I’ve suffered from migraines on and off for years.
When I say ‘migraine’, I mean the lose-vision squirgly aura light-and-noise-sensitive throw-up in pain for hours and then feel hungover for a couple of days afterwards, kind of migraine. Apparently it’s the ‘classic’ migraine. Most people don’t get all those symptoms, they ‘just’ get a thundering headache.
I first got them when I was about 12, puberty. Hormone disturbances are a trigger for some people, and apparently for me. The migraines faded after a few months.
I got them again when I migrated to Australia and got married. Again it could have been hormone disturbances as I went on the pill and tried a few different ones. And again, the migraines faded after a few months but I then suffered from tension headaches for a few years.
When I was 26 my eldest brother was killed in an oil rig disaster. I had a six week old baby at the time so yes, hormones were all over the place. Migraines for a few months.
All this time I managed them with the strongest painkillers I could find. When I was breastfeeding my doctor managed my medication closely because medications cross into the breastmilk. I used Mersyndol in small doses, which made us both sleep very well! The migraines faded away after a few months.
Some years later I had thyroid surgery and hit early menopause at age 32, and another bout of migraines. I was seeing a new GPO who put me into Imigraine, a nasal spray at $36 a pop. It only worked if I used it during the 20 -30 minutes of the ‘aura’ phase. “Honestly,” she said to me, “I find it’s just as effective to hit the migraine with Aspalgin (300mg aspirin combined with 8mg codein phosphate – I take three at a time) as soon as the vision thing starts; get quiet and dark and it short circuits the whole thing, you’ll be over it in a few hours.” She was right, and that’s how I managed that phase of life with migraine, and how I’ve managed it ever since. Oh, and acupuncture – it seemed to me to reduce all the menopause symptoms and keep the migraines in check.
When I notice the eye thing, the next thing that happens is a wave of terror, because I know that I’m in for! I tap for that, rub a couple of acupressure points and get home as fast as I can. I also carry Aspalgin in my bag with me and get some into me as fast as possible, with whatever food I can find, even a biscuit (to mitigate the effects of aspirin in the gut).
Triggers
I have never been able to identify a food trigger though for many people are triggered by foods like chocolate, bacon, some wines, some cheeses, cigarette smoke, perfumes or stress. Triggers don’t cause a migraine every time, and avoiding triggers don’t always avoid migraines. So it’s tricky to identify.
My trigger seemed to be hormonal. The other cause of course could have been stress, and now I’m post-menopausal with fewer hormone fluctuations, stress does seem to be the trigger. Since my husband was killed in a traffic accident in January 2012, migraines have been a reality every few weeks. And Aspalgin x3 combined with a dark room and consciously relaxing helps.
But, I prefer to have a drug-free life. That’s probably why the Aspalgin works for fast for me, I don’t use any other drugs. In the past three weeks I’ve had three migraines. Even though the pain is reduced to just a few hours, the couple of days afterwards when I feel really seedy seem to me to be life-limiting. I’ve been having acupuncture and it has helped, but apparently I don’t have the classic migraine pathology. So I started to look at some other ways to manage the thing – it surprises me that I’ve never looked further.
Apparently a migraine is caused by a sudden dilating of the blood vessels in the brain. No particular reason has been found for it yet so there are no 100% effective drug treatments. I did find that some people have severely limited lives because of migraine; mine aren’t all that bad in comparison.
One thing I noticed is that my feet get really really cold while the migraine is on. And my reading explained why: all those blood vessels dilating cause the blood to rush to the head and the feet get really cold.
So one solution suggested is to warm the feet, and put a cold pack on the back of the neck. The foot warming will bring blood back to the feet and out of the head, the cold helps to ease the inflammation.
A couple of days ago I started with the eye thing. I am working at home so I quickly dropped some aspalgin in water and while it was dissolving I microwaved my wheat bag because yes, my feet were cold. Icy, actually. I decided to give myself ten minutes of foot warming before taking the drugs so I headed to bed with the wheat sack and my eye mask, and rubbing the usual acupressure point.
Ten minutes later it was gone!
I was gobsmacked! I still felt hungover, bleary and sluggish, but no vomiting. No pain. No pain.
I had a nap to sleep off the icks, then did a meditation to ease the current stress. Then still in bed, with my ipad, I went looking for more answers. Apparently supplements of Coenzyme Q10 have been found to help prevent migraine, as does supplementation with magnesium. I’m into prevention, life is too short for days out with migraine! So I picked up some CoQ10 and some magnesium yesterday and started them this morning. I’ll write again in a few weeks about how I’m going.
Meanwhile I’m going to make a couple more wheatsacks so I can have one for each foot, and a smaller one in the fridge for my neck and another for my eyes, in case I need them again.
Sandy
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Hey there Sandra–
I saw a movie in which juice fasting for a short period of time helped a woman with her migraines. I’m doing a 5-day fast, this lady did a 10-day one. It’s in the movie “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” (you may have heard of it), where a man with a rare hives disease takes a 60-day juice fast to reboot his system and cleanse himself. He also helps other people do mini-fasts during the film, and follows up with them. You get to see exactly how they feel at first, and how they improve. The link to see it is here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122
Or, you can see it at the website of the guy who created the movie http://www.jointhereboot.com/ (maybe the first link looks a little shady, lol).
Also, he has various juice-fast or juice + healthy eating plans FREE on his website! I have tried at least 3 of the juice recipes and they are GOOOOD!!! You can find the plans and recipes here, just in case you get interested.
http://www.jointhereboot.com/plans/
Even if you don’t decide to fast, I REALLY REALLY REALLY recommend the film just for the uplifting-ness of it all. I wish you luck! You’re doing great!
Hey Paige
I have heard of the movie but haven’t seen it yet. I did a juice fast a while ago, only 2 days, and I did feel great. I don’t routinely drink coffee (have just never liked the flavour of it) and eat a pretty clean diet so didn’t have massive detox symptoms. The movie sounds really interesting, will have a look! ty
I dealt with migraines from the time I was 16 to almost 50 – multiple ER visits because the throwing up and pain couldn’t be managed, passing out on the bathroom floor, cat scans, MRIs, blood tests, and a lot of life missed out on because I was afraid that a migraine would hit. Finally my Dr. referred me to a neurologist because I thought I was going to have to take a medical retirement. I still can’t believe it took over 40 years for that referral. It took the neurologist a total of 3 visits to get the right prescription and dose for me. I now take blood pressure medication for my migraines – though I didn’t have high blood pressure when I first started taking the medication. In the last 4 years I’ve had 2 migraines! I tried so many things – so many that you’re talking about – and I can’t tell you what a relief it is to live without that constant fear.
G-
Yes! That terror when the aura starts is just awful isn’t it? It’s great to hear you have a solution, gives me hope too
Thanks for sharing!
Sandy
Just don’t give up looking for the right solution for you. It’s worth the effort to find it.
I read a fantastic book about migraines once that explained how it can be almost impossible to figure out triggers because most of us have multiple triggers and they add up (think of cookies stacked one on top of the other). Sometimes your threshold is 3 cookies high but you’ve only had two cookies worth of triggers so you’re fine. The next time you might have four cookie’s worth of triggers and get a migraine – or that day your threshold might be five cookies high and you’ll be fine.
hehehehe so it’s basically cross your fingers and hope you only have two cookies any day
Migraines!
They suck. I had them for about 21 days out of the month at the worst point. They started about 17 years ago, but worsened to an almost debilitating degree around 10 years ago. The last really bad one I had lasted over 11 days and I was in the worst pain of my life. I learned later those are called “suicide headaches” because people who have them will attempt suicide in order to relieve the pain.
I will add that I did not take pain relievers for them in the past three years. I simply used darkness and relaxation techniques as much as possible. There are reasons for this beyond not wanting to become addicted to pain medications, but I will not delve into a tangent at this point.
It took months to get a neuro consult, but with his help, I finally got them under some form of control, with medication. For me, the acupuncture isn’t an available option. However, the meds are helping. The rule for medication is this: if the headaches are interrupting your daily life so severely that you cannot successfully get through a good part of a month, you may want to consider medication. My decision was on the fact that I could not get through over half of one month without a debilitating headache.
One interesting point the neurologist brought up, which is now approved by the FDA, is Botox injections around the hairline. I don’t know how you’d feel about that. In fact, it’s not really a suggestion, but more of a, “did you know” type of information. The neurologist I am working with is one of the most dedicated to his field and his patients I have ever seen. I am humbled by his amount of compassion and humanism. It’s a refreshing change from the military doctors I usually get to encounter.
The meds I’m on are currently a daily med, Topamax, which in higher doses is used as an anti seizure medication. I started out at a very low dose, and since then, have come to a slightly higher dose. For “emergency” uses, I have Maxalt. I am very thankful for it, and it helps greatly.
Migraine charting is a tool that has helped me to figure out what would help keep the headaches at bay. Some of the common triggers are actually citrus fruits and bananas. With my love of anything lemon lime, and children who love to share bananas, I never connected the two issues. Sure enough, eliminating the pesky culprits from my diet has reduced the instances of severe headaches. Preservatives & MSG are also contributors, and caffeine can be for some people, and not for others. However, caffeine does reduce headache severity once a headache has developed. Other triggers are inadequate sleep cycles, which stresses the importance of the same bedtime each night, same wake up each day, and at least 30-40 minutes of exercise daily. Of course, ovulation and menses can be triggers, as well.
I have recently had a resurgence in headaches because we have just moved. My sleep schedule is off, and I haven’t exercised. It’s really an all day exercise thing of moving, but I know I need to be diligent.
When I follow the doctor’s rules, and when I keep that chart, I know that it helps me.
What I really need is to get back on the FlyLady Wagon again, too!
I hope my story has somehow given you some insight, and will help at least one other person get some relief.
Blessings to you!
Mindy thank you for sharing in such detail – really appreciate it. I wonder about the botox though – I can see if I (or anyone else) was desperate enough to just stop the pain, that I might consider. But it would be with trepidation – the research showing how the body processes botox is really scary, there’s a suggestion that it might cause early alzheimers etc. Which would suck, I reckon
BUT I started on the magnesium and Co-Q10, feeling great, that terror is still lurking though!
And yes, I started ktichen sinking again last night – back on that wagon too! It’s hard to maintain when you’ve got the old migraine hangover though hey?
Thanks for being here