[QUOTE=Ferret Herder; I knew I had developed awful migraines lasting every day I was off oral contraceptives (during the placebo week) in addition to sporadic, variable-frequency migraines at other times.[/QUOTE]
This is me too. I can usually tell when the migraine is about to hit, I get a funny feeling over my left eye. If I hit it soon enough and hard enough with the drugs I’m ok in a day or so. If not, then it could be a week before I feel better.
I haven’t tried an IUD because I’m on the pill to keep fibroids in check. I think a chat with the doctor may be in order…
I’m not sure if this kind of migraine (optical) is in the same league as the OP’s. I’m fine within a couple hours of having one, but they’re not very painful, don’t have the same light sensitivity or nausea as “regular” ones do, so it hardly surprises me that the bounce back is a lot quicker. And…can you stop a regular migraine if you pay attention to the onset? If I see what I call shooting stars - a sparkly, um, thing crossing my field of vision - and immediately take a pain killer, the more disturbing visual effects can often be kept at bay.
This is usually true for me as well. I’m lucky that imitrex and compezine work really well for me, but they work best if I can sack out for an hour.
If I have to go to work or something I can take the pills and the pain will be gone in a few hours but I’ll be juuust a bit dopy all day and not really myself until after a full sleep.
I have had a few episodes of just the visual disturbances, but for those 20 minutes in a dark quiet room works for me.