Migraine sufferers

[grinningghost]

What symptoms do you experience when you get a migraine? I'm dealing with one right now, which thankfully is on it's way out, but the worst thing I contend with is terrible muscle pain in my neck which shoots right into my eye. It's almost like the muscles shorten a few inches and ball up. Add a little light or sound to the mix and I'm ready to hurl.

 

[ahutton]

I've had them for many years. I have vision disturbances (see a white spot in the middle of everything) and some flashes of light in the perimeter. I get motion sick even turning to reach into my filing cabinet at work... I finally asked for something specific for it from my doctor. She gave me Maxalt. It is the best thing ever, I take it and 15 minutes later I feel normal again. The other migraine specific things I've taken over the years have made me so sleepy I can't function - don't know if they cured the problem or not, I was asleep. Maxalt does not make me sleepy like that, although I would not take it before I had to drive. I can still do things like cook, play with the kids and such though, and Imitrex never let me do that.

 

[eeyore74]

I get the eye thing, too. It's awful. One thing I tried is ice on the shoulder; I'd learned that from a girl who does massages. It seemed to help on my last migraine.

I have drugs for them. I don't remember the name, but the generic is Migrazone. It is not a strong one, though. I'll be changing to something else next doc visit.

Hope you find relief!

 

[Jasminesmommy]

I have been very luck to bethe one in my family not to get migranes but everyone says Advil Migrane is the best medicine for it. My little brother gets them bad when he don't eat.

 

[Tuffcookie]

ahutton, I take Maxalt too! It does work well! However, I take a 1/2 tablet of Toprol XL every night and it has greatly reduced the number of migraines I get in the first place.

And yes, those neck pains are a good sign that a migraine is coming on.

TC

 

[phisigprincess]

I used to get them so frequently in high school that my parents had to take me to the ER to make sure they were just regular migraines. Thank goodness they were and my doctor put me on Immitrex. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it helped me. If the migraines keep coming back, make sure to go get it checked out!!!

 

[wdw4us]

but his are more weather related or food driven.

Cheese, chocolate etc. A change in pressue from a storm approaching will trigger one too.

He has Zomig. They make him feel worse for about 20 min then they go away.

His sister has them and she takes Immitrex which works great for her.

I guess it depends on what other meds you are taking and your other physical conditions on what they'll give you.

denise

 

[phorsenuf]

I have a strange form of them as they mimic strokes. The first time it happened I was in the hospital for 4 days. I get the left side paralysis, slurred speech, the whole nine yards. It's real scary. Thankfully I only get those when I am VERY stressed out. My Doctor even advised me to quit work because of it. I now get SS disability. Most of the time I get the vision disturbances and pain in the side of the head and the naseau. They had me on depakote as a preventative, but that gave me headaches. Know I just "ride" them out.

 

[browneyes]

Pain in my left eye that radiates to the back of my head. Light sensitivity, feelings of nausea, seeing squiggles, sensitivity to sounds, and an overwhelming need for someone to put me out of my misery. My SIL has seen me during 1 migraine and said she's never been so worried about anyone in her entire life. I don't move, I'm pale and I can't talk without it hurting me. It's the only time my kids don't argue around me too. Migraines are the worst pain I've ever been in (childbirth doesn't even seem like pain compared to a migraine). It takes me sometimes up to 2 weeks to recover from a bad one. It's like I've had a stroke or something when I have a bad one (memory loss, disoriented, etc).

I hope yours goes away soon.

 

[MaryJ]

I am so glad to hear that there are other migraine sufferers out there who feel the neck pain before the full blown migraine. That describes my headaches exactly. I once had a doctor that told me that if I feel the pain in my neck it isn't a migraine, it's tension. He gave me medicine for tension and it didn't really help. I went back and told him that I was sure they must be migraines. He had some Zomig samples in his office and gave them to me. He told me to take one the next time I had a headache. If it works, it's a migraine....if it doesn't, it's not. Those were his exact words. Anyway, the Zomig worked like a charm and I keep them in my purse at all times!

 

[Christine]

My cousin gets migraines and she has described the *exact* same neck symptoms as you. I've only had sporadic migraines (once a year or even less) and they seem to start in my eye. I call it the old "icepick in the eye" syndrome. My cousin just started using Maxalt and loves it over all the other stuff.

 

[Kristi1357]

I had another one last night and Advil Migraine did do the trick. DH ran out to the 24 hour Brooks last night... BUT, this was the first time I could keep any pills down! I have vomited every other time I get one of these headaches. The last one three weeks ago was so bad I was in the ER on an IV. I am going to make a trip to the doctor - I've never gone for migraines before and I think it's about time I got a prescription of some sort for them.

 

[Perlla55]

I have attended a lecture by a chiropractor doctor explaining all about chiropractise and have found out that regular adjustments to the neck and spine could heal from many illneses including migrains.
Wishing you all a healthier life.

 

[browneyes]

I rarely get the neck pain, but I can almost always tell I'm about to get a migraine if my lower teeth start hurting.

 

[p-nut]

My migraines started out exactly like phorsenuf's it was just like a stroke left side went numb. They put me on depakote. It had helped me a little where I was able to go to work. I did get headaches and gained some weight but I was able to function. Then I moved to Arizona from Texas. New DR changes meds. Puts me on Topamax morning and night . Numbness goes away...Yayyy
Bad headaches come in...booo...dr gives me Maxalt..works great on migraine..increases Topamax..start fainting...booo....more drs..more tests..and so the story goes....

 

[solotraveler]

I'm an "eyeballer" too.... Mine usually start just over one eye and move south. Then comes the sensitivity to light, sound, and especially smell. Then the waves of nausea.... ugh

I started to get them as a teenager, but I have found that I am getting them less than I used to. I generally take the new Exedrin migraine and that works great.

What makes it worse from time to time is that one coworker who states, in the middle of a really bad one, "Jeez, it's just a headache."

Anyone else get this attitude or am I the only one?

Solotraveler

 

[BedKnobbery2]

I sometimes get vision disturbances before a migraine, and it usually is before the really bad ones. I get starbursts, tunnel vision, and fractal vision for about 30 minutes before the headache starts.

I get an intense pain right usually just above my left eye, which radiates back. Sometimes I wish I could pop out my eyeball and just 'scoop' the painful part out; it feels that localized sometimes.

They usually last about 18 hours from start to finish.

 

[Snowysmom]

I usually get the vision disturbances too. Sometimes I can smell peanut butter or chocolate even if it isn't around me. The neck muscle tension is another sign too along with exhaustion and nausea. I take ibuprofen which takes the edge off and just wait until it "wears" off. My son started getting them at 9 but thankfully they seem to have gotten less frequent as he hit the teenage years.

 

[Ronda93]

My first sign is pain under my eye. Left alone, it blossoms into a three day affair. The pain seems to center on the sinuses which had my dr. looking for sinusitis and prescribing antibiotics. I think he believed it wasn't migraines. Like someone else he finally gave a triptan-type drug and it worked like a charm (I remember that I took it for the very first time at DisneyWorld, we were staying at the WL - this was an important event).

I take Zomig. It does make me feel worse, nauseous, for about an hour, but then the pain goes away for about 24 hours. I also get a constricted feeling in my neck. Not like I'm choking, more like my glands are swollen.

I have Zomig stashed in the car, my office, my briefcase. It's everywhere. I'd like to find a cheaper alternative ($10 a dose), but it'll come off patent some day.

I went through a bunch of pain killers... Vicodin for a while. Dopey and nauseated, great.

Prod your dr's to treat you.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Originally posted by Perlla55
I have attended a lecture by a chiropractor doctor explaining all about chiropractise and have found out that regular adjustments to the neck and spine could heal from many illneses including migrains.
Wishing you all a healthier life.

DH takes care of mine for me. I used to get several tension headaches a week. I would be dizzy, nauceous, and sensitive to light. Mine started in my shoulder blade, went up the side of mine neck into my jaw and eye. Now I MAYbe get one a month and it is usually hormone related (menstruation.) But if I feel it coming on I have DH work on my shoulders and get an adjustment it never comes full on.