One - ba-dum-bum.
But seriously - I’m wondering at what point one should become worried about migraine headaches (and the potential causes thereof, if anyone’s feeling GQ-ish).
I’ve had exactly three of these, all over the course of the last 2.5 years. #3 hit last night and kept me from getting to sleep - thus my late appearance on the board this morning - and it’s since been downgraded to ‘tropical storm’ status, but it’s still lingering with me.
So 3 in almost as many years? No bigge from where I’m sitting. I get them about 3 times a month so I guess I should go see the doc.
I don’t know how many is too many either, so hopefully a doctor-Doper can come in and help us out, but one a year doesn’t sound too serious. I get about 1 every month or two. Not nearly as bad as Bongmaster, but more than I’d like.
The most migraines I get are once a day over a three or four day period. Those are most common when there are extreme weather changes, like during the spring or fall (since I live in the Midwest, extreme weather changes are common).
IANAD, but I am a migraineur. To me, (this is my OPINION, not fact) too many migraines would be whether the frequency and severity of the migraines are having an impact on your quality of life. That doesn’t sound like the case for you, but if you were missing work or school on a regular basis, or otherwise felt like it was “ruining your life”, it would be a different issue. It never hurts to ask your doctor, though. In fact, I recommend it. If not a special appointment for just the migraine, then at least on your next checkup.
Ehh, apart from the rare eye exam, and the annual (approximately) dental cleaning, I don’t get check-ups. I go to doctors when there are noticeable problems.
If I were you, I would consider myself lucky- I get horrible migraines fairly frequently. IANAD, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much, unless they start to get more frequent.
On a side note, you might want to try Excedrin for migraines- that was working for me for a while if I took it at the onset. It has since stopped helping, but you might want to try it.
When I was getting 2 to 3 a month, my doctor decided I was getting too many and started me on a preventative med. Which didn’t work and led to me gaining mucho poundage.
See your doctor – for many people migraines are treatable and/or preventable. Why suffer?
Three in a three year timeframe doesn’t sound like anything bad. The last one I had (about four years ago) was the third one I’d had in three years and, obviously, I’ve not had any since.
So long as your quality of life isn’t impacted, I wouldn’t worry.
Thanks for the input so far, folks. I have a new theory as to the cause - City of Heroes, the popular Online RPG - resets your monitor’s refresh rate to a minimal 60Hz - which can induce severe eyestrain.
Three in less than three years? Pish! I’ve had one practically every day for at least two weeks! 
One of the worst string of migraines I’ve ever had. I’m stuck in a cycle of headaches/migraines, sleepless nights, overslept days, and a frustrated family. Of course, even when I don’t have an actual migraine for a while (like a couple of weeks), I rarely ever go two days in a row without at least a constant dull ache.
Anyhoo…
2 weeks? Psshhhhhh. Try 3 months. They have since gotten a bit better, but I still get them weekly, and with an almost constant dull ache. Anyway, yours sound normal to me, but if they get really bad, like intruping work and sleep, see your doctor. Meds don’t work for me, but they might for you!
That’s more or less what I’m like. I have a migraine at the moment, but its not too bad, just the dull ache over one eye - its the remnant of a migraine more than anything else. I tend to get them at least once or twice a week, and practically nothing helps. I’ve found one sure fire way to get rid of them, but its not always practical.
Well, the last lingering traces of my headache were dispelled by a good night’s sleep, so now life is all sunshine and roses again. I can’t even begin to imagine what life would be like if I had them on a weekly basis, I really sympathize with you regular migraine sufferers out there.
God, yes! In the past five years, I’ve had three optical migraines (auras that gradually increased to my entire field of vision, plus numbness in my left hand), and, lucky for me, only the last one was followed by a headache.
One was enough.
I came to understand why trepannation was invented. If someone had come along and offered to put a hole in my skull to let the demon out, I probably would have taken them up on it.
You all have my sympathies!!!
Geez…I feel sorry for you people. I can’t imagine a darker hell than a migraine. I’ve never had one, but your stories sound just hideous. I hope you all find a drug or SOMETHING that works for you.
Yeah, that’s what my life used to be like. Then my neurologist started me on a preventative that changed my life for the better. I’ve been taking Topamax for about three years and it’s a miracle drug as far as I’m concerned.
I still get the occassional break-through migraine, and then have that “hangover” headache (the constant dull ache) for a few days, but I’ve felt so much better in the last three years since I started taking Topamax. And especially over the last year when I drasctically changed my diet.
As TroubleAgain said, when they start to have an impact on the quality of your day-to-day life, then it’s time to get yourself to a doctor (IMO, preferably a neurologist) who can help you figure out a course of treatment.
I sometimes have 1-2 migraines a week. Then I might go 2 weeks without having one at all. I also sometimes get that dull “migraine hangover” headache for a couple of days between.
What’s really fun is when you apparently have a sinus headache AND a migraine at the same time, which is what I suspect might have happened to me yesterday. Not only did I have the familar “ice pick through the left eye and back of the head” migraine pain but also pain and pressure under both my eyes and in my ears. Now that was fun.
Most of the time I can gulp down some Excedrin Migraine if I catch it at the beginning and it will generally last only about an hour. However, if I don’t catch it at the very beginning when I first feel those twinges of pain or worse, experience an aura, then I’m stuck with a 3-6 hour headache that makes me want to bury my head in a hole in the ground where I might suffocate but at least it would be dark, cool and quiet.
Here I was, all superior and all, thinking that it was soooo nice that I only get maybe one migraine a year. That was this morning.
I spent the afternoon on the sofa with, you guessed it! A migraine. Thank God for Imitrex and Aleve, because these have made this one a lot better than previous migraines. I still feel like crap, but at least I can function.
Robin
For those of you who have really bad and really frequent ones (luckily I’m not one of those), the daughter of a family friend used to have really, really, awful headaches. I’m not sure if they were migraines or not, but they were debilitating and NOTHING worked. They even went to the Mayo Clinic; nothing. They were considering surgery when they heard from a neighbor about Neurofeedback.
Basically, it’s a non-invasive way to train your brain to heal itself, using electrodes and what amounts to glorified video games that reward you when your brainwaves go where they should. After a while your brain figures out how to function properly where it hasn’t before. It’s kind of alternative but, I find, non-hokey and very effective. (I’ve been treated with it for depression, which has worked really well.) This girl’s headaches were completely cleared up after 10 treatments, far fewer than the usual 20-40 it takes depending on your condition. So if other medicinal routes are dead ends, that’s something to consider.