Migraines - who gets them and what do you to cope/deal?
Discussion
Evening all.
My poor wife suffers regularly with migraines that cause her incredible pain and occasionally sickness. She has seen various doctors that have said there is not a lot we can do.
She was on some preventative medication but as we're trying for a family she cannot remain on them.
What are other people's experiences? Has anyone tried acupuncture or other remedies? Anything anyone can help with would be appreciated!
Thanks guys
My poor wife suffers regularly with migraines that cause her incredible pain and occasionally sickness. She has seen various doctors that have said there is not a lot we can do.
She was on some preventative medication but as we're trying for a family she cannot remain on them.
What are other people's experiences? Has anyone tried acupuncture or other remedies? Anything anyone can help with would be appreciated!
Thanks guys
what a load of shote. Of course there is alot you can do. For example there is loads of medication you can take when you get an attack to stop/lessen it. I even took some during pregnancy although to be fair when i was pregnant the migrains stopped apart from one attack which was about 48 hours before goin into labour, both times.
I would get a second opinion. There is plenty you can take.
I would get a second opinion. There is plenty you can take.
Out of interest has she had a blood pressure check. I used to get blinding head aches from about my late teens every few months that would last for days on end. Various quacks usually put it down to me being a bit stressed. Which I thought was kinda odd as I'm pretty laid back most of the time. However turns out it was linked to high blood pressure, now on daily pressure pills and rarely suffer at all
My wife too suffers from migraines, but things have got easier in recent years. She first went to the doctors about 15 years ago, who advised removing Caffeine and Chocolate from her diet - this didn't help.
She read a book called Food Solutions - Headaches and Migraines. It recommended removing certain things from your diet until you noticed an improvement. She eventually found it was yoghurt! Its been 10 years now and the migraines have gone from once every two months to about once a year.
When she has a Migraine, pain relief is useless as she can't keep anything down. We have found that a bag of ice on either side of her temple is the best way to reduce the pain.
She read a book called Food Solutions - Headaches and Migraines. It recommended removing certain things from your diet until you noticed an improvement. She eventually found it was yoghurt! Its been 10 years now and the migraines have gone from once every two months to about once a year.
When she has a Migraine, pain relief is useless as she can't keep anything down. We have found that a bag of ice on either side of her temple is the best way to reduce the pain.
I have the following triggers:
Being outside in low angled but bright sunlight (most sunny winter days!) without shades.
Eating more than two oranges during a day.
Missing a meal.
Going back to sleep in the morning after waking up.
Being de-hydrated. Makes hangovers a huge laugh.
As soon as I get the groggy feeling and headache, take pain killers and find somewhere dark... Sleeping the pain off usually works. Use Nytol (or a huge joint) to knock yourself out.
When I was at school I got one every Thursday afternoon - never worked out why. Now (about a million years later) I get one or two a year... Age seems to help!
Being outside in low angled but bright sunlight (most sunny winter days!) without shades.
Eating more than two oranges during a day.
Missing a meal.
Going back to sleep in the morning after waking up.
Being de-hydrated. Makes hangovers a huge laugh.
As soon as I get the groggy feeling and headache, take pain killers and find somewhere dark... Sleeping the pain off usually works. Use Nytol (or a huge joint) to knock yourself out.
When I was at school I got one every Thursday afternoon - never worked out why. Now (about a million years later) I get one or two a year... Age seems to help!
I have been getting migraines for the last 10-15 years or so, but they will happen to me once every year or two. They were the worst pain I ever encountered, being sick, half blind etc etc and when you think its bad then it goes up another level.
I thought it was something to do with sunlight as they always seemed to be on bright sunny days and so I went mad for sunglasses on any sunny day after that point. I found that they still came on. I have found that if I catch it very early with migraleve, I can get away with a small headache for an hour or two, and then I feel hungover for the rest of the day. Once I knew how to handle it I no longer worried about it, I just make sure I have a packet of the tablets with me all the time :-)
The key thing that lets me know I have it coming is a small patch of blotchiness in the centre of my vision as though I had looked at the sun.
I thought it was something to do with sunlight as they always seemed to be on bright sunny days and so I went mad for sunglasses on any sunny day after that point. I found that they still came on. I have found that if I catch it very early with migraleve, I can get away with a small headache for an hour or two, and then I feel hungover for the rest of the day. Once I knew how to handle it I no longer worried about it, I just make sure I have a packet of the tablets with me all the time :-)
The key thing that lets me know I have it coming is a small patch of blotchiness in the centre of my vision as though I had looked at the sun.
There was a really good migraine thread on here last year with some useful info + links. I will see if I can find it.
I've been in hospital twice with the worst ones for pain relief and even had an MRI scan. Complete paralysis on my right side, pain like nothing on earth that I could ever describe - with aura, vomiting and about 4 days migraine 'hangover'. Thankfully those are rare. I have never found a 'trigger' despite keeping diaries a few years back - found it to be a complete waste of time avoiding things - made no difference. I take Zomig at onset which works brilliantly and is the only one that does - often you have to try a few things to get the right one for you. The thing that really made a difference was a short course of beta-blockers - kept me free for 2.5 years, then a second course for 6 months which lasted another 3 years - now I just get strange shadowy migraines - I just don't have the words to describe that, it's a weird trippy nauseous thing that goes on for a few days. During migraines I usually feel quite dehydrated and spaced out - they go on for days and can be exhausting - taking something like Dioralyte really helps.
There are lots of old wives tales and many of people confuse / overuse the word migraine for a very bad headache which is annoying, especially in a work situation. You will find helpful info on the Migraine Association website.
I've been in hospital twice with the worst ones for pain relief and even had an MRI scan. Complete paralysis on my right side, pain like nothing on earth that I could ever describe - with aura, vomiting and about 4 days migraine 'hangover'. Thankfully those are rare. I have never found a 'trigger' despite keeping diaries a few years back - found it to be a complete waste of time avoiding things - made no difference. I take Zomig at onset which works brilliantly and is the only one that does - often you have to try a few things to get the right one for you. The thing that really made a difference was a short course of beta-blockers - kept me free for 2.5 years, then a second course for 6 months which lasted another 3 years - now I just get strange shadowy migraines - I just don't have the words to describe that, it's a weird trippy nauseous thing that goes on for a few days. During migraines I usually feel quite dehydrated and spaced out - they go on for days and can be exhausting - taking something like Dioralyte really helps.
There are lots of old wives tales and many of people confuse / overuse the word migraine for a very bad headache which is annoying, especially in a work situation. You will find helpful info on the Migraine Association website.
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