itigo

Have had a persistent headache for 4 weeks, ranging from dull nuisance to OMG ouchy. GP just put me on Imigran - $29.80 for 4 flipping tablets - they didn't have the generic version. Taken one tablet and now feel even more bleurgh.........nausea starting and a bit woosy. Think I prefer the headache on its own.........

Does anyone else get migraines? What do they feel like? We're not sure if that's what these are but he's trying to hold off on a CT scan (as am I). He's satisfied it's not tension headaches. My inflammatory markers were raised in my bloods but my knee's knackered again atm so I pointed out it could be from that...

Off to lie down and take some Panadol. BLEURGH............

Dreamy

It's been a while since I suffered from a full blown migraine, I can usually head them off at the pass when I spot any of the symptoms.

TBH I think they're very different from person to person but here are what they are like for me:

Several hours before I get very cotton mouthy (obviously that can be down to lots of things) that no amount of fluid can assuage.
This progresses to a metallic taste in my mouth, I'll feel nauseous and I'll start to get a narrowing of the field of vision in my left eye. If I take a couple of paracetamol (yeah, plain old paracetamol) and lie down in a dark room at this point then I can stave off a full blown attack.

If I don't catch it in time, the loss of vision will progress in my left eye (it's a bit like a dark veil is hanging over my eye) and I'll get a 'star' of pain just above the brow bone of that eye. Sometimes the left side of my mouth will feel a little bit like I've had a numbing injection in it. By this point I'll be throwing up freely, it'll feel like someone has planted a cleaver in the side of my head (and rather than politely just leaving it there, they're insistent on wiggling it around), light will be physically painful and all I'll be able to do for the next couple of days will be lie weakly in bed, mewling pathetically until someone makes it all go away.

Other than the aforementioned paracetamol at the very beginning, I've never found any relief from other pain meds, whether prescribed or over the counter, but admittedly I haven't sought any medical intervention for them in the last 20 years (they used to be incredibly bad in my late teens/early 20s, lessened in frequency after I had the kids and, although I can get the starting symptoms a couple of times a year, fingers crossed, I can't remember the last time I had a really bad attack)

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Cut back on the grains and eat more antelope.

Amazulu

Nope. Don't get them - except on the morning after very heavy drinking.

quoll

Yup between 30 and 50 they were the bane of my life. However, I dont think I ever had one that lasted 4 weeks non stop - I'd be aiming for the CAT scan after that time I think.

Mine were definitely hormone related and a huge range of triggers from strawberries, red wine, sunshine, chocolate, coffee and sundry other things. They were almost universally one sided (left from memory) and often left me chucking on the quarter hour. Several times ended up in A&E for an anti-chuck jab and something stronger than whatever I was trying to ingest (wasnt really with it at the time but I think pethidine worked). Thank heavens it is now many years since I have had one so you might strike lucky and have them as part of your life for just a short time. Get all the nasties ruled out first though!

moneypenny20

Mine have almost gone completely, coincidentially since I moved here although tension was a massive cause and so in winter in the UK my muscles in my back, neck and shoulders would sieze up when cold so I think climate plays a part in mine. I narrowed mine down to stress, the usual chocolate, strong perfume, red wine, etc. Not drinking or eating (not the perfume obviously), the vaguest smell of them would set me off oh and Quinine - tonic and soda water was a killer.

Anyway, I would wake up with a tight band around the entire head but with red hot needles poking in my ears, that would lead very quickly to vomiting and diarrhea non stop for three days, couldn't lie down, my head would explode as soon as it touched anything, couldn't stand up, had no balance from the ear thing, felt as though there was a giant jubilee clip around my head getting tighter and tighter until I was convinced the top of my head would actually explode.

Tried all manner of drugs, injecting myself into the thigh whilst sitting on the toilet, vomiting, head exploding is not an experience I ever want to suffer again. Tried various medicines as suppositories, understandably they wouldn't stay put. Various injections to stop the nausea, but they stopped working after a while. The worse reaction was to Stemital which would cause my jaws to lock, once we even thought it had dislocated and the doctor tried to put it back in place until he worked out it was the drug. Imigram was one of the good ones that worked for a fair while. The best one was Maxalt Melts, which are dissolvable tablets that go under the tongue.

As Dreamy says everyone's symptoms are different, I've never had a problem with my vision, thank christ, I think I put up with enough

If Imigram are not helping, get back to the doctor and get him to give you something else, it's trial and error and it took me 20 years to work out both the causes and the best drug.

You have my deepest sympathies, I wouldn't wish migraines on my worse enemy. I would wish one on the morons who are out and about, working, shopping, drinking etc who say 'Oooh I have a terrible migraine' when they most obviously do not and have no fricking idea what one is like.

Hopefully yours is 'just' a piggin awful headache and not a migraine, I also hope you never have another one. Get well.

brissybee

Try Vitamin B complex!

I know this sounds trite but, honestly, I have found the symptoms lessen when I take Vitamin Super B Complex. (And I'm not a big fan of alternative remedies.)

I suffer from a migraine, without fail, every month for a week. Rarely, I vomit, often I feel sick, almost always with the main pain behind my left eye radiating across my head... a new development has been slight numbness on one side of my face... all good fun.

Now though, when I feel it coming on, I dose up on Vitamin B (as well as pain killers) and it really has helped reduce the pain.

My endocrinologist put me onto Vit B (thyroid blood tests revealed B deficiency) and by accident I found the Vitamin B lessened my migraine symptoms. When I told the endocrinologist he was sincerely interested... and I read shortly afterwards that early research was underway at a Brisbane uni regarding the therapeutic use of Vitamin B for migraines.

I would be interested to know how you go.

I tried Imigran and was sad to discover it didn't help. I used to pop loads of panadeine for my migraines until I discovered that doing so probably caused "bounce back" headaches. So, now I just take them for the very worst pain and try to ease off.

Do try Vitamin B.

Good Luck.

eddie007

Right at the beginning I get an aura....then Facial "soreness" that progresses to nausea/vomiting and vertigo and a pounding head and photophobia. Literally can't see... ANY noise or movement causes distress.... Have to lie very still and flat in a darkened room.... If I get a bad one it can last 18 hours.... During which time I'm completely incapacitated....

Since discovering restivit I havent had a REALLY bad migrane...providing I can "get it" in time.... I take half a restivit and a couple if panadeine forte AND nurofen and an anti emetic .... And repeat as often as the instructions allow me to.... Until it goes.... I can tell when its wearing off... I can begin to sit up a bit and crave hot tea.... Has to be scalding hot... The aura is probably the last thing that goes for me....

"Migraine" means different things to different people... Some people latch onto the word and appear able to drive/read/watch TV..... Personally i think they are just having a headache if they can still function at that level..... Mine used to be attributed to chocolate... But in recent years they have been classic stress relief migraines...nowadays I can eat as much chocolate as I like....

Cheetah7

And then wear a snuggy to work and a suit for the house but you will need to get Eddie to make you a quilt.

Seriously, Mr PP gets migraines whenever he has two days off, the first day is spent in bed - he takes neurofen but still needs several hours of sleep - I feel so sorry for him

brissybee

"Have to" drive, read, cook. I can't just check out of life every four weeks.

It's awful and painful to carry on with a migraine but really, sometimes you just have to.

Obviously there are varying degrees of migraine... and I've had some doozies where I do just have to check out... but the vice on the head, numb face and slight nausea ones are those I just get on with... albeit miserably.

Cheetah7

They make you so exhausted afterwards, I dont get many but I do get them occasionally and they wipe me out.

itigo

Thanks everyone. This round of headaches are just headaches for exactly the reasons lots of people have stated above. I can still function even if it is horrid. I don't have the really extreme symptoms either. It's the day in day out niggling that's the worst. The bad headaches I can dull with Panadol or Nurofen, but only for a couple of hours....

Will see how I go and go back in 2 weeks as he asked. Certainly not taking another Imigran as it made me feel horrendous. Already allergic to codeine.

carolinephillips

MY OH gets migraines when he stops work- I think his are caused by tension of the neck muscles and too much coffee. He has to take neurofen and press his face into a cool pillow- the pain is usually worse through the eyes.

I get an "aura" of migraine (diagnosed by an opthalmologist when I went to him for eye problems)- that is the flashing lights and then I get a pain around the eye, but they are not too bad, as I don't usually have to go to bed.

My sister, had neck problems which caused severe headaches for days. She then had one which lasted weeks, and did have a scan, which revealed that she had had a series of mini strokes. Not trying to worry you there, but a persistent headache needs checking out.

macy

I get migraines after wine (just one glass will do it) but I also get awful sinus migraines which are long lasting and take ages to go, get the doc if you haven't already to check out your sinus, you never know.

koalakim

Hi

I'd see your doc again and get further tests. There was a migraine thread on here a while back as Herrchook was also having a migraine that went on for weeks.

It could be the change of seasons, we've noticed OH gets bad ones when you go from the end of nice weather into more wintery conditions so around April/May here and end Sept/Oct when we were in the UK.

Unfortunately I think you have to take Immigran when the migraine is starting, OH has to take them and catch it in time otherwise once it develops they aren't as effective. Yes, they are flipping expensive!

He's been on amitryptalin (spelling!) as a preventative but all it's done is maybe to make them more clustery, longer in between but now a few over a few days. He went to the docs this week who has now suggested coming off them and trying half an aspirin a day for a while and then maybe beta blockers after that.

When we moved out here and weren't working so much (!) they almost ceased but as we get back into more work and more stress then they've come back. We have related them to dehydration and missing meals sometimes and stress, if only we had won the lotto last night !

Migraines seem to be very personal, different triggers etc and of course for girlies the dreaded hormones at all times of life!

How's the weather been where you are? I once had a two week headache back in the UK which the doc put down to extremely low pressure in the weather, once it lifted so did my headache.

Doesn't really sound like migraine to me, a friend of my gets bad headaches but we think that is down to stress plus a past neck injury. Get your spine/neck checked as this could be causing it.

I fortunately only get the optical ones, frightened the life out of me the first time and I wait for the headache to kick in but luckily hasn't happened so far (touch wood).

Thanks for the Vit B tip, might try him on that. I've also read that there could be a link with a lack of magnesium so I've been trying to feed him more food with that in as a start. There was an article in the Mail and the doc there suggested CQ10 and Vit B.

You would think in this day and age they would have come up with something more concrete by now. All seems very hit and miss and experimental!

Anyway, hope you get some relief soon