In my case, I’m lucky-migraines run in our family. My mother got them (not so much anymore), so she knows how my sister and I feel.
I don’t know what else to say, but have you tried drinking something with caffeine? Caffeine constricts blood vessels, so they’ll stop pressing on your nerves. At least, this was reccomended to me.
Don’t give up on your mother. Keep trying to convince her. Go to the school nurse, tell them about your severe migraine. If you’re persistant, she’ll eventually be convinced that you’re NOT faking it.
Rule of thumb-anyone who dismisses migraines as “a headache” (“Oh, I get bad headaches sometimes, you’ll be fine!”) has NEVER had a migraine in their life and should be stricken with one immediately, if there is any justice in this world.
I’ve never had one knock on wood but my Grandma gets them on occasion. I know it’s bad if my Grandma won’t get up and will stay in bed with the curtains shut and in her pj’s all day. It’s something she Just Doesn’t Do.
You have my sympathy flamingbananas, hope the new meds help.
I feel your pain. I’ve suffered for migraines for years. I’m a younger one, too (17 years old), so I hope that I may eventually grow out of it; however, both of my parents still get them, so I doubt I will.
I’ve tried all sorts of medicines. No preventatives were working, and finally I got Axert to take when I feel the migraine coming on. If that doesn’t work, then I take Vicodin.
After going through so very many migraines, and getting to the point where I was getting so many migraines that it was unhealthy for me to have to take medicine that many times a week, my doctor suggest botox injections. Although this seems crazy at first, it actually has been shown to work, and insurance pays for it. I got the injections about a month ago, and I haven’t had anything worse than the pain of a regular headache for weeks (knock on wood). It’s amazing- I’ve been so stressed, but I still haven’t gotten the migraines! The only downside is that it makes acting in theatre a bit difficult, as I can’t move my forehead.
I can feel your pain, and sympathize. I really hope you feel better soon.
Today I’m feeling better, though my head is still pounding. The new med I got helps it for about a half hour, then I get a rebound headache. This is my 6th med I think, so possibly the 6th time is the charm. :rolleyes:
I’ve had a few headaches that I think of as migraines, though they may not qualify, as they last only a few hours, instead of days. I wouldn’t wish even one of those on my worst enemy.
A couple of suggestions:
do some research online or start a thread in MPSIMS asking for people’s migraine experiences. Print it up and give it to your mom as reading material. Maybe she’ll grab a clue.
next time you’re forced to go to school with a migraine, get someone in the administration on your side. Maybe the RN, though she sounds rather clueless. Ask around the school office - secretary, assistant principal, counselor, principal. One of them will either get migraines or know someone who does, and they will be able to tell your mom flat out that you shouldn’t be there.
When my ex-girlfriend was a little girl, she was sick. Her mother poured her a cup of apple juice and told her to drink it. She refused, saying it tasted “funny.” The mother insisted, and said things like “Oh, you’re just being difficult, there’s nothing wrong with it.” Finally the mother decided to prove to her daughter that it was fine by downing the whole cup in one gulp.
I’m not trying to be mean (or sound like your mom), but as a mom, the fact that you’re up and fooling around on the computer would signal to me that you don’t feel all that bad.
If you really felt horrible, you’d be in bed, wouldn’t you?
I sure would.
I also get severe migraines and when one hits I can’t even get out of bed. Just sitting up causes incredible pounding and makes me puke. I keep a medium-sized Tupperware bowl under the bed all the time now, because I tend to wake up with them, and I know I usually won’t make it to the bathroom.
I can’t even stand the thought of sitting upright and typing with a migraine. The glare would kill me.
I know it’s different for everyone, but when I get a bad migraine, sitting in front of the computer and typing away and bitching is the last thing I want to do.
I just need to lie down and sleep.
Sometimes I get these breaks from my migraine, so I can possibly get something to eat or get a bottle of water in my room. I was pushing my luck, but even though I have a migraine I’m still a computer nerd. I had to check my e-mail.
Heh. I found out why my sinus burn when I drink slushies. Cecil really is almighty.
Depends on the migraine type I get. Some are the awful ones, where I have to cover my eyes with my hands because my eyelids let in too much light and I’m nauseated, and I’m crying from the pain. Some are just horrible throbbing that feels like my whole head is a beating heart, and I feel crappy as hell but can mostly function, albeit more slowly than normal. For the latter, I stay at work, and that involves computer work as well.
Alternately, if I were frustrated and felt helpless and ignored, I might be able to muster up some strength during a bad one to squint at a computer screen and tap out a SDMB post asking for help. Especially if I were a teenager, instead of the adult who I am who has control of her own healthcare and insurance.
Duh, forgot to share migraine info. My mom had them ever since I can remember. These days she’s taking feverfew - it’s an herbal supplement found in pharmacies and stuff, and she swears by it. I’ve been on nortriptyline (Pamelor) as a preventative but my doc’s had to increase the dosage 3 times now; at the moment I’m on 100 mg a day. For pain relief, I have the option of 25 mg of Imitrex (plus another dose in 2 hours if I’m not better) or 1000 mg of naproxen (aka Aleve), and another 500 mg in an hour if I need it. The naproxen generally leaves me with a “hangover headache” the rest of the day and part of the following, but so far the Imitrex just wipes out the migraine completely.
I hate those hangover headaches. I’ve got one now in fact. Normaly I’ll get the full blown migraine for 2-3 days, then I’ll have a hangover headache for 1-2 days. Then I’ll have a few days till the next cycle starts!
In FB’s defence, not every migraine is a 10-on-the-pain-scale, screaming barf-fest (thankfully). I often come here with a mid-size headache, trying to distract myself until the Imitrex kicks in.
It’s really too bad that many of us have ratchet up cred with our near and dear by only pleading migraine when the pain becomes unbearable and we are incapacitated and vomiting.
For what it’s worth, ocular migraines typically last only a few hours or less (IME) although they are pretty incapacitating. My first one was around the age of 17, when I was outside rinsing out the catbox. Baaaaad timing! Tingling blind-spot threads started creeping across my visual field. Fortunately, the puke factor was there from that first time so it was obvious something was up.
We thought that first instance was from drinking kool-aid of questionable age/potability status, and over the next couple of years any drinking vessel that had held soda for more than a few hours was likely to produce a nasty headache with aura if reused. Taught me to be very anal about rinsing cups in hot water.
It wasn’t until reading the above thread that I even found out what the heck they really were.
