I have awful migraines that sometimes go on for days. They are so strong all my teeth hurt and i throw up a lot. I also feel very weak and can't sleep. I am taking topiramate to treat it and i'm having less episodes but when i do get one, it is so painful i usually just do whatever i can to feel more comfortable. I'll stop exercising and eat anything i feel will stay in my stomach. After the crisis sometimes it takes me one or two days to stop feeling depressed and exhausted and it's hard to get back to my usual healthy routine. Do you have any advice on how to deal with this?

Marina Brasil I'm so sorry about your migraines. I feel your pain. I used to get a migraine every week that would put me out for 2 whole days. I became depressed as well because I couldn't live that way, I felt that I couldn't do anything ever, I spent all my time either having a migraine, or recovering from one. It sucks. I was on a preventative pill for a while (forgot the name) and Relpax (helped a lot if I took it when I felt the migraine coming on). Honestly, what helped me the most was finding ways to remove stress from my life (not an easy thing to do, that's for sure). Now I only get one very rarely (under lots of stress). Mine start at the bottom of my neck, so I always have an ice pack in the freezer to use, and these "migraine cools" I buy at CVS (cold patches) that I keep in my purse at all times. If I'm out and about and I feel it, I'll stick one on the back of my neck and keep going, it helps relax my muscles and usually stops it from starting. Unfortunately if I miss that window when the stress is coming on, there's no way to stop it, I just have to knock myself out somehow in a dark room until it goes away. I've also found that making sure that I'm hydrated helps, as well as knowing my triggers (foods, stress, neck pain, etc). Red wine is a HUGE trigger for me, I avoid it like the plague now. For some reason white wine is fine, red is killer, I'll have a migraine by the end of the night. So I guess my advice isn't all that super, but everyone's migraine triggers are different.

So basically, know your triggers, and take little steps to help prevent the migraines from ever happening. When they do, unfortunately coping mode starts. But if you kind find a system for calming yourself, whether it's deep breathing, doing some stretches (works for me, I do neck stretches in the shower and let the hot water run over my neck and shoulders, then ice on it when I get out, helps me a LOT) or lighting a calming scented candle, you can teach your body how to calm back down. Or, maybe you need to talk to your doctor about a different medicine, and other advice regarding prevention.

Good luck! i hope you find a way to make the awful migraines go away.

I also suffer from migraines, recently started using topiramate (and propranolol) to treat them.

My advice, based on what you've described, is not to stress about missing the exercise and be gentle with yourself during your recovery phases. But keep healthy food around for when you are ready to eat so that you're not grabbing junk in your recovery moments. It's hard, I know.

It's very difficult to work on weight loss and exercise goals when dealing with chronic migraines, so give yourself credit for trying and doing the best you can!

Thank you for this reply! I know this thread is old, but I'm just restarting my weight loss efforts and I struggle with chronic migraines (secondary to a brain mass). It was really nice to read the advice of someone who's been there. It's difficult for people in my life (who I'd normally turn to for support) to understand why losing weight with chronic head pain is so difficult. You expressed it so well. Thanks again.

I've had migraines for 13 years. Tons of testing but no one could give me a solid reason why... In October, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (symptoms started at the same time the migraines did, when I was 12). I was advised to go off of gluten. I have been 100% gluten free since March 14, 2015 and haven't had a migraine in several weeks. It takes a good amount of time for your body to heal, but if you actually are gluten intolerant (I later found out I actually have Celiac disease as well), this might be a good thing for you to get tested. Good luck! I don't miss the 3-5 migraine days a week. I hope you can find the same success, whatever the cause to your migraines is.

I hope it's ok if I revive this thread even though I'm new because I have a problem with chronic migraines as well. In my case it's both, migraines and tension headaches and the latter can easily turn into a migraine.
Around the beginning of this year I was put on an antidepressant which helps with chronic pain. I'm scared because it is said to lead to weight gain and I simply don't have the money to buy new clothes if I get too fat for mine. These days I can sometimes have a week without a migraine which is a lot for me. I have tried to remove stress from my life - two years ago I gave up working in a bar because it was too much stress and I haven't had any alcohol for more than three years because it has triggered migraines in the past (especially wine).

When I have a bad migraine, I don't wannt to eat, but often I am in this state of just feeling unwell and then reaching for convenience food because I feel too unwell for preparing something healthy and that makes it worse and of course makes me gain weight or at least maintain.

I do not have this issue. However, I do have food allergies, so I kind of get it.

But I am wondering, if you are tracking what you eat, is there a correlation to super proccessed foods, and the migraines?

I get the stress, thing as well.

Here is the thing for me. I used to work with a guy, who had horrid, puking, stumbling, can't even see migraines.

After awhile, just through visiting at work, what triggered his was way to much processed food. He was ok with an egg, and toast for breakfast, but, in a hurry, eat a poptart. He was screwed!

This was 30 years ago! I do not in any way mean to take away from anyone's health issues. I'm just wondering, if with honest tracking, of food, what is in what we drink, our stress levels, how we handle it and so on, while some times, there won't be an answer, if we were more observant, and more careful about, what we put in our bodies, could we without the benefit of a "pill", find a better way?

I also get that sometimes, no matter what, we are stuck with what we have, and have to do the best we can.

I have chronic migraines-that last for weeks with no relief. Imitrex etc don't work for me. This doesn't mean they're always a 10. I might be able to run to check the mail and plaster a fake smile on to fake out my neighbor's so they don't know. Sometimes I can last a few hours. Obviously much of the time, it's impossible to get out of bed. That sounds so miserable, but I promise, I do have a happy life!

I think diet might be somewhat related for me and I wish it solved everything. I eat as many whole foods as I can. I don't eat gluten, soy, any preservatives, fake sugar, or nitrates as those aggravate them. I'd like to cut out sugar completely and do 100% whole foods, but I find that hard to do when I already have to prepare 2 separate meals for my family as it is when I can. Mine are also somewhat related to my cycle, but not solely.

I tried everything wholistic, from diet to chiropractic, to yoga for decades. Even now with being on 2 prescription preventatives still suffer almost daily. Migraines suck. Sometimes I just pray for even just a few hours for no pain or vertigo, nausea and/or or vision problems.

Anyway, I read a book that said getting a migraine can be triggered if all your buttons are pushed. I.e.: if if eating nitrates is one of your triggers, but none of your other buttons are pushed, you might not get a migraine. But if you eat it, and all your other buttons are pushed, you'll probably get one.

Good luck to anyone dealing with migraines. I haven't found anything helpful other than magnesium and Promethizine (Benadryl if you don't have a rx).

Cally-I was a previous maintainer for years at my now goal weight, and gained it all from Effexor/burying my head in the sand that I was taking for migraine prevention. I stopped weighing and paying attention though. If you're aware it can increase your appetite and keep track, I'm sure you'll be fine! I'm glad you've found something so effective!