anybody else have Migraines?

I am just recovering from the one i had on thursday morning.  It is now Saturday morning and my head is still foggy.  Man i hate these things.  I was put in the hospital on thursday and got all the good morphine to take the edge off but you never feel like yourself till days after.

So who else in the family shares this horrible curse with me??  What do you do to help get back to your right mind?  I basically stay in bed for a couple days after i get out of the hospital.  Well i hope i feel better later today so i can game again :)..have fun all

I suffer from chronic migraines and the only thing I've found is to stay in bed, take my medicine and keep it dark and quiet until it passes. I've also found that doing relaxtion techniques helps. It's hard, especially when your head is hurting so bad, but it focuses on something else besides the pain. The foggy effect could be from the morphine they gave you. Hope this helps. Kittara

i get them all the time normaly atleast 2 a month maybe more however i`ve never went to the hospital for it . I normaly take excedrin migraine and it knocks it out in a few hours . about 15 years ago i had a buddy that had a migraine for 3 days , his wife was a nurse and she was feeding him ibuprofren every few hours for 3 days and it never helped . I came into town to visit as was living in another city 3 hours away gave him 2 excrdin migraine pills and 2 hours later his migraine was gone . his wife couldn`t believe that excedrin migraine worked and her ibuprofren and advil didn`t after 3 days taking them but what i gave him worked in just 2 hours lol . As kittara suggested yuo can try relaxtation tech, one that i use is to lie down or sit straight back in a comf chair and close your eyes . then slowly inhale counting to 3 or 4 , whichever feels right . then hold it in and count to same number you used when you inhaled same speed then exhale slowly counting to same number and repeat . do this for several min 2 to 5 min should be good . i do this as well it is good every day actualy wether you have a migraine or not . you can also try taking a supplement of melatonin , i take 5 mg 30 min before bed . it is markted as a natural sleep aid but it actualy has many benfits then just relaxing you . according to wiki people when they age lose their melatonin levels taking a supplement of 3 to 5 mg once a day for 3 months can help. some things it helps with are tinittus ringing in the ears, depression, helps regualte your metabolism , migraines, helps with sleep patterns ,etc lots of uses . IMPORTANT note if you take the melatonin take it BEFORE SLEEP shouldn`t have to say that as it states it is a sleep aid on the bottle , but after reading world news the last 20 years it seems i should as people have low common sense these days haha . well hope you feel better

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Thanks for the melatonin tip. i have not heard that one before. I do the breathing exercises and it does help but as soon as i stop the pain comes crashing back. My symptoms are numbing of my left arm (the only thing i feel is pressure), extreme nausea/vomiting, vision reduced to smudges of light/dark, and oh yeah...the unbelievable pain in my head...lol. I have taken all the different exedrin's and advil's. I took a vicodin thursday and that was like pissing on a Forrest fire. In the end i had an iv given to me and they were pumpin the meds in directly through that. i have tried maxalt mlt 10mg--- muscle relaxant for migraines. i have tried niacin 500mg---talk about feeling the burning rush...wow...i dare you to take that and not feel anything. anyways thanks for the comments....its good to see what other people have tried to help get rid of migraines.

I've had migraine's my entire life, usually between 1-2 debilitating ones every year. I currently am prescribed preventatives I take on a normal basis. Mine personally became to intense that I ended up getting medical botox injections in my head to deaden the nerves due to the amount of pain. As when I was 14 I had one that had me in a blackout (Coma) for 3 days, Ive been treating them ever since. Medically, I said get fully evaluated. Most chronic migraine sufferer's are on diet's and don't eat specific foods, as they can trigger migraines. For treatment medicine wise: First time (light) migraines: Anything with acetaminophen in it (Excedrin Migraine, Bayer Migraine Formula) Hard hitting Migraine (Light & Sound Sensitivity, Nausea): Advil Migraine and Motrin Migraine (contain Ibuprofen for swelling, which can actually cause pressure in the head, neck and face - may feel like a sinus head ache) Be very careful using medications with caffeine in them, and drinks with high amounts of caffeine, as they can actually trigger migraines. Beyond this, for heavy migraine sufferer's you'll need non OTC, prescription based meds. I have used all of the medications in the following list and personally recommend them for suggesting to your doctor for potential treatment as they treat various symptom's and pain types: 1. Axert 2. Frova 3. Maxalt 4. Zomig 5. Relpax 6. Amerge 7. Imitrex (My Favorite) Here (From web MD) are some foods known to trigger migraines (Be sure to consult a doctor as your personal list maybe more refined): ese foods have been identified as headache and migraine triggers by some sufferers: 1. Peanuts, peanut butter, other nuts and seeds 2. Pizza 3. Potato chip products 4. Chicken livers and other organ meats 5. Smoked or dried fish 6. Sourdough bread, fresh baked yeast goods (donuts, cakes, homemade breads, and rolls) 7. Bread, crackers, and desserts containing cheese 8. Certain fresh fruits including ripe bananas, citrus fruits, papaya, red plums, raspberries, kiwi, pineapple 9. Dried fruits (figs, raisins, dates) 10. Soups made from meat extracts or bouillon (not homemade broth) 11. Cultured dairy products, sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt 12. Caffeine found in chocolate and cocoa; beverages such as coffee, tea and colas; also found in certain medications 13. Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners Here are some preventative measures: Several types of migraine medicines can help prevent the piercing pain of migraines, including: 1. Beta-blockers such as Inderal (propanalol) and Toprol (metoprolol), which relax blood vessels 2. Calcium channel blockers such as Cardizem (dilatizem) and verapamil, which reduce the amount of narrowing (constriction) of the blood vessels 3. Antidepressants such as amitriptyline and nortriptyline -- tricyclic antidepressants which have been shown to be effective in preventing migraines. 4. Anticonvulsants such as Depakote (valproic acid) and Topamax (topiramate) 5. Botox (botulinum toxin), which can be injected in small quantities around the face and scalp; when it works, it can be repeated in 3 months. - This is me (just not every 3 months) Hope this helps!

Red wines, aged cheese, and things with sulfites in them (like regular raisins) can all be triggers. I get horrendous migraines from the artificial acesulfame-K, but the others don't bother me. MSG can also be problematic. If you're not sure what's causing the migraines, check in with a doc who specializes in migraines and see if it's a food or additive causing the problem. Also, take your headache right as you feel the migraine coming on. It works better before the blood vessels spasm too closed.

Most of my migraines are migraine auras without the headache, which means I get the visual disturbances and other symptoms but not the headache. They tend to be triggered when I skip meals or don't eat properly (I have low blood sugar). I feel weak and 'soft in the head' after them – usually I take some ibuprofen, drink some juice to try to bring up my blood sugar, and lie down in a dark room until I feel better. Chocolate is a trigger for me for a full-on migraine, so I try to avoid it or indulge in moderation. Light seems to set me off too, so I try to keep the lighting as low as possible in my house. My friends joke that I live in a cave. I feel like I don't have many practical suggestions, but I do have a lot of empathy for you!

Thanks for the recommendation of the Melatonin supplement. I'm definitely going to try that out for a variety of issues!

welcome yep it is used to treat a bunch of differnt medical problems , about the migraine aspect . axxording to what i read that most people when they go to sleep the gland releases melatonin , and around 400am it stops , according too their reserach , a lot of people who get migraines end up waking up with one early in the morning like 500am ish . They tested a lot of people with migraines and found that a lot of those tested had lower melatonin levels and found taking a suplement of around 5mg a night for 3 months helped in preventing the frequency of the migraines . here`s a link to it . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

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I consider myself very fortunate that the closest I've come is "migraine headache without head pain". I get strange blind spots (same place in both eyes) and strange lightening like patterns on the edges of my vision. The first time I thought I was having a stroke! Anyway I wish you well. BTW, 20 mg of timed release melatonin is a great sleep aid.

Books on Audio with low light, laying in bed with the head slightly elevated. No head phones as the added pressure on the ears can be intollerable during a migrane. I tend to also go for a cleansing diet during this time as my appetite disapears anyways. I only use liquid foods and make sure its free of chemicals and such. Migranes are not created equal and what works for one may not work for another. I can manage with little medication and an engrossing audio book to distract me while the time passes, helping me focus outside my own pain. That technique for me only works with like a 7 out of 10 pain and less.

I was put on prescription meds for mine last fall, and that's helped a ton with prevention. Before that, it was the dark room, no sound, eyes and temples covered with a cool or ice-pack-wrapping cloth. Pressure on the base of my skull seemed to help, as well as my forehead sometimes. Excedrin migraine was awesome, and aleve would take the edge off if I couldn't get the excedrin. High-caffeine tea like Yerba Mate helped, especially if (depending on the current symptoms) I used some other herbs. If anything, taking the time to slow down and do all this would help--mine are very stress-triggered. The worst symptom of mine is the horrific nausea. I hate throwing up. When I started getting serious migraines at 11-12, the nausea was what kicked my butt and made my mom get me checked. I can pretty much assume I'm going to be laid out with a migraine if I start feeling queasy--it's almost always my first symptom.

I've had migraines since I was a child. After two episodes within 3 weeks that resembled mini-strokes (took me three months to regain the ability to speak normally again), I was put on Topamax. It's been a saving grace. I rarely get them now and usually one aspirin will knock it out. That and I make sure I have my two cups of tea a day, it's been good since.

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I have gotten severe migraines headaches all of my life and I am now 36. I have been hospitalized for the more severe ones. I used to get them all the time and had to be on all types of meds. I then visited a acupuncture doctor and found the best relief of my life. There is a tension spot in between your thumb and first finger that swells up when you have any type of headache. The left side controls the right side of you head and the right side controls the left side of your head. So now instead of taking meds when I feel one coming on I drink some very strong tea(two teabags) per coffee cup...turn off all the lights and telephones...put a cold washcloth on my forehead...and rub the spots between my thumb ans first finger until the knot is gone and I no longer feel pain. It does not feel the best in the world to rub and hold pressure there but it hurts a ton less than the migraine. The harder you rub the quicker the headache goes away. It really helps to have someone else do it for you. This process takes about an hour and has helped to not have to take meds anymore or go to the hospital for the past 10 years. Hope this helps! ;-)

My wife has had Migraines, and I think she has Fybromyalga as well, since I have known her(8yrs) and her Migraines/skin pain(where even sound hurt) have gotten so bad that we had to take her to a Rheumatologist/Neurologist and he diagnosed her with Severe Myoclonus. Not sure we agree with his diagnoses completely but he put her on Requip and Topamax, the requip was for the skin ache/pains and topamax for migraines. We discontinued the requip due to side effects but the topamax has seemed to help quite a bit for the migraines.

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Foggy feelings are a pretty common side effect from taking morphine or one of its relatives. If you don't have a medication like Imitrex or Maxalt you can take when you get a migraine, I'd really suggest getting prescribed one- anyone I know who has migraines says they do really help. Any medicine that goes up and affects brain chemicals can have really different effects on people so even thought Maxalt may not have worked, one of the others might :) Connor's list is great, I think he's got all of them on there. Try another one, it might really help!

I have been in 2 serious accidents one was me on a ten speed meeting a drunk driver was thrown 20 feet and hit head on a tree. this was before helmets were recommended for 10 speeds. I ended up in the hospital for 5 months and had some nerve dmg in my neck. I then had a plexiglass elevator top that was 2 inches thick fall on my head from abnout 6 inches above my head . The location it hit me in was about the same spot i impacted the tree on. Since those 2 incidents i have migranes 2 to 3 times a week. I get the seriously bad type also. I have severe light sensitivity that has sometimes caused blackouts from the pain. I also have the nausea , the fatigue , and of course the dizziness. Because of it and the seperated disks I have. I am on fentanyl trandermal patch that gives pain neds every hr and also I have 10 mg norcos to take if the patches dont work well enough. I also have prescription nausea medication and I take a anti seisure medication called Neurontin. I know exactly how you feel. Mine are caused by nerve dmg and swelling around the nerves. I have been to quite a few support groups for severe migranes and can tell you a few tricks that help me along with the meds I take. 1: I have warmed the shower up leaving the hot water on until the room is steamed up then go inside the shower with all the lights out and sit on the floor while breathing in the steam. This increases bloodflow to the brain and helps with the swelling. 2: I have also bought one of those pulsating shower heads and put my head under it with the fastest pulse I could handle also with the lights off. Its like a massage. 3: I have also gone to an acupunturist to learn the pressure points to push to try and releave the pain . it may sound funny but it has worked. Its also becoming more mainstream my hospital is actuallyt who offered it.Sometimes no amount of meds or tricks have worked when this happens I am usually at the emergency room. I have been hospitalized like you for them where I could not sleep for days and they had to sedate me. I hope no one ever gets them that badly. Unfortunately for me the nerve dmg is in a place where they cannot operate without the chance of killing me or paralyzing me from the neck down so I suff with them. On a serious note if you dont get alot of migranes and then suiddenly you are for no real apparent reason be very cautious. Go to your doctor and demand an mri. I had a friend do tjhis and it saved his life because he had a small bleed on the brain. Its nothing to mess with if your not used to them and better to get checked out.

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Wow, Toros, that is some bad business. Sorry you have to deal with that. I have migraines ~1 a year so i consider myself lucky. I started getting them around 11 years old and I have a family history of them as well. My grandmother and uncle both have the bad ones and have them more often than I do. I understand foggyness of the brain is common after morphine but i get it without morphine also. I think aethena described it best by saying "soft in the head". It is where you really don't feel like yourself at all/ a stranger in another body kind of. I have tried most of the meds listed except imitrex. i was given the option and went with the maxalt because it was teh fast disolve. When i go to the doctor on wednesday I will get imitrex also :). Better to have back ups also. Anyways thanks to you all for the comments and suggestions. It is not a good feeling knowing your head is kinda like a ticking time bomb of pain.

So sorry for you, those sound really bad and disruptive to the normal pace of life :( I do get them about twice a year, and they are stress triggered. I am lucky in the fact that light sensitivity is my first indicator, so I have time to get home or at least to a dark room where I can rest before the nausea hits. mine rarely last more than a couple hours, though the headache can linger a day. I don't take any medication for them..well unless a divorce from my #1 stress trigger counts ;)

I too have suffered from migraines and until the last year or so struggled to find relief. I am now taking topomax (topirimate) to help with the headaches and my occurences have dropped from 1-2 a week to once every 4-6 weeks. Also, the migraines I now get seem to be more easily treated with something simple like excedrin migraine or even just ibuprofen. I know that every person reacts differently to medications, but you might consider speaking to your physician about Topomax. As a side benefit, one of the side effects reduces appetite, so I've lost weight, which I'm sure has helped a great deal as well. Some relief is better than no relief in my book. Best wishes on finding something that helps!

I have always had headaches so times I can go month with them. Only recently have I been diagnosed with migraines. Mine seem to be triggered also by air pressure changes, heat, and strong smells. Like the rest of you I have know says were thinking hurts and moving my head makes my stomach revolt.

I've had migraines a lot. I've been put on Sumatriptan, which seems to help. However was not told that I shouldn't take my painkillers, Tramadol with them as if I do I could get Serotonin Syndrome. I seem to get clusters of them, just recently got over a cluster (was taking pills nearly every day for a few weeks). I have recently been under quite a bit of stress though (one of my triggers) and I have changed my diet and have been losing weight (so possible toxins from weight loss too). Been taking some supplements too that may have recently helped such as Magnesium and Zinc. (Had bloods done prior to this to be sure that I needed them)

I went to a neurologist who specialized in migraines and found that I actually have migranious headaches. I went to physical therapy and learned how to stretch my head, neck, and back muscles. Now instead of getting the headaches every weekend, I get them maybe once every other month. When I do get the "migraines" Excedrin migraine is the only thing that works. Also, make sure you are staying hydrated. My migraines were pretty sever, I would be down for the entire weekend, and I would get violently ill. I didnt mind light, but noises are like a million loud nails on a chalkboard. Talk to your doctor and possibly a neurologist. May try doing some neck and upper back stretches. I need to do them every hour or so, but twice a day should help.

I get them, but if I can catch it early then 4 Excedrin (2 up front then up to 2 more over a couple hours), a huge amount of protein and sleep for 3-4 hours helps a ton... assuming you can sleep after 4 Excedrin.

I get them, sadly I dont have the option to take days off at a time to recover. I get about 1 a month on average,plus some terrible "regular" headaches. If I let them get to bad I cant turn my head, get sick to my stomach etc etc. As someone above posted, lots of proteins, I usually keep snack sticks on hand or cashews/nuts of some sort. However, at the onset of the migraine/headache, Ive found for me the best route is 2 excedrine (or 1 goodies powder) with a 8 oz redbull and a twix or a caramello (regular sized), and load up on the protein as well. The little bit of crash after the caffeine/sugar infusion is well worth it to avoid the headache. Anyhow, thats just how I deal with them.

One thing to be careful about is rebound migraines. Many meds have been shown to cause rebound migraines. Narcotics are probably the worst and have been shown to increase the incidence of migraine. I would avoid them. Over-use of the triptans (like imitrex) can as well although occasional use is ok. Follow the directions, there is a max daily dose for each and using too frequently can cause rebound. It is possible to be dependent on caffeine. Skipping coffee for a day can trigger migraines. Personally I swear by Excedrin (which has caffeine) even though in school they called it "voodoo" medicine. Short course of steroids (like prednisone) have been shown to abort severe migraines (status migrainus) and occasional use has few side-effects (mood changes mostly, although they can in some people be quite severe). Talking to your doctor about medications that prevent migraines is a good idea. Topamax, Lamictal, some of the SSRI's (antidepressants-although some can cause them like Zoloft) and some other medications have been shown to work in some people. It is very individual and it make take trials of a few medications to find one that is effective. This is best to prevent over-use of relief medications and rebound migraines. There are treatment centers that specialize in detoxing specifically from migraine medications. I would imagine that slow titration down and dark rooms would work. I find best thing is to find a dark room and just try to sleep. Excedrin is my miracle drug. I ended up on a medication for a different indications and have realized that my migraines are few and far between (they used to be multiple times weekly, now every few months) In short. Avoid narcotics. Try and find a maintenance med that help decrease frequency. For severe migraines that last more than a day or so, try a course of steriods (only occasionally). Use non-medication methods when possible (dark rooms, sleep, medication, relaxation, etc). Start with meds like excedrin before working up to the triptans. Good Luck and I hope you feel better Oh... and dont wait. As soon as you feel one coming on (aura, lights, sound, whatever) take meds or get to a dark room quick if possible Treaa

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I've had migraines since the third grade. My parents never believed in going to the doctor (except when they HAD to, like for strep throat or broken bones), so I never got help. Just stayed home and slept. Once I got out on my own, I started to figure out my triggers. When I got pregnant the first time, I qualified for Medicaid, so I took advantage and talked to the doc about my migraines, too. I was put on Imitrex (which I got rare side effects) and eventually Maxalt. You take these prescription meds when the blurry vision hits, and it eliminates the headache altogether. The side effects make me drowsy and a bit weak (though that could also be because I can't eat when I have migraines...), but I can make it through a work day if I need to. If you're a chronic sufferer, I highly recommend the investment in a doctor visit for a good drug. But the doc did make a note, if you need to take it more than four or so times per month, they should try something else. Also, a tip for the girls out there - I had a friend recommend that I try an all-natural progesterone cream, and I haven't gotten a hormonal migraine since. And here are the triggers I've found for me: non-dairy powdered creamer (not sure why on this one, but it's a recent discovery), aspartame, decaf coffee (only the stuff made with methylene chloride - "natural" water decafs are great), and preserved meats or lunch meats with high amounts of nitrates/nitrites (chances are if it's extra salty, it's got a lot more of them). I don't have a problem with Splenda or MSG. Oh, and I have to wear polarized sunglasses - if I catch a glare, it can also trigger one.

Wow so many great suggestions here. I never considered hormonal being one of the triggers. I am highly considering making a 'health diary' and writing down when I get a migraine (and other things) and when I take medication/what it was/how much etc. All these maybe good tools for my doctor to be able to compare what for example December's migraines to January's ones

Not migraines, I suffer from something called Cluster Headaches, so i fully understand the painful sessions that come with them. Its usually best to know your triggers and what helps ease them. For me Dark chocolate (60% coco at least) and ice cold coke (about the only time I drink soda) and lots of water help with the more controllable headaches. When I come out of a recession and move into a cluster period pretty much all I can do is hold on and wait for the storm to blow over. A lot with my type say that pure oxygen helps them when an attack is coming on. The Meletonin helps reduce the intensity of my attack...but be warned gives ya some loopy dreams. First time I took it I started dreaming in claymation. I found that most migraine medicines actually made my neck and shoulders tense up so much it gave me even more headaches, so doctor and I decided against them. One of my doctors also told me that beside the hormonal shifts, dairy can also cause headaches, along with a lot of the additives in the food these days. Which really stinks cause I love cheese...LOL. Diary would be a wonderful tool to use to find your triggers and what helps you move through the attack the smoothest.