---Linsy Duncan <Lovebug039@Aol.com>
Huber Heights, Oh USA -
I almost always awaken with my migraines, for some reason
whatever it is that happens inside my head takes place during sleep and I sometimes fear what will greet me in the
morning...however I must say that my migraines do not take me by suprise, my sleep prior to one of these episodes is
always disruped by hours of insomnia , followed by a tightness across the eyes and a sort of a mask of coldness
across the face, also usually 12 hours or so prior, I will
have vague visual disturbances, fatigue, eye aches and if I'm smart I will attempt to abort the migraine, sometimes
I can, usually when it finally gets it grips on me, I give into the pain, which stabs at my eyeballs and between my eyes and temples like millions of pitchforks,nausea sometimes vomiting, and lasts from 1 day to 3 and always
leaves me feeling weak,dehydrated and scared. I have given
up on the heavy duty drugs as they for the most part are
ineffective, but have found Ice packs and Bicarbonate will
end the headache, Alka-Seltzer GOLD , works if I can get it
down within, 1 hour after the migraine begins, sometimes I
CANNOT, drink it, also it is very difficult to find ALKA-SELTZER GOLD, I pack my head with ice packs and it will
end the headache most of the time, my migraines are always
the type that will send me to bed in the dark with absolute
silence, I am going to look around for products with
bicarbonate ....Does anyone know why bicarbonate works on
migraine strength pain and what other products are available
besides the very hard to find ALKA-SELTZER GOLD???I will admit most of the time when my head is exploding, I cannot
drink the bicarbonate due to sever nausea, but it works most
of the time when I do manage to drink it during the early
onset of the migraine.
Tricia PaperEdges@aol.com
---Tricia <PaperEdges@aol.com>
NY USA -
I don't know ehere to start.I am 28 years old have always had typical headaches colds all the time, strep, bronchitus, mono, very poor imune system since I can remember. I have seen many doctors they all say Epstein Barr virus dignosed at 18 years old in fact had to stop college classes because of it.I work as a veterinary tech.so I am around animals all day and have 3 dogs and a bird at home(my mother thinks this is all allergy related)
I was also in a car accident in my early 20s this caused neck trama which is why I have some neck and shoulder pain and a few headaches.I also have been strep positive in my blood for the last year(Dr.tells me some people will always remain positive?)
Just some history on my medical status before I started with these headaches. The day after Holloween 1 year ago I woke up for work around 5:15 a.m. as normal I thought I was haveing a brain blowout the pain was so intense and them I started to vomit. I had no idea what was happening my husband (a police officer) rushed me to the emergency room where I got a shot. It put me to sleep for the entire day and when I woke up the headache was gone but I had stiffness in my neck and shoulder.We chalked it up to eating choc. candy much caffine and the time of the month.Iprayed that would never happen again.
Well it has many other times I have been to the emergency room 4 times for shots and the Drs. office once.
I take all the meds. with codine, percacet.etc. nothing seems to help I crawl into my dark room tie a sock around my head and pray. I never imagined this is what people go through when they suffer a migraine. I would wish this on no one. So now what causes these allergies, foods, caffeine, the time of the month, sinus,neck and shoulder pain? What kind of Dr. do you see now allergist,head Dr. I don't know what to do all I know I can't go through this again.Thank you for letting me write about this and if you red this entire letter thanks. Any comments or sugg. would help greatly. Thanks again Carrie N.J.
---Carrie <k9rambo@webtv.net>
nj USA -
29 Years old and just started getting migraines in the past few years. The pain is the usual "ice-pick" in the eye type. they get so bad that I get dizzy and throw up. They usually last at least 12-24 hours. Despite medications like Midrin and Ziac, sleep is usually the only answer. When the pain Is gone, I feel exhausted...like I just faught a war or something. Yesterday my OB/GYN gave me a sample of an inhaler (suppose to be fairly new). Tried it and it helped the pain a little but made me vomit A freind who is using told me that this is because it works by rapidly shutting down blood vessels to the brain...Is this true??....I've heard some good things about Excedrine Migraine. Think I will try it.
**** Please Email me at gtmiller@bright.net with any advice
or if you have tried Excedrine Migraine.
Laurie
Sidney, Ohio USA
---Laurie <gtmiller@bright.net>
Sidney, OH USA -
I have had headaches since I was 7 years old. Now I am 16. The thing that works good for kind of bad headaches is these pills i have been on for 3 years. They make my not so bad headaches go away and don't really work on my terrible migrains go away. Only sleep make my terrible headaches go away and they don't always go away. The pills I have been taking are Butalbital/asprin/caffeine.
---mariah mohary <lisam@jps.net>
santa cruz, ca USA -
Well, here goes. I've been having low grade migranes for the last several years - and never thought much of it. I had tried taking an assortment of OTC medications, but nothing worked. So I stopped treating my headaches. My husband was very concerned about the frequency and intensity of the headaches I had learned to deal with. I've been putting off his requests to have it worked up, as I really hate doctors. I fear that they'll tell me that they can't find anything to substantiate my pain.
Last Saturday, the typical ice-pick-in-the-eye-socket got so bad that I needed to spend the day in bed. Monday, I called for an appointment to have someone evaluate them. My headaches are always at the front of my head, the bad ones (like the one I've got now) are like ice picks in my eye socket. I seek out a quiet, dark room & call it a night. Most times, I find that sleep is the only cure for them.
I woke up with them daily for months until my father suggested that turning on the humidifier was necessary to ensure that the walls didn't crack - and it might help the headaches. It did.
I'm looking forward to my appointment (almost a month away) so that I may finally be able to treat/control them - but at the same time, I don't want to go because of my hatred and distrust of doctors.
---Colene
Chicago, IL USA -
My husband has been suffuring of headaches since he was
12 or 13 yrs old. He saw a doctor for two months ago who gave him some good advice. His headaches have disappeared (I cross my finger)...
Here is what he has done :
he stopped to eat or drink
CHEESE, MILK OR PRODUCTS WITH MILK, ALCOHOL.
---Armel
USA -
My migraines began at age 22, and I am now 28. They started
my final year of college after a several-weeks long virus
which doctors could not identify, and finally called a "mono-
like" virus. Within two weeks I was suffering about 2-4
migraines per month--common migraine--always right sided. My
father has migraine, and my grandmother did too. My headaches
at that time were mostly triggered by too much exposure to
sunlight and therefore I would always get them on Saturdays
after spending the day outside. Over the course of the first
year, however, they changed to more frequency and by one year
I was experiencing what later was diagnosed at Basilar Artery
Migraine, losing consciousness, hallucinating, unable to move
or coordinate my legs, numb right arm, difficulty with speech
and memory. Now, six years from the beginning, I continue
with BAM and common migraine, suffering with migraine an
average of 15-20 days of every month, particularly
premenstrually. My worse BAM trigger is cheddar cheese, but
sometimes they come out of the blue. I have had them while
driving and once hit a parked car, and once drove up a one-
way street the wrong way--I had no pain at the time but
became suddenly highly confused and my surroundings, familiar
ones, looked bizarre and surreal. I got stopped by the police
needless to say. Now I wear a medic-alert bracelet in
case one day I get so confused that I am mistaken as
intoxicated or some such thing. I have been on every
medication imaginable. I hope those of you with BAM know not
to take Imitrex, similar drugs, or Migranal; there is
increased risk of stroke. (Also, no birth control pills.)
For a very long time I was very angry at these migraines, but
have over time been able to accept that they will be a part of
my life for decades to come and in some way form part of my
identity. Thinking this way has helped me to proceed with
each day as if I am a "normal" person without a chronic
illness; on days when I physically can't do, I am straight-
forward with others: "I'm sorry, but I have a terrible
migraine today and cannot function too well". If they can't
understand then it is not for me to worry about.
Hope everyone has a pain-free day.
---Anne Hollister <aehollister@worldnet.att.net>
Chicago, IL USA -
