had some close experiences since then. It was just so unrelenting, with the inability to face light as well.

To make matters worse the pharmacist noticed that my GP had prescribed an overdose for me. Shocked

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:20 pm

I have classical migraine with aura (no, I'm not a Dr, but I play one on 419 Eater), so they've tried a BUNCH of stuff. Cafergot was effective for awhile, but Midrin combined with a dark room and ear plugs (my level of aural sensitivity is brutal) seems to help. Imitrex was a no go, the side effects made me wish for the damn headache. And the ever present and widely used ice pack to the back of the neck is always soothing.

I've had several bad enough to end up in the ER getting morphine and a script for Percocet, but thankfully they are few and far between. If you have the classic "pre-symptoms" (light sensitive, spots, etc), the secret is early recognition and getting on some kind of med immediately. Even Excedrin Migraine can help if taken early enough.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:53 pm

rockaway wrote:

haven't been down the chiro path because my doctor advised against it [although I have heard it works for some people; doctor just being over-cautious I suspect.]

I don't want to start a new debate but a lot of "conventional" docs are very iffy about "alternative" practitioners so don't be put off trying a chiropracter. If you have such debilitating migranes then surely anything is worth a go? It certainly can't do any harm, unlike taking endless new prescriptions of 'wonder drugs'. Thankfully I don't suffer from migranes but after consulting a chiro about some lower back pain problems and having some neck Xrays done I discovered that my neck "bends" the wrong way and the chiro was amazed I don't have headache/migrane problems. That can change so I'm having adjustments once a fortnight anyway.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:13 pm

My recommendation:

1) amitryptiline or propanolol for preventative
2) muscle relaxant such as methocarbamol at the first sign
3) sumatriptan (nasal spray) for relief

A Skinner, R.Ph.

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:55 pm

Some avatars on Eater have caused me a migraine attack. My typical attack (no matter what the cause is) lasts three days and makes me very sick. Mad

I mean the avatars with strong special effects. I try to avoid watching them but it isn't always possible. Eater would be a better community without them, though the members with those avatars are just nice people. Smile

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:44 am

My migraine trigger can be hard to avoid on occasions - the smell of most perfumes and cleaning products/chemicals. Sad

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 1:44 am

windypops wrote:

One thing that I know works for me and others is:

if you are able to get it. Here in the UK it's available over the counter and I believe is the strongest non prescription painkiller going.

I am so moving to the UK...

Not quite a Newb Joined: 04 Jun 2008 Posts: 73

Nurofen does nothing for me

I've had migraines for over 20 years now. I used to take co-proxomol but my GP said last year the Medical Council banned it from being prescribed Shocked

I usually get it from not enough sleep / overworking, so a lie down for a kip in a darkened room is the only solace. Uniquely, I managed to force myself down the pub recently with a migraine on, and after a few Guinness I was feeling tip top. However, it's fairly obvious what was at work there!