Does anyone on here suffer from this?

If so how do you minimise it? Not with drugs more like yoga or something relaxing?

It’s seems sat mornings after a hard week at work I get a migraine?

I get aura migraines if I get a bit stressed, but I just take a couple of ibuprofen and get on with stuff, I don’t have much choice, really, and they aren’t really that debilitating, just annoying, so in that I’m lucky, really.

I wish mine were the same. Mine make me sick, it completely rights me off.

Identify what’s causing your stress and stop letting it. Look for other triggers too, red wine gives me migraine if I drink it when I’m tired or stressed.

I used to suffer from migraines and head aches alot, I still get the odd one. Was due to stress and anxiety, would cause sight problems like my eyes flash to the point were I cant see as its so blury, think of driving down a road with low sun shining though trees and sun light flashing through, it was like this, after this it was a migraine every time.
Opticians and an eye expert said nothing wrong with my eyes, after talking with my doctor he pinpointed what in my life caused it and I worked around it and been fine since bar ths odd one now and then.
He did say when I felt a migraine coming to take 4 painkillers instead of 2 and lay in the dark till it passes, can’t remember the reason behind 4 though but ask your doctor what he recommends

I suffered from migraines roughly every two weeks that would usually last three days. They would wake me up in the night too so sleep and darkness didn’t really help.

I tried lots of things but what has worked for me has been fantastically simple. I stopped ALL caffeine intake.
I have decaf tea now – not too bad, can’t really taste much difference.

The other good thing is that, when a migraine starts, which is very seldom now, I have a strong cup of coffee and it stops the migraine in its tracks. It’s been 3 months since I last had to take sumatriptan.

It might not work for you but it has for me!

It makes sense too (to me anyway) as migraines are caused by dilation (not constriction as was thought) of the arteries.
The caffeine constricts the arteries and removes the pain.

I could try the coffee thing. Had 6 sumatriptan today. Been I bed all day. Sucks

I also cut my alcohol intake somewhat. Not that I was drinking a lot before but it was sometimes a trigger.
I suppose the “coffee therapy” works best if your body isn’t used to caffeine so it has a bigger effect when needed.

Anyhow, it worked for me and it’s easily worth going without coffee and tea to avoid the headaches.
Hope it works for you.

The caffeine constricts the arteries and removes the pain.

Caffeine is a vasodialator.

It’s seems sat mornings after a hard week at work I get a migraine?

There’s a clue there. Migraines tend to occur after a period of stress not during the period of stress, ie, when you are unwinding.

I know it sounds a bit weird but try to maintain your stress levels on saturday mornings and see what happens.

I don’t know what you usually do on saturday mornings but if you generally lounge around try going on a hard bike ride or shopping or anything which pushes up your stress levels up.

Personally I think lying down in a dark room and relaxing is a mistake and very strongly support the caffeine therapy theory. Caffeine is a stimulant which pushes up your stress levels.

You might of course be just deferring the migraine to another day but that isn’t a given imo, and even if you do it will help you to understand migraines better and therefore how to manage them.

IMO migraines can be conquered, they are psychosomatic – conquer them with your mind ! 🙂

Caffeine is a vasodialator.

Is this right, Drac?
A quick search seems to suggest it temporarily raises BP and it may cause arterial stiffness but findings are not conclusive.
I presumed, maybe wrongly, that if BP was increased then the arteries were more constricted thereby giving a higher pressure.

Just supposition, happy to be put right.

Ernie, I think it’s you I have to thank for the “coffee therapy” from something on another post on here some time back.

Cheers!

Is this right, Drac?

It’s a smooth muscle relaxant.

I presumed, maybe wrongly, that if BP was increased then the arteries were more constricted thereby giving a higher pressure.

Well that’s one of the ways BP rises but so does increased HR which Caffeine also does.

Interesting! I thought the opposite.

Either way, life changer for me!

Well I don’t recall that FeeFoo but if that’s the case I’m very pleased it helped 🙂

Caffeine has long been associated with fighting migraines. Cafergot in which the active ingredients are ergotamine tartrate and caffeine is an old remedy that I think has now become obsolete.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafergot

Ergotamine tartrate and caffeine are both vasoconstrictors, substances which act to constrict blood vessels.

Ergotamine tartrate and caffeine are both vasoconstrictors, substances which act to constrict blood vessels.

You see, this is what I supposed as it’s the same vasoconstriction that the sumatriptan provides that gives relief.

I’m not in any sort if position to argue either way but it’s odd that it works for this type of headache.
Maybe it helps return the “spasm” to normal.

Initially I wondered if it was placebo effect as it seemed too simplistic a cure after 5 years of these headaches.
After nearly four months now I hope any placebo effect would have stopped.

I don’t know about any of the science behind it, but I do know that having an unbelievably strong small coffee as soon as possible at the outset of my migraines stops them almost completely (and a mix of co-codamol and ibuprofen finishes the residual pain off).

If I can’t get that strong coffee in time it’s flashing lights in my vision, nausea, vomiting then sleep for several hours as the only thing that gets rid of the damn things. Painkillers don’t even touch them when they get to that stage.