anybody else suffer from migraine headaches?

[jimr]

Had them since I was in 6th grade.
The frequency and severity kind of let up once I turned 23-4, but now are getting bad again. I know sometimes these headaches are diet-related, as some foods trigger migraines, like MSG and red wine.

Any insight?

[Cesar Franco]

I had them when on high school, and men, those are NASTY, I felt like a red hot needle goin thru my eye into the brain.
I went to a doctor who treated me with some natural pills and I got rid of it, I still havs e some headaches from time to time, but nothing compared to the migrane.
Let me find the prescription and I let you know.

[Marty]

I have been having them for a LONG time.
When I get one, the combination of Axert and Naproxen seems to bring releif within about 1/2 to 1 hour. NOTHING else seems to work.

[jimr]

I have been having them for a LONG time.
When I get one, the combination of Axert and Naproxen seems to bring releif within about 1/2 to 1 hour. NOTHING else seems to work.

Are those medications OTC or prescription?

[Glenn]

I've been getting migraine headaches for the past 26 years. At the begining they controled my life and i planned my life around them. After going to a number of different doctors I finally hooked up with Dr. Larry Newman at the Montifiore Headache clinic. It took a few years but he finally dialed me in on the correct medication. I take 40mg of Corgard daily which is a Beta Blocker and lowers my blood pressure. I also take Imitrex 20mg spray when I first feel a migraine coming on. The Imitrex works 95% of the time. I carry it wherever I go so there is no delay.

I suggest you find a specialist and get treatment. There's are a number of different medications that work

And as always avoid the triggers such as bright sunlight, strong smells, red wine, hard cheeses, peanuts and many others.

If there's anything I can do, don't hesitate in contacting me. I know exactly how you suffer and there is help.

[jimr]

when I was younger, I had to avoid all foods with MSG, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, chocolate, peanut butter. Which meant a lot of my favorites were off limits.

These new migraines don't sting as badly, but they seem to be more frequent now. They make my vision blurry, I feel dizzy, I puke, and they don't go away. And talk about a bad mood. The last few days of my honeymoon on Maui a few weeks ago were tough, as head head was throbbing so badly. Once it subsided, my head was actually sore to touch.

[vwfye]

yep... all my life.  the neurologist isolated the root of the issue for me.  i have a baseline migrane all the time.  if i take the meds regularly i seldom get a full on attack anymore.  but, i still get "ice pick" headaches (30 second to 5 minutes) where it is intense pain in 1 spot.  those SUCK rocks! 

the only bummer is the med for the baseline migrane is also an anti-depressent in its classification.  so when i was doing gov't contract, they wanted to know why.


good luck,  i wouldn't wish these on anyone 'cept maybe sadam, castro or the like

[jimr]

yep... all my life. the neurologist isolated the root of the issue for me. i have a baseline migrane all the time. if i take the meds regularly i seldom get a full on attack anymore. but, i still get "ice pick" headaches (30 second to 5 minutes) where it is intense pain in 1 spot. those SUCK rocks!

the only bummer is the med for the baseline migrane is also an anti-depressent in its classification. so when i was doing gov't contract, they wanted to know why.


good luck, i wouldn't wish these on anyone 'cept maybe sadam, castro or the like

in one spot?

I have a really sensitive area on the top RH half of my head. Seriously, it ALWAYS pounds there, and it hurts like a ball peen hammer constantly whacking me right there. Then, if it gets really bad, my upper neck and back of my head begin throbbing and the area "behind" my RH eye goes numbish.

[vwfye]

not an area... specific tiny areas that literally feel like someone stuck you with an ice pick.  they are totally random in where they hit, but when they hit they are devestating.  my wife knows my threshold for pain, so when she can see me physically react to them, you konw they are intense. 

[so67vw]

I have them also... My mother has them 4 days a month and actualy gets paid days off of work.... They have tried everything on her and all they can do is put her to sleep for the time she is in pain....Everyone has a trigger to get them scewed up.... I get low on protien and it's over for me.... This may sound funny but Excedrin Migraine, a huge chunk of cheese, and about two hours of shut eye is about all that works for me.... Other than that I'm puking my brains out and feel like I've been hit by a truck.... 

[deano]

Interesting post for a bunch of VW freaks... I too, have bad headaches. But mine are always directly related to change, or about to change in weather. Like if the outside pressure is about to rise, or a big storm is coming our way.... Always on the right side of my head, or forehead, and they move around.... Spooky. No sinus headache meds work, no aspirin works, spraying my nose works a little. Cold towel on my head does work.... But hard to do most of the time. Sometimes when I have been flying across country, they hit me when I land. Usually, they take a few hours to go completely away. I think they are sinus related, maybe blood pressure as well. My doc say no on sinus, since they are usually on top of head... Thanks for support...

[scott s]

 Zomig works for me. I can try a Goody powder or BC powder, but if that doesn't work it takes prescrition strength meds. i.e, Zomig.
 I've actually vomited from the intense pain. I get nasueous and sick to my stomach. I'll have to find a quiet, dark room and lie down with a cold washcloth over my eyes. Don't even talk to me. Now, the Zomig knocks 'em out in about 10 minutes. The only side effect I have is a tingling in my nose, like a sneeze building up, but it goes away and is nowhere near as bad as a debilitating headache.

[Dean N]

Interesting post for a bunch of VW freaks... I too, have bad headaches. But mine are always directly related to change, or about to change in weather. Like if the outside pressure is about to rise, or a big storm is coming our way.... Always on the right side of my head, or forehead, and they move around.... Spooky. No sinus headache meds work, no aspirin works, spraying my nose works a little. Cold towel on my head does work.... But hard to do most of the time.

same deal for me, it is always weather related, high's to lows and visa versa.

i have had them since i was five as well, and like deano, nothing works for me..  about ten years ago i said i had enough and went to a general doc and at first he put me on this stuff called cafergot.  i tired it once and it sucked and after learning about the bad side affects it has i asked for something else. 

the doctor gave me some prednisone at the time cause i was in pain.  after that he gave me endocine or endomethacin; they are an anti-inflamitory.  i will usually take me a little drug cocktail, three tylenol and one of those, the pills are time release for 24 hours and if it real bad i can takeone more in 12 but i havent had to do that yet.

my headaches will start out as the weather changes, i can feel the twinge behind my right eye, actually just about in between teh eye socket and eye brow.. sometimes it will start off to the right and move over, but everytime it is always centered right there. i have had a few cat scans and nothing shows up bad, the even found a brain in there one time .  i can feel the viens in my head begin to pump or throb above my right ear too, sometimes down the back of my neck.

what i usually do is get a packet of ice put it at the base of my neck or along the side of my head, take the pills and just go hide for a while.  it takes about 45 minutes for the tylenol to kick in.  i take the pills usually for a few days as they willl keep coming if i dont,it is one constant tinge of dull pain for days on end.

one thing i have noticed years ago before i would take these pills and as eluded to by deano, nothing works not even sinus meds.. i would try them anyways and just sit/lay there and be in horrable pain as you all know and then it would break like a fever.

stress over the last few years of glong back to school, finising it and life's changes ahs also contributed to them too, so watch your surroundings etc and see if that affects you.

i knnow there are things called beta blockers and alfa blockers, those are some things that doctors might try for your too .. the anti-inflammatories work for me.  my doc called them cluster headaches, kind of what brian has it seems like.

[turbo_bob]

Hi guys~~~
        I'm Diana , Turbo_Bob's wife  .  Bob showed me your topic about migranes and I wanted to share what I have gone through. I've had them since I was 4 , for the last 44 years . When I was a kid , my mother would put a cold washcloth on my neck and forehead, and take aspirin, but that would never help , only sleep and time.  The last 20 years or so , I have figured, that for me some of the triggers are. if I don't eat or forget to eat , get enough sleep, or out in bright sunlight without my sunglasses . Caffeine , chocolate , nuts, cheese  , etc. are not triggers.
Dean wrote that he gets " cluster headaches " men usually get these, this type of migrane will put a grown man to his knees .  When I get migranes , ice doesn't work for me but a heat pak brings the pain down where I don't feel like my head is going to explode. The heat pak is made from demin material that I fill with corn feed that you feed to chickens. Place in the microwave for about 3 mins. Then place on neck and back of head, heaven, and you feel like eating popcorn.   
I've used Imitrex, but that didn't work for me.  You HAVE to go to the doctors and try different medications , because everyone takes differently to meds.
Two meds that worked for me are Prozac, yes its for depression, I told my doctor I wasn't depressed but he said that the ingredients in the Prozac work stop migranes from getting big or just getting rid of them. I didn't believe him but 3 weeks after I started my migranes seemed to disappered. I also use, when I do get them use MAXALT , place it under your tongue and it disolves quickly and works quickly. You know , when you feel that freight train coming at you, the MAXALT is a gift from God. ~~ The bad thing about migranes is they are inherited , my mother had them , then I got them starting about 4 , our oldest who is 28 , starting getting them at 6 , and our youngest who is 9 started to get them at 3yrs old.  ~~~ Someone  wrote that they take Excedrin Migrane, this can get expensive , and the meds in Excedrin Migrane , is acetminophen, aspirin and caffeine ,so have a tylenol, an asprin and a cola or coffe and your set.
I'm a right - sided migrane sufferer, needle thru the right eye , right side of my face goes numb, like I'm having a stroke.    Ahhhhhhhhhh        
Also , another trick , when you feel one coming , try anything with green apple in it,  like jolly ranchers , yes it sounds weird but it works.   Thanks for listening~~  Diana

[ErikTheRed]

Thank the Good Lord Ive never had a problem with migraine headaches, it kinda sounds like a kidney stone passing through the cerebral cortex.............no fun. My brother used to get headaches ALL the time, but as far as I know, they're much less often now. I dunno, it may have had something to do with his 14-gallons-of-Coca-Cola-per-day diet.

[TRM]

in one spot?

I have a really sensitive area on the top RH half of my head. Seriously, it ALWAYS pounds there, and it hurts like a ball peen hammer constantly whacking me right there. Then, if it gets really bad, my upper neck and back of my head begin throbbing and the area "behind" my RH eye goes numbish.

Jim I would see a dr. about those and see about treating.   I have what you said above but on my left side.  My mom had them too we both were diagnosed with Cluster headaches and they lay you out.   O2 and ice helps the best with them.  My whole left side eye will start to cry and all kinds of fun things on that side. 

I use  fioricet for Sinus headaches

and use

Imitrex for my Migraines.

Good luck they suck that is for sure.

[werksberg]

Me too and 3x words:

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS![/b]

[TRM]

Me too and 3x words:

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS![/b]

ROFLMAO

Oh My Jim 

[Clint Ormosen]

Thank the Good Lord Ive never had a problem with migraine headaches, it kinda sounds like a kidney stone passing through the cerebral cortex.............no fun. My brother used to get headaches ALL the time, but as far as I know, they're much less often now. I dunno, it may have had something to do with his 14-gallons-of-Coca-Cola-per-day diet.

Yes, I do seem to get less headaches these days. They come in spells. I get the occasional migraine, but most of them are sinus headaches due to allergies. Dark, quiet, and sleep are the only ways I've found to get rid of a migraine.

By the way, Excedrin Migraine is the same as regular Excedrin.

And I miss my Coca-Cola.

[jimr]

last night I was getting the momentary twinges on one side of my head, kinda like somebody was trying to drive the handle of a Snap-On screwdriver through my skull.

By 10pm I was dizzy again, and gave up. Crawled in bed, but after taking Advil Migraine.

Sleep and the Advil seemed to help.

[vwfye]

jim, that is an 'ice pick' headache.  talk to a neurologist!!!  there are about a dozen meds out there specifically for this type.  also, if you prefer non-medicine alternatives  the dizzy spells sound like a mild form of minares disease.  try cutting as much sodium as possible for 1 month and see if the dizzy spells go away.  in some people, sodium causes the little hair-like fibers in the inner ear to swell and this in turn really screws with you and causes dizziness/nausea.  i have had several thousand dollars worth of testing done to me for this type stuff and have learned alot.  email me if you have any more questions and i will let you know the little i know.

[Brandon Sinclair]

Jim you jinxed me,

I got one yesterday - the first in a year.  Always the same symptoms, begins with blurred vision, then a massive headach and pain at the pont where my neck and head attach.  Took advil immediately and went to a quite room with a cold towel on my head for 12 hrs last night-feew work out this morning-hopefully I will feel better soon!  My brother said it was due to an increase in blood pressure in my head and then something was pushing on my optical nerve causing the distorted vision.  Funny thing is my bllod pressure is in check and this usually happens after a hard leg workout in the gym and when I go outside in the sun I am done-that's what I get for trying to be a litttle healthy.

[jimr]

sorry Brandon

I know what you're talking about, as I was talking to my wife's grandma the other day about migraines and MSG and so on, and sure enough, later that day.....BAM!

My RH temple started singing the blues.

And it was a family gathering, Mother's Day and all, so I just had to grin a bear it.

[Dean N]

i have a hard time too with determining if it is like sinus or migrane, 90% of it is migrane anyways so i treat is as migrane. 

sucks either way

i have to found that "tyring to be healthy" affects me too sometimes.. like go ride for a while or exhert a bunch of energy and wam..

[neil68]

I've also suffered from migraines since my youth, as did my Mother.  Having worked in worksite health programs for many years, I have found mounting evidence, in the literature, that regular (ie. daily) exercise can greatly reduce the frequency of migraines.

This has worked for me personally, by including 30-40-minute jogging or walking on 4 or 5 days each week.  It is amazing how much one's blood pressure, heart rate, etc can improve with basic exercise.  It does not need to be vigorous exercise...just a brisk walk around the neighbourhood will do.  That's my input

Neil.

[Dean N]

excersize does wonders (so i hear haha)

just purchased some new tires for my bicycle, gonna get new batteries in teh HRM and get with the program again.

[jimr]

yeah I have heard of something else that can help alleviate a headache's pain too................a sort of exercise....for two!

[Brandon Sinclair]

I just did some reasearch and it is called an exertion headache.  Weird that mine only happens durring the summer with bright sun though.  Might be related to my allergies as well, either that or all the carb and brake cleaner I have used over the years is finally catching up to me

[fredybear]

Interesting stuff.....

Ok.....I thought something was wrong with me also like sinus headaches. I was hatin to wake up in the morning. Every other day a bad headache and sinus pain. Thought it was my allergys. It got worse when i came out to cali in Oct..

Check this out...They say u can have food related allergys.....Im like no way it must be dust or something thats killin me.....I used to drink Milk with cereal every day....since they say people are allergic to milk i did a test....

I stopped drinking Milk and eating all Milk products.....This was a like 2 Months or so ago..........

No more Headaches at all......

another test...

Begal with cream cheese 3 days ago......triggerd a headache....i was like wow.....

I dont eat like most people anyway.....my body fat is almost nil.....i eat mostly good stuff and no junk food.....

But the milk thing just amazed me........

[jimr]

yeah I have heard dairy products can trigger intense migraines.

Luckliy, the dairy family doesn't affect me, like MSG and nitrites do.

[Dean N]

i dont drink milk, stopped drinking it years ago but that hasnt stopped me from eating like cheese with burittos or sandwiches or ice cream (mmm)... 

one thing with milk, when i used to roof years a go, one of the guys said he didnt drink milk or cereal in the morn.. after a few times roofing in teh morning i found out that it really causes you to salivate more and kind of runs you down a bit... so i stopped and had no probs after that.

also, not taht it really matters to me and i dont get into debates about whether one thing is good for you or another but the whole, milk is from cows and we dont need it as an adult but can use it as a child deal.

an anthropology teacher told me once , well the class haha, that if you drank three gallons of milk that one soda will completely depleat all the calcium that your body absorbed from it.

haha, got me on a rant...

i imagine/know there are foods that will cause/ affect me to create a headache.

good information, keep it coming