Migraines

[Chris_]

What scares her the most is she has a new baby (2 months) that she is not going to watch grow up.

This is so upsetting! 

Is there any way at all for her to make it through all of this? 

[debk]

This is so upsetting! 

Is there any way at all for her to make it through all of this? 

Will say prayers for you EC that everything turns out ok....

LL...prayers for your friend.


If it's one of the one's that are octopus-like...probably not. Operating on them tends to make them spread.  We had a friend who had one....they operated on it prior to chemo and radiation.

[littlelamb]

Talked to my co worker earlier she said it is Neuro Blastoma (sp?) and it is stage 4 she has been give 6-18 months to live.
I suggested that she write her daughter letters to open on special days and to make home movies and lots of them to let her daughter know who she was.
At our job we are taking a collection up to help her with her medical bills.
My heart is breaking for her I just wish their was something more I could do she is a single mom and struggling every minute every day.

[Chris_]

I just don't know what to say.

Does she have other family around who can help take care of her daughter?

[littlelamb]

No she said she is it one of our coworkers and her husband offered to adopt her they have been trying to adopt for years

[Chris_]

Well, I hope something can be worked out for the little girl.  That mother needs the biggest, longest hug in the world right now.  It must be so hard having to deal with all of this, on top of having another person to care for. 

[Inga]

I've had many people come into the store with migraines. But I have had quite a few myself in passed years. This is what helped my customers most. B-2 100mgs,1-3to4 times a day with butterbur about 100mgs. There is a product called Migrasolve that has helped many as well. But the B2 is most important.

[Chris_]

A friend was complaining of migraines today.  I heard at one point that caffeine can make them worse.

[Chris_]

A friend was complaining of migraines today.  I heard at one point that caffeine can make them worse.

Yes, you are right.

I've had caffeine withdrawal migraines.  It's bad to give yourself caffeine (with soda or coffee) to cure it.  I used to do that, and then I'd get the dreaded caffeine headache on top of my migraine.  It was awful.  The only thing I take that has caffeine in it is Excedrin Migraine.  It works best if you take two before bed.

[vesta111]

Yes, you are right.

I've had caffeine withdrawal migraines.  It's bad to give yourself caffeine (with soda or coffee) to cure it.  I used to do that, and then I'd get the dreaded caffeine headache on top of my migraine.  It was awful.  The only thing I take that has caffeine in it is Excedrin Migraine.  It works best if you take two before bed.

Will all of you Please describe your head aches to me.   Where in the head do they start back, side or front.?

Is this a steady Pain or does it have other features to it.? 

The reason I ask is I never get headaches unless I partyed too long.

Anyway one day I began to get a headache bad, it seemed to ring around my head into my jaw.  I took all the over the counter pain relief but it just got worse.

After 3 days of this shit I left work and went to the ER.
the pain was so bad at that point I could hardly talk to the Doctors, I remember I was rocking back and forth trying to get away from the pain.  They called a family member to come get me, when they arrived I didn't even recognise my own daughter.

 Next thing I remember is being on my belly and getting 2 painful shots of Demerol in both buttocks.

My daughter was told to get me home as soon as possible, that I would be out like a light in 30 minutes.

She indeed got me home and put me to bed, but, the pain was over riding the drugs. I was at that point suicidal, had I had access to a gun I would have killed myself.

Next morning Hubby looked at me all weird and said that one side of my face was swollen.   He got me into his dentist and it was found I had an abscessed back moller. The poison had gone into my head and brain and causing all kinds of havoc up there.

So severe was my problem the dentist perscribed me an antibiotic  a huge dose.  The drug ate up my stomach and I ended back in ER thinking I was going to die.

Finally I got that tooth pulled and all was joyfull and happy from then on.

Head aches, migraines are not normal, there has to be something else going on.

So can any one of you tell me how they start and end?

[debk]

Talked to my co worker earlier she said it is Neuro Blastoma (sp?) and it is stage 4 she has been give 6-18 months to live.
I suggested that she write her daughter letters to open on special days and to make home movies and lots of them to let her daughter know who she was.
At our job we are taking a collection up to help her with her medical bills.
My heart is breaking for her I just wish their was something more I could do she is a single mom and struggling every minute every day.

I am so very sorry, EC.....your friend will need lots of hugs. I guess the only good thing....if there is such a thing in a situation like this, is that her daughter, is too young to realize what is happening to her mother. The equally bad thing, is that her daughter is too young to remember her mother. What a horrendous tragedy for both of them.

A neuroblastoma is what our friend had. He was in his 70's, and lived a bit over a year after they found it, and it was also a Stage 4. He had surgery, chemo and radiation. His quality of life, was not very good, though I know his age and prior health problems contributed to it....

[Chris_]

Will all of you Please describe your head aches to me.   Where in the head do they start back, side or front.?

Is this a steady Pain or does it have other features to it.? 

The reason I ask is I never get headaches unless I partyed too long.

Anyway one day I began to get a headache bad, it seemed to ring around my head into my jaw.  I took all the over the counter pain relief but it just got worse.

After 3 days of this shit I left work and went to the ER.
the pain was so bad at that point I could hardly talk to the Doctors, I remember I was rocking back and forth trying to get away from the pain.  They called a family member to come get me, when they arrived I didn't even recognise my own daughter.

 Next thing I remember is being on my belly and getting 2 painful shots of Demerol in both buttocks.

My daughter was told to get me home as soon as possible, that I would be out like a light in 30 minutes.

She indeed got me home and put me to bed, but, the pain was over riding the drugs. I was at that point suicidal, had I had access to a gun I would have killed myself.

Next morning Hubby looked at me all weird and said that one side of my face was swollen.   He got me into his dentist and it was found I had an abscessed back moller. The poison had gone into my head and brain and causing all kinds of havoc up there.

So severe was my problem the dentist perscribed me an antibiotic  a huge dose.  The drug ate up my stomach and I ended back in ER thinking I was going to die.

Finally I got that tooth pulled and all was joyfull and happy from then on.

Head aches, migraines are not normal, there has to be something else going on.

So can any one of you tell me how they start and end?

My migraines start in the front, usually above my left eyebrow.  Throughout the day, it will then migrate above my right eyebrow.  It's a throbbing pain that also makes me feel light-headed, dizzy, and nauseated.  Loud sounds and bright lights add to the pain.  I get blurred vision as well.  The pain lasts anywhere from 2-6 hours and they happen several times a week.

My neurologist prescribed me sumitriptan for now.  If that medication doesn't work, he will try other meds.  If those don't work, he will run tests on me to see what else the problem is.  All he can tell is that I have common migraines without aura, but other then that, I'm a very healthy person. 

If you get frequent headaches/migraines, especially ones that last for days or do not react to medication, go see a doctor immediately.

[debk]

Mine usually start with my neck tightening up. Pain moves up the right side of my head, my vision "haloes"...lights seem to just glow. Sound is amplified to what seems like a thousand times, a bird chirp outside the window, will seem like it's sitting on my shoulder screeching into my ear. Repetitive noises have the same effect as chalk screech on a blackboard. My face above and below my eyes throb. (I even have had "windows" put in my sinuses)

I need a dark room, tv on low to something with little change in sound - a talk show, or Fox - to drown out any other noises. A bit of chocolate, 2-4 advil with a glass of water, if there's no let up, another 2 in an hour. Anytime I have tried prescription, I throw them up.

I first got them in college. Very intermittently. They went away for several years until I got pregnant with my first child. Had 2 while I was pregnant with her...and honestly thought I was going to die, because there had to be a reason for my head feeling like it was going to explode. Didn't have any more until after my second one was born about 2.5 years later. Have had them ever since.

Went to a neurologist ( a woman, which I highly recommend for another woman), as I went through a time when I had one most everyday for 8 months. Turned out, they were muscular in origination in my neck, but progressed to full fledge migraine by late afternoon. Took Flexeril for 2 months, to "break the cycle" as she called it and ease the spasms in my neck. That stopped the every day ones.

She had me "track" the ones I continued to get. They seemed to be tied into my menstrual cycle....5th day of my period to be exact. I continued that way, even after a hysterectomy. Then I got them on the 5th day of my daughter's who was still living at home!!!   She moved out, and the frequency stopped. Apparently, hormones can be a big contributor to them. My daughter was on daily meds for them when she was in her mid teens, then she seemed to almost grow out of them...as she aged and her hormones stabilized a bit, the headaches became much less frequent, though she has had them more since her second child was born.

Now I get them if riding as a passenger, in a car on wind-y or mountain-y roads. Or in someplace with really bright lights, or very loud noises. Most of the stuff I can avoid, but the road thing is hard to do, living where I do...in the foothills of the Smokies.

[Chris_]

All of my migraines stopped when I was pregnant with our daughter.  If I wanted a nine month break, I could get pregnant again.  lol

[debk]

All of my migraines stopped when I was pregnant with our daughter.  If I wanted a nine month break, I could get pregnant again.  lol

Maybe yours are related to your hormones too. After my son was born....I was convinced I had to have a tumor or aneurysm or something....they were the worst I had ever had up to that point. My OB said it was pretty common during/after pregnancy. You have to remember that was 29 yrs ago....who knows.

I was 35 when I had them for 8 months. Had a deviated septum that I had fixed and the windows put in my sinuses and it didn't make a bit of difference!! Went into surgery with one, and came out with one that lasted a couple of days...there was not enough Demerol to conquer it!!!

I went to the neurologist after that. She did do an MRI to make sure they weren't anything else other than migraines, too.

Outside of having issues with the "hormone parts", 3 lumpectomies, and some stupid allergies, I've basically been really healthy during the 35+ years of my adult life.

[Chris_]

My neurologist told me the same thing.  Your hormones are so wacky after giving birth.  While the hormones are trying to get back to normal, it can cause migraines.  My daughter was born 14 months ago.  I'd like to know how long it takes hormones to stop acting so stupid.

[debk]

My neurologist told me the same thing.  Your hormones are so wacky after giving birth.  While the hormones are trying to get back to normal, it can cause migraines.  My daughter was born 14 months ago.  I'd like to know how long it takes hormones to stop acting so stupid.

T was not quite 2 when we moved here, and I didn't have them then. We moved here the end of June, the end of the following February, I had my first ovary out. It was soon after that, I started having them towards the end of my periods. I remember I was not on any type of BC by then, because the ex had a vasectomy.

I breast fed him for about 5.5 months and I know they went on for several months after I quit, I just don't remember how long. I do remember that I went back on the pill after I quit nursing though.

[Thor]

Went to a neurologist ( a woman, which I highly recommend for another woman)....

Sexist!!!

For the record, my neurologist is a woman. She's pretty damned good at what she does, too!!

[debk]

Sexist!!!

For the record, my neurologist is a woman. She's pretty damned good at what she does, too!!

I'm not a sexist!! 

I have just had experience with older male doctors, who will blow off a woman's complaints...as hormonal and suggest bon-bons and movie magazines. My response to him started with an F..... I never went back to him.

He was a referring physician to my ex....my ex who at the time was my husband...was not happy with me. I didn't care....no doctor should talk to a woman - or a man - like that!! 

[Chris_]

I have just had experience with older male doctors, who will blow off a woman's complaints...as hormonal and suggest bon-bons and movie magazines

[debk]

At the time, I saw no humor in it.

He was dead-ass serious when he said it too.

I was dead-ass serious when I ripped up the Rx for Prozac he had just handed me, and threw it on his desk...with my well-executed 2 word sentence...and turned around and walked out.

To say I was furious, was an understatement!!!

[Thor]

The bigger thing is that he was probably right in MOST cases...........

[debk]

The bigger thing is that he was probably right in MOST cases...........

He was probably good for women that were only looking for "happy" pills...weight pills....any kind of pills.

I was looking for a way to get rid of pain.....without pills that weren't going to get me "hooked".

Another male doctor....not one happy pill or anything addictive....tried some alternatives first, then finally surgery. I was a new[/] woman!! 

[BEG]

Vesta, my migraines start with an aura as a warning. If I don't take something for the headache before it starts I can't get rid of it. The pain starts on one side of my forehead/eye and progressively gets worse. As time goes on it spreads but remains more on the side it starts on.

I throw up, I can't think, I need the room to be totally dark, no sound at all and I rock back and forth because it hurts that bad.  My neurologist prescribed ultram for the migraines, sometimes it worked sometimes it wouldn't.   I would just have to sleep it off, my whole day would be screwed. The next day I was exhausted.  I don't have ultram anymore because I get migraines infrequently.

I was getting them several times a week before I had a stroke. Now I mainly get the aura with out a migraine but every once in awhile I will get a migraine and it's the same as I described above.  A migraine is constant with no let up until it goes away.  

I've had an abscess (I was 7 months pregnant with my first child) and I would describe the pain as about equal but different.  My abscess started on and off for a few days then one night it was agony. I was visiting my mom at the time and she called my childhood dentist at 4:00 in the morning and he met us at his office. He prescribed me something for my pain, I can't remember what it was and gave me the name and a number of endodontist.  Called him as soon as they opened and he got me right in. Had a root canal and it was so bad he had to leave it OPEN until I flew home. My dentist back home finished the treatment.

For the past few months I have had a headache everyday, actually it is constant. It's the top of my head, it feels like my brain is swelling type of headache. It isn't like a migraine, it's a totally different feeling. I can ignore it and do chores, etc. but I think I'm going to talk to my doctor about it because I am sick of having it every single day.  Also my tinnitus is on HIGH right now. It is driving me nuts.

Edited to add: a few years ago I was having symptoms of a TIA. My doctor told me to go to the ER. I went to Baylor (Dallas), where he told me where to go, and had to wait quite a long time to get a bed. I got a migraine and the lights and all the people talking/noise made me vomit. When I finally got to a room they turned off the lights and gave me morphine. It didn't touch the pain. I asked for ibuprofen and they gave me 800 mg and it went away.    

[whiffleball]

I've only recently developed debilitating migraines and am grateful for the advice in this thread.

I do have a caution about the drug Topamax.  It's prescribed to prevent migraines, plus it's used as an anti epileptic.   I took it for about a month and experienced severe and extreme dry skin to the point of itching, flaking and actual skin pain.  After speaking to a few health care professionals it sounds like Topamax was touted as the wonder drug for migraines, but the side effects prevent many people from being able to tolerate it. 

I still haven't decided on a replacement, but am going to try the OTC mentioned above.