Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)
  • Migraines why?!
  • chvck
    Free Member

    I'm sat here barely able to see properly and my head is thumping. Why do migraines happen?! argh sooo crap

    Hadge
    Free Member

    Pass but not nice and best thing do is switch the pc off, get some dark glasses on and get some proper Migraine tablets. Sometimes certain things trigger them off, with me it's chocolate 🙁

    chvck
    Free Member

    I take 3 nurofen as soon as my eye sight starts to go odd, gets rid of of enough of the pain, just leaves my eyesight feeling a bit odd!

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    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    They usually occur during a period of relative relaxation (unwinding) after a relatively stressful period. Do not lay down in a darkened room, it will only help the migraine to develop, instead fight them by keeping active – go out for a walk/run/bike ride and they will pass quicker.

    Well that's my advise anyway.

    duntstick
    Free Member

    My dearly beloved has had terrible migraines for 10 years.

    Turns out our butcher of a dentist left half a tooth in at the upper back of her mouth which should have been removed.

    She has had infections up into her sinuses causing all manner of problems.

    She sits here with five stitches in her gum, dosed up on Ibuprofen and antibiotics, hopefully sorted.

    A good place to start looking may be yer gnashers……….perhaps

    RichPenny
    Free Member

    I used to trigger them all the time by getting too dehydrated.

    hora
    Free Member

    chvck, I carry co-codamol (35p from Sainsburys) everywhere with me. Spare in car, wallet and camelbak. Plus, I find an O/D on Zinc tablets cuts the migraine right down on the spot. Not sure why- anyone know if its just a Placebo (dont tell me if it is though!). My starter is pain in left eye and right hand feeling 'distant'

    All the best. Ive had a couple of workers who pulled the 'Ive got a migraine/cant come in today' bollox. Annoys me as It knocks me flat/sick as a parrot.

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    what ernie said about relative relaxation.

    I use Migraleve pink tablets as soon as I recognize an attack – it's usually enough to just leave me feeling a but woolly, although it does have a couple of side effects: 1) big hunger when it finally passes and 2) constip… well, enough said about that 😉

    hora
    Free Member

    Re: Migraleve pink tablets. The lady in the Chemist told me that now off-licence co-codomal is the essential ingredient in Migraleve pink tablets. I *trusted* her as she said she was also a sufferer and it was either £7 or 35p a pack. She convinced me to give it a whirl.

    crankboy
    Free Member

    Pink migraleve is paracetamol codeine and bulizine, the first two ease pain the third is for the nausia and vomiting. the yellow one's are just pain killers. For me the pink will normally work if I take them as I anticipate an attack when the feeling aura begins. If I miss that and get the left side numbness, partial vision and memory problems then i'm floored and passing out in a dark room and vomiting a lot is on the cards.
    The folk remedies i've tried that offer some help ; Vitamin B tablets make you go red and flushed but force blood round the brain and can stop the attack . Blocking your nose and mouth so as to hold your breath for as long as you can (do not take a deep breath first)then breath normally for 12 seconds then hold breath for as long as can again, this supposedly changes the co2 content of your blood and helps??
    Best advise is identify and avoid the trigers and identify and act on your warning signs.
    It is justifiable homicide to terminate the life of any co-worker who believes their Headache qualifies as a migraine.

    Smee
    Free Member

    I hadn't had a migraine for about two years, then I've had two in the last two days. I think my body is falling to bits.

    samuri
    Free Member

    Yep, I always have some ibuprofen or co-codomol with me at all times. Too risky not to. I've started taking 'a few' when my eyesight starts wobbling which defintely helps stave off the worst of it. PLenty of fluids as well. I'm not sure how someone could *not* lie down and take it though, how do you stay active when you can't see?

    For me the trigger is always light (since I ditched coffee which was a biggie), or rather, changes in light. Looking at a computer screen and then at external light can do it or vica versa, sometimes coming from shade to sunlight fast will kick it off.

    druidh
    Free Member

    Migraleve Pink can help if I catch it quick enough. Migraleve Yellow is just an ordinary pain killer.

    I've tried Imigran once and that worked – but it's hellish expensive.

    Sustained hard exercise keeps it at bay for me – but it starts again as soon as I start to relax. Coffee, chocolate, lights etc don't set me off, but beer does. Apparently, there's some compound created during the malting process of barley that is a trigger for many folk.

    Lying down in a darkened room would be like torture for me. I like to keep my mind focussed on something else. Therefore, I never had a day off work – I just went in and worked through it. Mind you, I don't get the visual effects. My standard migraine lasts for 60 hours – you could almost set your watch by it.

    hora
    Free Member

    It is justifiable homicide to terminate the life of any co-worker who believes their Headache qualifies as a migraine.

    The 'oh I think Ive got a migraine'. I want to throw things around when Ive heard that before! When mine come on, Im very silent, head down- walk out quickly. I'll panic abit if I dont have the co-codamol on me. Its almost like a talisman keeping evil away.

    Lanesra
    Free Member

    I suffer from cluster migraines and the only thing that manages to ease mine off is Imigran (after 15 years of various other treatments) and dose of pure oxygen from A&E

    Looking at a computer screen asking for opinions isn't the cleverest thing, imo

    As others have said you can see the signs of an attack coming (i can tell at least two-weeks before) so just ease off on all your triggers and relax

    tendonitis
    Free Member

    I can understand your frustration.

    If your question is serious I would suggest you start with a reliable medical information base such as patient.co.uk, which has really good non-biased information. It's all there. Then go and see you GP having kept a headache diary. There's loads that can be done to help

    hora
    Free Member

    Great- On the way to the takeaway just now I convinced myself I might be near one after reading this thread. GRRR

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    I get the visual disturbance but there's never any pain. I see sparkling dots at the centre of my visual field, making it impossible to read, and it gradually expands into a ring of distortion which eventually dissipates. It frustrating as I can't read or do anything else useful while I wait it out.

    chvck
    Free Member

    Ugh most of the pain has is subsiding now! Feel grotty now and starting to lose the clouded mind and remember how to spell/pronounce words and make sentences!

    slimtubing
    Free Member

    I had my first ever migraine about 4 weeks ago brought upon by a very stressful week, it started with a pretty rough headache at a bout 4 pm on a wednesday and by friday when it hadn't subsided and i'd spent the most of the night vomiting I went to the doc's. He did loads of neurological tests and was very thorough before giving me some 10mg Maxalt melting lozenges which worked within 20 mins. Haven't had anything like it before or since.

    Nico
    Free Member

    I can second Imigran. On prescription as otherwise it is v. expensive. Works every time but with a few weird side effects. I also think that dehydration is a factor, but for me it isn't food. Cluster headaches seem to be a different thing.

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    my first recollection of a migraine was when I was about 11 – out for the day with a mate & his family, I'd had about a gallon of cola before we set off, & I remember asking his dad to stop at the side of the road will I barfed. Least I didn't mess up the inside of the car 🙂

    I've never drunk any cola type drinks since.

    Next one was while watching Swap Shop, about a year later. "Why can I only see half* of Noel Edmonds' face?"

    *ok, some might say that's a blessing 😉

    ams09121974
    Free Member

    I get them generally when I overtrain and don't take on enough fluids. The only thing I can do is go to bed, sometimes they are so bad that closing my eyes makes them worse? They start by the vision in my left eye going blurry, which is not good when miles from home on the bike! Then within an hour, pounding head and sometimes they stay around or two days! Always at the bloody weekend too!

    Try Nurofen migraine relief tablets, cold flannel and bed!

    Lanesra
    Free Member

    Imigran is £8 for two tablets (from boots) and you have to fill out a stupid questionnaire/talk to the pharmacist whilst you want to punch holes in the wall, not good

    druidh
    Free Member

    Lanesra – Member

    Imigran is £8 for two tablets (from boots) and you have to fill out a stupid questionnaire/talk to the pharmacist whilst you want to punch holes in the wall, not good

    Only the first time (assuming you go to the same pharmacist)

    CountZero
    Full Member

    There are apparently two types, the headache/vomiting incapacitating type, and the type which simonfbarnes gets and I also get. With me it seems to be stress as much as anything. I never used to suffer them very much, but since losing the job I truly loved doing, and basically having to make do with a job I don't enjoy, but can't find an alternative to, I find I get stressed more often, and the migranes come more often: a blurring of part of my field of vision, which becomes an area of jagged bright light, expanding to fill more and more of my sight. As soon as I get the blurring I scarf down a couple of ibuprofen, which helps when the sick headache kicks in, otherwise it lasts hours. It's not a good feeling, but I just feel really lucky I don't get the whole throwing-up thing. I feel the greatest sympathy for those that do. An ex suffered from it, and she found it very difficult indeed, and I couldn't help someone I loved, which hurt me then as well.

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    i've found 2 triggers for my migraines:

    eye strain – from reading stuff that's too close

    and blue cheese.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    stress/release, tiredness, red wine, choc, caffeiene (ap) and dehydration here. I get the visual stuff but no vomitting (yet). Darkened room a must.

    While pink migralieve kind of works (and imgran too) I prefer to sleep through it and let it run its course as the drugs sometimes don't get rid of it, sometimes it comes back.

    hora
    Free Member

    Imigran – What are the side effects?

    TijuanaTaxi
    Free Member

    Sumitriptan is very good, but in tablet form takes a while to work. A nasal spray version is also available which acts a lot quicker.
    Only side effects I get are tiredness and for some reason a stiff neck

    I do sympathise, I suffer from Acute Cluster Headaches which are not migraines, but are extremely painful so know how debilitating headaches can be

    As mentioned best to get a scrip otherwise its very pricy and not even sure you can buy the spray over the counter

    Cluster headaches are an entirely different matter and hard to get diagnosed unless the GP is familiar with them
    Drooping eye,congested nose,pain in jaw/teeth and side of face followed by what can only be described as a red hot thing stuck in your eye and into your brain. During this time you are unable to sit or lie down and become very agitated doing such irrational things such as keep drinking water or brushing of teeth, who knows why?
    Treatments include strong drugs that are used to treat epilepsy,manic depression and heart murmur, all of which have nasty side effects

    Worst comment you can hear is I know how you feel, I get Migraines 🙂

    An earlier poster who said he had "Cluster Migraines" might be a bit confused between the two and the symptoms sounded more like Migraine than CH. Can't actually tell when an attack is coming apart from what is known as the shadows which is a weird lesser headache

    Good luck and give the Imigran a go

    chvck
    Free Member

    CountZero – that's the same type as me. Never had vomitting yet either, came very close last night though – that one was worse than most of the ones that I get! Going to get myself to the docs soon I think, see what he can give me.

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    Interesting how some feel that caffeine might be the cause if their migraines, because although I don't doubt them at all, for me the complete opposite appeared to be the case.

    As a child I was crippled with migraines (vision, numbness down one side, headaches, and vomiting) and I found caffeine to be very useful. For the reasons mentioned in my earlier post I fought my migraines attacks by keeping my stress levels up, caffeine was a useful tool for achieving that.

    Indeed my GP prescribed me Cafergot for my migraines – one of it's active ingredients is caffeine.

    http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100000407.html

    I eventually grew out of migraines many years ago btw, and I now only get attacks once every year or two. And the only symptoms I now get if I do get one, are the visual ones – I don't even get a headache, and they only last 30-45 minutes !

    tyger
    Free Member

    My daughter is doing some research on this at the moment for her degree.

    Would any of you mind commenting on what your average sleep time is and what would be a typical time for you to go to sleep?

    willej
    Full Member

    I get migranes too. Mine are definitely triggered by stress, flashing lights and teeth clenching. If you haven't tried or been prescribed one of the types of Triptan ask your doctor about them next time you see him/her. I started to get more regular migranes after I was in a car crash and got whiplash. My doctor prescribed Naramig (Naratriptan) and I could not believe how effective they were. After suffering for my entire 31 years with 2-3 day migranes, taking all sorts of painkillers now they are relieved within 30 minuntes. Totally amazing. They don't work for everyone but ask your doctor about them.

    Tyger – my average sleep time is 7 hours and I usually go to bed around 11:30 on weeknights and anywhere between 12 and 2 at weekends.

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    I used to get migranes when i was a teenager, never any more. Never figured out the trigger, always seemed unrelated to anything else. Glad its gone, my old cure was to just go to bed and sleep it off.

    kiwijohn
    Full Member

    I get them after exams at uni. I avoid anything with codeine, don't like the consti…

    TijuanaTaxi
    Free Member

    Tyger, my sleep time varies, but quite often get woken by the Cluster Headache during the night
    Suppose my average would be about 6.5 hours on a good night

    Cheers

    samuri
    Free Member

    Tyger, I go to bed about midnight on a work night, maybe 1 or 2 in the morning on Friday and Saturday. I sleep very poorly, never was a great sleeper but since we had a kid (15 years ago), my sleep pattern got completely screwed. I sleep 4 hours a night on a good night and regularly go for 2-3 days without sleeping very much at all. Migraines are definately more likely to happen during these periods.

    No-one has mentioned back pains as far as I can see, am I the only one? once my migraine is in full swing my back will pretty much lock up and give me plenty of gyp until things die down again.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    You have my sympathy samuri, not sleeping properly must be terrible 🙁

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    No-one has mentioned back pains

    There is one theory, that all migraines originate from tension in the the neck and shoulder region. Which I guess would help to explain why teeth-clenching is often associated with migraines.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)

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