I went on continuous birth control because I’d get frequent migraines otherwise, but my days off birth control would mean a severe migraine every single day. Both my neurologists and my gynecologist suggested a switch to continuous oral contraceptives.
My experience has been almost exactly like TroubleAgain’s, except replace weather with skipping meals. And Excedrin with Alieve. Otherwise identical.
Incidentally, my blood pressure, which was borderline (125/80) has dropped (110/70) off the b-c too. I’ve kind of wondered if that’s related.
I could always tell they were coming when the back of my neck started to feel a certain type of tense. Never had any auras.
Ah, a migraine thread – and I see my fellow Doper headache pals are checking in one by one.
No aura for me, one of my hands or my nose turns into an ice cube, and that’s my warning. I’ve had these things for, holy crap, 40 years! I get 'em all the damn time, often for days on end and if I have a somewhat normal life, it’s because of Imitrex (thank you, God) and occasionally Fiorinal #3. I spend a lot of time jamming my head into an ice pack, waiting for medicine to work or here, trying to distract myself from the pain.
Had a pretty major head injury as a kid, and though no one can tell me if it’s made things as bad as they are, I suspect it did.
Migraines suck. :mad:
I used to have pretty severe, frequent migraines when I was in my late teens, but haven’t had one in quite a while, apart from a mild one a few months ago.
I narrowed down my triggers to two main causes: food and light. Too much chocolate was a guaranteed entry pass into a world of pain, along with sunlight reflected off water. Swimming on sunny days was a sure-fire way to trigger a severe migraine.
My typical pattern was:
Speech aphasia (about an hour, interesting but fucking scary the first time it happened to me - it resulted in me being able to think what I wanted to say but being totally unable to articulate it)
Tunnel vision, leading to complete grey-out for about half an hour
Pain for about 12-16 hours
I was on Inderal for a year or so, and I think that helped reduce the frequency of attacks, but I think they also naturally decreased in frequency as I got older. After an attack started, though, the only option was to take painkillers (aspirin, paracetamol) and try to sleep it off. Any visual stimulation increased the pain, so dark room and often wet towel over eyes.
I’ve had mine triggered by my period, and recently by seizures. I’ve found that the only thing that helps is just to curl up in bed, take three Advil, and go to sleep. I used to use Excedrin Migraine, it stopped the pain, but upset my stomach something awful.
Oh, and just to add: ANYONE who says, “tough it out”, or that migraines are just a “bad headache” should immediately be stricken by one.
I’m not the only one? Wow! Unfortunately I found I can’t go more than about six weeks continuously without starting to feel differently crappy. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about BC the next time it becomes an issue, but after about four types of pills that all did that to me (except the minipills which totally screwed up my cycles leading to a couple of pregnancy scares!) I’m not eager to go that route again.
I get a few a year. In fact, right now I have a headache that’s trying to turn into one. They’re infrequent enought that I don’t have any prescription meds but I find that regular Excedrin (not the more-expensive-identical-product Migraine stuff) plus lying down and not moving for several hours will usually work. That reminds me, I need to call my boss and let her know I won’t be in today.
I actually get a form of migraines called “cluster headaches”.
They come on in about 15 minutes flat, preceded by a dull pain just below my left ear. Within minutes, I’ll get sensitive to light and sounds. Within 20 minutes the pain increases to 11, nausea, photo- and aural- phobia. My left eye goes bloodshot, and my left nostril runs like crazy, and I become homicidal. The pain is so intense that it has me on the floor in a fetal position. Sometimes my hands go numb. The pain actually brings me to tears.
The actual seizure (I can only describe it as such) lasts between 1-2 hours, but I’m completely wiped out for **days **afterward.
I take Imitrex injection because I can’t keep the pills down. And that makes me sicker than the migraine, but at least it aborts the pain. The nasal spray does nothing for me. This is not an excuse to smoke pot, but I have found that while it does not abort a migraine, it does reduce the frequency and severity of them significantly.
They started in my mid 20’s and gradually increased in frequency and severity for a good 15 years. Then, when I hit my mid 30’s, the frequency decreased from 1/week to 2-3/year, then one every other year…
I’m 40 now and haven’t had one (knock on monitor) for a couple of years.
The doc has had me keep diaries, diet changes, exercise – everything.
My only known trigger seems to be strong smells.
I wish all of our fellow sufferers the best of luck. And if one more boss gives me the “it’s just a headache” look when I have to go home for the day, I’m going postal on them.