---Michele <m2hgo@aol.com>
USA -

in reading the journal entries i was surprised by so many of you saying how long you've been suffering migraines. I have no idea when i started getting them-as long as i can remember-must have started when i was a small child. the only time in my life when i haven't had at least 3/week was during my 2 pregnancies. not 1 headache in the whole nine months either time! clearly a hormonal link. i become so sensitive to sounds that my daughter knows to take the battery out of the clock in the room next to my bedroom so i won't hear it ticking. if i have a severe nosebleed upon awakening i know i'm in for a bad one. i've been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, as has my sister who also has frequent migraines. my other sister and my brother do not have mitral valve prolapse or migraines. diamond headache clinic told my sister that the brain believes its being poisoned during a migraine and it starts rejecting everything, thats why we vomit, nose runs, eyes water, nose bleeds, diarrhea. standing (or sometimes lying down) under a shower as hot as i can stand it helps me for some reason. the only med that helps me is imitrex by injection. unfortunately my hmo refuses to pay for it unless i go into the emergency room during a migraine-but many times, at that point, i am too sick to be able to force myself to ride in the car. on two occaisions they have paid for ambulances to take me to the e.r.-seems more practical to me to approve the damned rx!

---jennifer yonesawa <jyonesawa@hotmail.com>
las vegas, nv USA -

I feel that I have found my soulmate(s). After years of pain, hundreds of trips to the ER, the all too familiar feeling of inadequacy to work, take of my kids, and even doubt myself at times, I have finally found someone to talk to. I have even approached suicide a few years back because nothing seems to ever work (and when it does, not for long) I get so tired of Drs., nurses, and people in general looking at you as if you are nothing more than a whiner or worse a drug user. I would eat mud, if it would take the pain away. I do not want drugs for recreation, I want them to feel normal, something we migraine sufferers cannot take for granted as others do. If I go for a day without a migraine, I feel so lucky, like I am on top of the world. The only problem is my headache can strike any moment, with out any warning or notice. I NEED to talk with other people who understand. My husband and kids do their best. I love them dearly. But if you do not suffer with them, you cannot possibly understand. They are not your "average headache". I am begging someone to email me, and hopefully develop a friendship. Hopefully, something positive can come out of something so devastating. I look forward to hearing from anyone. Please know I understand and feel for each and every one of you.

---Tracey Vallieu <TVallieu@aol.com>
West Milton, OH USA -

I have suffered with migraines since my first pregnancy, when I was 30 years old. Although there is a family history of migraines (both grandmothers) I did not have any headaches until that time. They continued unabated for 16 years, always lasting 7 days (3 days one side of the head, 1 OK day, 3 days other side of head), always coming once a month. I thought I was the only one who had such severe pain until I read these other journal entries. How come the doctors don't know that the headaches last for a week? Why do they think the headaches come infrequently and last only a few hours? No medicine ever helped me. I am afraid to take Imitrex because while I normally have low blood pressure during migraine attacks I have high blood pressure. As I get older the pain has become somewhat less intense and the attacks less frequent. However I now have constant heart palpitations - evidently this is my form of menopause. I am on a beta blocker for this and perhaps it is helping with my migraine. It hasn't "cured" them but made them more manageable as I no longer get nausea. My heart goes out to all of you fellow sufferers. It's clear to me that we need to educate the medical profession as to the seriousness of this disease and I do believe it is a disease not a "condition" caused by diet, stress, or whatever. Good luck to all of you.

---Andrea <phillpsak@aol>
Ellicott City, MD USA -

I came across this site while searching for information on Migraines and the language disturbances that sometimes accompany them. I have suffered from migraine since about the age of 9. May of the stories I've read mirror my own so perhaps my story mat help some one. I just always put up with the headache. A soon as an aura started I would head for home and my bed to sleep it of if possible. I didn't think there was anything else I could do. In nursing school, I became a little upset when we started to learn about strokes and the symptoms of increased inter-cranial pressure. So I made an appointment with a neurologist and had all the tests. I was diagnosed with classic migraine with aura, given Cafergot to try and control the incidence of episodes. I was also given something to take during attacks but I didn't like taking it because I read about the side effects it could cause. I stopped taking the cafergot because of side effects after about a year, besides it did not stop the attacks anyway. So for years I just put up with them, taking Talwin for the pain and Gravol to control the vomiting. In fact I found that taking Gravol at the first sign of the aura and going to sleep worked best although I still had the headache hangover that lasted a couple of days. Finally I went to a chiropractor because my sister (who also has migraines) had a decrease in the number of attacks after treatment. Well it worked! The severity and number of my migraines has decreased since treatment and I know only see the chiropractor when I feel I need to. The migraines I have now are almost exclusively tied to my menstrual cycle and stress. I still take gravol during attacks and will sometimes take an anti-histamine because during the aura my nose begins to run and my eyes water just like I was having an allergic reaction to something. I have also started taking Flax seed oil as a source of Omega 3 oils. I read in on of the journal articles that an increase in these oils has lead to a decrease in migraine attacks in a small study. Getting back to the reason I found this forum in the first place, I was looking for information on language problems that occur during and/or after migraine attacks. I have not found much in the medical literature about it. Anomia (problems with finding the right word) occurs during and for a little time after my attacks, but the literature lists many other problems. Does anyone know of a doctor who may have investigated this connection? Thanks

---Cathy Zel <yu133059@yorku.ca>
Toronto, Canada -

Dear Rhonda, I'am going to be 17 years old pretty soon and every sice the sixth grade I started to have migraines.I read that migraine usually last from four hours to three days, but I have migraines that last for four days at a time. I'am very sensitive to noise more then light and when I try to carry on my normal day to day activities when I have the migraine my head feels like it is gooing to fall off. In the next school year I'll be entering the eleventh grade and the migraines that I get are too much too handle. Sometimes I do get preheadache sypmtoms but 99% of the time I don't. What should I do? When I get a migraine for four days I don't even go to the doctors because I'am afraid that they can't help me with the pain that I suffer from the migraine. Please help. Also when I get a migraine sometimes I can't eat anything because my throat swells too.Is this a common symptom that goes with the migraine? Heather W.,Rudolph,Ohio

---Heather <none>
Rudolph, Oh USA -

for about a year and a half i have been seeing white swirly spots and a double vision (like with a wave of a hand, another follows) This happens 24/7. Ive been to the eye doctor twice, had blood work, a ct scan and am now going for an mRI..everything so far has chekced out ok. My doctor says it may be "occular migraines" with out the headache. Has anyone ever heard of that, and it lasting so long? Please eamil me! Thanks!

---Lesley <sugrmtn@aol.com>
sf, ca USA -