Wellness

[ROMARY]

Update: I added/edited on my post #18. For allergy triggered migraines. .......... p.s. This thread is amazing, as just think of how many docs we would have to go to in order to get 'the full picture/scope' of tips and suggestions. Not every doc thinks of every single thing/idea/tip. Understandably. (As long as one has been checked out by a doc to begin with, that is.) (In my case, I was at a doc's (gyno) office for an unrelated visit, (yearly gyno/pap), and she and her N/P solved my migraine problem in just three minutes.) A stroke of good luck for me, many years (possibly 30) ago.

[ROMARY]

Taquito: I know what you mean.........For a period in my life, many years ago, I couldn't even plan travel/vacations. Couldn't take the chance of losing my deposits, etc.

[kcladyz]

I have migranes maybe 5 times a year so its not bad enough to need medication but I usually take off work early when one hits like today. When I have one I cannot even stand to hear the sound of my own voice it hurts so bad. its more like being crippled then a pain thing.  I have to have low light and no sounds

[house_cat]

I had occasional migraines since the onset of my period at 11 years old.  They were clearly linked to my cycle.

As I got older, they became more frequent. In my 40s they became almost debilitating.  Another teacher at school gave me Imitrex and I can't tell you how it felt to finally have something that worked.

I've been seeing a neurologist for 10 years and they haven't gotten much better. I won't list all the meds he's had me on, but most of them have been listed here.  A couple of them increased my appetite and I gained a lot of weight in my early 40s, which I'm still struggling to lose.

I currently have an RX for Imitrex - which means 9 pills a month. I break them in half to make them last longer, and there are many months when I run out.  I'm very concerned about the long-term use of this medication, but the alternative would be worse than death, so I take them anyway.

My neurologist said that most people age out of them in their 60s, but I'm heading for 57 with no sign of them easing up.

I'm going to say one thing that might sound wacky, but it actually helped a bit.  I used to sleep in flannel p.j. bottoms and a down comforter, because I always feel cold when I first get into bed.  I would frequently wake up drenched in sweat.  I recently did some "google research" and it seems I'm not the only person who has reduced the number of migraines by sleeping with very light covers.  I also switched to wearing a light nightie. Even though I'm cold when I first go to bed, I still wake up very hot many times a night, but somehow I don't wake up with the morning migraine as often as I used to.

I know this sounds silly, but I figured if what I have to say helps one person it will be worth posting.

[ThinkOutsidetheBox]

So many good suggestions here! I started getting migraines after being put on my first SSRI antidepressant after being raped. I had never had a migraine before, and I swear I thought I was going to die. I should never have taken those drugs, but I listened to doctors who assured me that the medications were what I needed. I was tried on many anti-depressants and anti-epileptic medicines (those are frequently used as "mood stabilizers"). All of this stellar medical care was courtesy of the military. Back in the mid 90s, they did not want to acknowledge that rape of military members by military members occurs, so the treatment was to discharge women with a medical disability after labeling them as bipolar and slapping them on anti-depressants.

Anyway, those drugs had me starting my migraine life experience within two weeks of being on them. Despite discontinuing the drugs after two years, the damage appeared to have been done. None of the docs believed that the drugs were responsible for the migraines, so they continued to assure me the drugs were necessary and safe.

The only medication that works for me, and that is intermittent sometimes, is Relpax. It is also a triptan like Imitrex, but Imitrex never worked for me. I have had to go to the E.R. In the past for shots of Toradol, but that is very bad for the liver, so docs don't like to give that medication in any form long-term. I am 48, so I hope that menopause will cause these to stop permanently. I dread that not being the case.

[appleseed]

Thank you all for sharing!!

I had debilitating migraines that started when I was 11, corresponding with puberty/monthly cycles onset. Last year at age 49, I had a hysterectomy which included removal of my ovaries. The surgical menopause seemed to put an abrupt near-end to my lifetime of almost daily severe migraines!

However, I started having BAD hot flashes and sweating, so I went on a hormone patch.. and guess what came back! The migraines returned as soon as I resumed a hormone patch and stopped a couple of weeks after the patch came back off. I decided some flushing and sweating was not nearly as bad as a return of those awful headaches. 

Honestly, I don't know if any of the preventatives ever helped me. I was on several over the years, including Topamax. What did help were the triptans, most notably Maxalt, which does a good job of aborting the headache about an hour after I take it. However, if I'm in one of those multi-day events, the headache just comes back after a few hours, so the triptans aren't always the perfect answer. 

[LTT1]

@appleseed  I take 1/4 tablet at night of estradiol (in meno) and 1/4 tablet each night of a Triptan. Headaches are finally mostly gone. Hormones DO help to cause the HAs... According to my gyn. Doctors laugh b/c they cannot believe that these tiny doses do anything, but they say OK.

any higher dose of the Triptan would have me eating night and day. No way we're those HAs going to go away until after two surgeries for sinus and no hormones life began.

[appleseed]

@LOVETOTEACH Wow, that's so interesting, as in all my years of having the dubious distinction of migraineur, I'd never heard of taking a daily triptan. My neuro makes me be very sparing with the triptans, for fear of rebound headaches. Do you mind telling me which one you take daily? I'm so glad that works for you! I sense doctors are becoming less and less "afraid" of the triptans and are realizing they can use them a bit less sparingly.. 

[LTT1]

Sorry.. I took Elavil (a Triptan-- seritonon blocker?) rpfor a couple of years long ago with disastrous events on my weight due to gnawing hunger. Was told anti-Ds would change "perception" of pain. So now I take a minute dose of Mirtazapine (because maybe I Am crazy) but I tolerate it well.HTH

[LTT1]

MSG (mono Sodium a Glutamate/ and highly salted foods (lots of sodium) are also no no's for me. Most veggie-burgers I can't tolerate.
Another Triptan I tried was the muscle-injection, which I eventually had a rxn to.