Migraines

[Tobra]

Give, let us hear about symptoms, treatments you have tried that were successful, and those that were not.

Comes to mind because I return home to the wife curled up in fetal position on the floor of the darkened bathroom, her dog hovering over her.

Fortunately, I knew just what to do and had the materials to proceed. First time I did it she thought it miraculous, instant relief, she suffers occasional migraines.

Let me know whatcha got, be back with my answer

[legion]

I used to have migraines fairly regularly--like once a month.

They were so violent that I'd throw up and writhe in pain for hours. I'd eventually pass out from the pain and wake up 8-14 hours later.

Then I moved out of SoCal. I had one a month or so after moving, never had one since. And no, this is not a cheap shot, this is the truth.

I'd probably be dead by now if I still lived there.

[mossguy]

My family doc has had regular migraines, tried acupuncture from a colleague. She reports great relief and greatly reduced frequency and severity.

Tom

[pwd72s]

This is Cindy, PWD's wife. I am a migraine sufferer and have been for many years. I now take a blood pressure medicine twice a day, Cardene SR 45 mgs. and use Zomig when it doesn't work. I still get migraines 2 to 3 times a month, but Zomig stops them. I used to go 2 to 3 days unable to move without great pain and nausea. At least now they have a way to stop that. There are many different drugs now used to prevent them and many drugs used to stop them. You have to work with your doctor to find the ones that work for you. Believe me, it's worth the effort.

[Normy]

I have a food allergy.

Monosodium glutamate is a food additive that should be BANNED!

Also known as "Accent" flavor enhancer, this chemical is so powerful that in Europe it has its own standardized number label, which means that it has to be declared on the packaging- E621.

If I have a large amount of MSG I will have a migraine headache within 24 hours.

Migraine Headache: By definition from a medical textbook, this is a "sick" headache. A migraine makes you vomit. Since this headache is caused by massive dilation, and then equally massive constriction...of blood vessels inside the brain, you can expect visual problems.

-Me, when I have a migraine, I develop a blind spot out of the blue- I feel fine, but I simply cannot see out of a large section of my left eye for about 15 minutes. When it happens, I have to stop whatever I am doing and go to my bathroom at home. I'm serious- I see swirling black and white flashing lights in a strange line right across my eye for another 15 minutes, and then I usually vomit. I develop a monstrous headache right after all this happens, and I usually sleep at this point. After three hours of sleep I wake up...and I'm perfectly fine.

Do a google search about migraines, and you'll discover that some people actually lose the ability to talk while all this is going on! Migraines are weird things, and though most people think they have them.....the reality is that true migraines are actually fairly rare. Most people just have stress headaches- the muscles on their heads are clenched too much due to stress in their lives, and their heads hurt as a result.

Migraines are actually common between the ages of 20 and 35. I haven't had one in 5 years, and I'm 42 now. But I'm not about to buy a can of Accent flavor enhancer any time soon!

N!

[peppy]

I used to suffer from them when I was about 10 yo till 16 yo. I had one once a week and they were on the same day, I woke up in the morning and knew that by the afternoon I would be incompasitated with the pain and throwing up. I out grew them my dr. said.

Treatment: icepack and a dark quite room, slept them off.

I had one about 4 years ago while shopping for an engagement ring for my wife.

[slodave]

I used to get them growing up and while I don't remember throwing up, I was always on the verge. I'd have to lie down in the darkest area I could find and hope that I could fall asleep and ride it out.

[azasadny]

I've had migraines for about 32 years. I have tried many medications and treatments with the most recent being Imitrex (was effective for about a year) and now Relpax, which is very effective and has been for me for almost 3 years.

[Tobra]

Do you get the aura prior to onset, any visual disturbances?

The MSG thing is a fairly common reaction, I have heard of it so it must be.

There are two methods which seem to work consistently well. A cc or two of 1 or 2 % lidocaine plain up the nostril, or 0.5cc trigger point injection of the same at the occipital protruberance on the back of your melon. Like flipping a freaking switch, per mi esposa

[legion]

Wouldn't getting a trigger point injection require a physician?

[Drdogface]

Tobra,
Never heard of the lidocaine treatments....interesting. Imitril doesn't work for your wife????

[KevinP73]

I've suffered from migraines most of my adult life. Like many other people I've suffered days at a time hiding from the light of day or oncoming traffic. At one point I suffered so badly that I would call a friend and have them take my guns till I got beyond the pain. I've tried every OTC medication with very limited success and I've avoided pharmaceuticals just 'cause I don't like them or the many side effects. I've learned how to manage the pain thru meditation.
It sounds silly to anyone who hasn't BTDT themselves but it works for me. With meditation I can actually accomplish a state of unconsciousness (fringe benefit is that this used to totally freak out my ex wife. middle of the day with kids running and playing and I was completely out of it.)
I don't suffer from them now near as much as I used to as I've learned how to not sweat the small stuff in life and keep an eye on the foods I eat.

[rammstein]

For me, they are luckily on the rare side- I will go for months with none. Unfortunately, now and then I will have a bad few days, and I have never been able to identify a trigger, be it food, stress, weather, or anything else.

For me, the magic bullet is Maxalt (similar to Imitrex) and some dark quiet time. Interesting thing is, you have to get the Maxalt in you early- like at the first twinge of a migraine. Every 5 minutes that goes by adds literally 20 minutes to the time it takes the Maxalt to work. If I am out and a migraine hits and I don't take anything for like 40 minutes or more, it will not work at all. Hence, the permanent addition of a maxalt pouch to my wallet.

Sensory deprivation helps while waiting for the med to work. Gentle white noise, total darkness, and slightly cold temps seem to ease things.

[varmint]

go through your office and rip out all the florescent lights.

[StevoRocket]

I get visuals - a small fuzzy spot which gradually grows across the line of vision until its a shimmering kaleidoscope of colour in the shape of a flattened rainbow. No headaches.

I got the first at 12 and thought I was going blind.

I get them infrequently - it could be months or weeks or a year.
There doesn't seem to be any recognisable trigger since I eat drink the same things over time and there is no pattern. They only last for 10 to 15 minutes.

It runs in the family - my brother gets the visuals like I do and so did Dad.

My sister gets severe headaches and speech jumbling and it wipes her out for hours.

[livi]

Tobra,

That is an intriguing treatment. Have you seen any studies on the subject? How did you come up with it? What preparation of the Lidocain do you use?

Very interesting as I have a brother suffering severely from migraine. He has tried every prescription in the book with little success.

[Drdogface]

Originally Posted by livi

Tobra,

That is an intriguing treatment. Have you seen any studies on the subject? How did you come up with it? What preparation of the Lidocain do you use?

Very interesting as I have a brother suffering severely from migraine. He has tried every prescription in the book with little success.

Yeah, I'm interested to know more about that too. Luckily I don't get them too often but my friend's wife does. Her docs suggest it's hormonal. I saw a head ache specialist in SF years ago who gave me an interesting list of foods that can cause them....from chocolate (famous one) to fresh baked goods to citrus. Others on the list: preserved meats (salami, pepperoni, etc, contain nitrates), any)thing pickled, red wine, white wine (sulfates) aged cheeses.

The lidocain nasal drops...no problem but I'd be nervous about injecting the 1/2 cc at that place in the back of the head....how deep?...above or below?

[kach22i]

I get Migraines a couple times a month, more if under stress or a change in the weather. Excedrin -Migraine works, but is no cure.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by varmint

go through your office and rip out all the florescent lights.

this is interesting, it is going to be illegal to buy anything but fluorescent in a year or two in Kalifornia

Legion, I am a physician.

I trained a patient to give himself nerve blocks a while back, before the pain doctor thing became more commonplace, thanks in large part to a cat locally by the name of Harvey Rose MD.

When you go into any hospital in Cali and see a sign that says you have a right to having your pain adequately addressed you can say a little prayer thanking Harvey, who recently passed away. He was THE guy who pretty much told the DEA to fuch off and let him take care of his patients when they started dogging him for writing too many narcotics prescriptions for his terminal patients way back when.

Changed medicine in California, in a good way if you ask me

The injection is pretty much subcutaneous, not intradermal like the TB test. Shoot a wheal of lidocaine, about 0.5 cc right over the occipital protruberance, right and left. I have spoken to some about it and they like putting a little dexamethasone phosphate in there too, but I have not found this necessary. Got this technique from a crazy, new age Family Medicine gal, but it works so WTF. BTW, it hurts like a MFer getting an injection in your scalp, but if you are giving the shot to somebody having a migraine, they don't even squeal a bit. Those things must be pretty killer, I suppose pain severe enough to cause vomiting would have to be pretty bad.

For the intra-nasal, it is not so much lidocaine drops, you draw up a few cc's lidocaine without epinephrine in a syringe and squirt it up there The up the snout method I got from my mother, a retired anesthesiologist, who used it to good effect for decades.

I thought the lidocaine deal was common knowledge, my bad. Nothing special, just some plain old, fifty cents for a bottle, lidocaine plain. I think the occipital injection works because you are doing a nerve block, don't know why it would work up the nares but it does.

The wife has not had much success with other stuff, stadol, imitrex, demerol, morphine, though dilaudid seems to help. She has something wierd in her biochemistry though. You can give her all the Valium or Versed(all those BZD drugs) and it has no effect. I saw her get 15 mg of versed and never even blink. You give me one of versed and I start sounding like Dudley Moore in that flick "Arthur".

[svandamme]

shrooms

or if you like military grade solutions... lsd