Migraines?

[Esofia]

Originally Posted by ann71

About 10 years ago I learned that birth control with estrogen is contraindicated if you have a history of migraine with aura- increasing the risk of stroke- but I don't know if many doctors pay attention to this.

I once had a GP who, on learning that I have menstrual migraines (with aura, and since I was 15), wanted to put me on the combined pill in order to test whether they really were menstrual migraines. Er, no, that's not how you react to that tidbit of information.

[sararay]

I used to get migraines a lot as a teenager and through my college years. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with food sensitivities and eliminated those foods that I was able to get rid of them. I haven't had them in years.

My sensitivities don't show up on blood tests or pin-prick allergy testing. From what I understand some people don't have true allergies to foods but have sensitivities. The only way to diagnose sensitivities is to do an elimination diet or find someone trained in kinesthesiology(some chiropractors are trained in it). I hope this can help someone else.

[red65]

Hi all, a fellow queen of migraines here. I get them so often that it is becoming the norm for me which is truly sad. I have a bunch of other illnesses so I take a lot of the meds mentioned here (amitryptaline 150mg, gabapenten 1800mg, propanolol 80mg) plus because I have had a rather severe TIA or small stroke according to my neuro I also take Plavix.

I took Topomax 150mg for a couple of years and never saw a change so I asked to be switched to Zonegran but didn't notice any changes there either. Once they hit I have been through the whold series of triptans with varying results. My absolute fave is Relpax but at $33 a pill with no health insurance I get the samples when I can but my main abortive now is generic Imitrex at $20 for 9 pills. It works well. Treximet (imitrex plus naproxen) works ok as does Maxalt and Frova. I used to take Midrin for the pain then was switched to the Fioricet. They work somewhat but I get equal relief from Excedrin Migraine. My ultimate pain killer is 10mg hydrocodone.

I had these things in my late teens and they were menstrual and birth control pill driven. I had my tubes tied and didn't have to deal with that anymore. Then in 2008 I had my TIA/stroke while driving in Houston traffic the migraines started with it and haven't let up. Anybody else have a similar situation?

Take care and thanks for reading my first post. Sorry it was so long!

Kellye

[joannb24]

I get them when the weather changes, when it is a bright gray/white sky, when I'm under a lot of stress, not enough sleep. Imitrex helps me, normally in a couple hours it is gone if I take it at the onset.

[Veela]

I also get migraines although mine usually have a very clear trigger so are generally avoidable.
My triggers include:
MSG, any type of artificial sweetener (including stevia), excessive heat, this could be from a bath or shower which is too hot, being outside too long in a heat wave or very bright sun, or over doing it with exercise. Also major thunder storms can give me one heck of a migraine about 2-3 days before they break and nothing will make it go away.

I also get menstrual migraines but unlike others here mine are actually helped by using birth control. With a cycling pill the sudden drop in hormones is less extreme than what I would experience naturally and I end up with a bad headache but not a migraine.

I take sumatriptan (Imitrex) as a migraine abortive and am able to take Rx strength advil to control pain. Apparently Imitrex only works for 1/3 of all migraine sufferers so I am lucky that way.

My migraines usually consist of extreme pain, light sensitivity, nausea, and dizziness.

I have also had one where I experienced aphasia which was scary because I didn't realize it had happened until the next day. I work with ESL students and was explaining paragraph structure to them and they were looking at me strangely but I figured it was because they didn't understand me as usual because of language. I talked to my boyfriend on the phone and he asked me to bring him food at work and he thought I had just woken up from a nap because nothing I said was making a great deal of sense. It cleared up shortly after that but still looking back had I known what was going on I would have gone to the hospital. I sounded normal to me but found forming sentences unusually difficult.

I also get the awful migraine hang overs, mine consist of a weird pain I can only describe as the absence of pain and brain fog.