migraine

I used to get them with blank flashing spots more centralized rather than on the periphery along with nausea. first time I got one, the blank flashing spots preceded the pain by about 30 minutes. I was 12 and trying to read a book in the library and suddenly parts of words would be missing; then major pain, nausea and down for the remainder of the day in a dark quiet room. haven't had them in a long time so I think it was puberty related.

Wow, I didn't know so many people got these. The first time it happened I thought it was an acid flashback at first then thought that I was going blind.

I get the auras and the ophthalmic effects quite frequently (though less frequently since stopping medication) but I never get the headaches - which I count myself extremely lucky for, as the auras only last for about half an hour to an hour, but my mum gets the headaches and they can last for days.

I painted mine after one of the attacks...

They're irritating to scary (especially if they happen at work) but I do kinda find them slightly inspiring, in terms of trying to recreate the effects through visuals or music.

  On 6/17/2010 at 3:59 AM, Charles Nelson Reilly said:

  On 6/17/2010 at 3:47 AM, tipper said:

The 'aura' is probably not is fun to see as this thread makes it look.

 

you're right. while there is no pain involved with my aura, it is a harbinger of pure shit. just imagine having no pain right now but KNOWING, with absolute certainty, that in 30 minutes you're head will be decimated with pain.

That feeling is awful, seeing those things and knowing you'll be in pain and unproductive for a couple of days. I tend to have migraines when I'm experiencing stress, which makes it all the more stressful. And not being able to read when you're having auras sucks as well. I also find that I'm really sensitive for smells during the headache part: certain smells (perfumes and deodorants for example) make me really nauseous and make the headache worse.

Also, when the headaches are over, I usually have “sore brains” afterwards: they feel like they've been on fire. I also have trouble concentrating after the headaches. Luckily, I never had any episodes that lasted longer than two days.

Migraines suck.

I've been getting these frequently the last year, a couple of times a week, it's a bitch. On the plus side, I usually don't get any headaches. Dear doctor wattem, should I get my head checked?

So do migraines mess up your brain and cause you to like IDM?

Or does IDM just give you a migraine?

  On 6/17/2010 at 5:58 PM, scones to die for said:

So do migraines mess up your brain and cause you to like IDM?

 

Or does IDM just give you a migraine?

good question, especially since wiki says that "75 percent of adult patients are women, although migraine affects approximately equal numbers of prepubescent boys and girls".

Might have to nominate migraines for most IDM thing next year.

  On 6/17/2010 at 7:01 PM, Charles Nelson Reilly said:

  On 6/17/2010 at 5:58 PM, scones to die for said:

So do migraines mess up your brain and cause you to like IDM?

 

Or does IDM just give you a migraine?

 

good question, especially since wiki says that "75 percent of adult patients are women, although migraine affects approximately equal numbers of prepubescent boys and girls".

IDM men are girly men. I like this theory. Subvert your gender normality!

  On 6/17/2010 at 11:27 AM, Masonic Boom said:

Wow, I didn't know so many people got these. The first time it happened I thought it was an acid flashback at first then thought that I was going blind.

 

I get the auras and the ophthalmic effects quite frequently (though less frequently since stopping medication) but I never get the headaches - which I count myself extremely lucky for, as the auras only last for about half an hour to an hour, but my mum gets the headaches and they can last for days.

 

I painted mine after one of the attacks...

 

 

They're irritating to scary (especially if they happen at work) but I do kinda find them slightly inspiring, in terms of trying to recreate the effects through visuals or music.

Ugh, that looks close enough to mine to make me anticipate the onslaught. Dragon's old flashing avatar/sig did, too. lol.

My migraine rate has been slowing down in the last few years, but around 2004-2005 I'd be hiding under the covers a few times a week. Some of that seemed to be related to a bit of serious sleep deprivation, and I've really been trying to get at least 6 hours a night as much as I can since '05.

A regular dose of Vitamin B Complex = no more migraines.

  On 6/17/2010 at 7:01 PM, Charles Nelson Reilly said:

  On 6/17/2010 at 5:58 PM, scones to die for said:

So do migraines mess up your brain and cause you to like IDM?

 

Or does IDM just give you a migraine?

 

good question, especially since wiki says that "75 percent of adult patients are women, although migraine affects approximately equal numbers of prepubescent boys and girls".

hormones

there's a lot of different kinds of migraines (as there are a lot of major nerves in the skull) and while one solution might work for one type, it won't work for all. biofeedback worked for my grandma.

  On 6/17/2010 at 1:17 AM, scones to die for said:

I used to get them from mostly from age 14 to 18, with the last one probably at age 21. I would get a blind spot/aura, my fingers and lips would get numb, then that deathlike headache that would last about 12 hours, which I would try to sleep off in a dark room.

 

Mine seemed to be induced by stress and also being outside in the sun with lots of glare (beach, pool a bunch of times).

 

One time some one offered me pot while I had a migraine and holy shit I would recommend it to anyone as a remedy. It's the only thing that ever worked.

THIS! well everything apart from the pot thing

My last one was probably 5 years ago thank god, caused by flashing lights on a carnival.

Really bugs me when people say "I've got a migraine!" I normally say "is one side of your face numb and you have flashing lights? No?? its a headache deal with it"

Hey ho, here we go again... see you on the other side, this is no fun.

  On 6/17/2010 at 7:04 PM, scones to die for said:

Might have to nominate migraines for most IDM thing next year.

I think it was nominated to the year that black holes won it. I think it got to the quarter finals or something ....

Since I was in my early 20's, I get migraine attacks an average of twice a week. Yes, twice...per 7 days. They don't present with aura or tingling or any of the other classical symptoms. They're always behind my right eye, starting as a sort of dull presence or ache. If untreated, they become stabbing, persistent pain that's antagonized by anything requiring concentration, bright light, loud noise, etc. Once they peak, usually after 12-14 hours, they plateau in a pretty agonizing pain that makes even routine tasks really difficult. Mine tend to last, in all, around 36 hours.

Early on, I didn't know they were migraines and I just endured them, to the point where I'd be nauseous at work. When I kinda figured out they were migraines, I started taking Excedrin Migraine, which is tylenol/aspirin/caffeine. The caffeine part was problematic, but for an OTC med, it was decently helpful. I might avoid one of three attacks by taking it really early on.

Then, Excedrin stopped working entirely. I saw a neurologist. The stupid prick put me on a tricyclic antidepressant (Elavil) which accomplished two things: I wanted chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...and I was incredibly irritable (you guys think I'm bad now? lol).

My big fat moment of revolutionary help in the Migraine Wars was finally getting prescribed sumatriptan (Imitrex). I have about an 80% success rate with sumatriptan. Sometimes, I have to take as much as 150mg when I get a really bad attack (after drinking or something). Anyway, it changed my life. I'm a fit dude, I exercise around 5 days a week, I don't drink all that often, bla bla bla. Still, I get the attacks and apparently they're at their worse in your 30's. FUCK.

I'm sitting here right now in fact, having woken with an attack, soaking up the effects of sumatriptan and crossing fingers that it doesn't persist.

Fuck man, sorry, that's real bad. I'm glad mine are down to about one every 2 or 3 months now ...

had a good one today. It always starts with foggy brain and inability to read and ends with me stumbling out of a shower and just passing out onto the carpet naked and dripping and then i wake up every hour to puke usually with one of my arms totally asleep

the last two times i had the aura swallow up most of my right eye luckily not this time

the best thing for migraine recovery is a mission style burrito

  On 6/17/2010 at 11:27 AM, Masonic Boom said:

The colours are a little different for me, more oily/lcd liquid like but yeah really close.

Beerwolf suffers also from sickening migraine attacks. I've never had an aura. At first I get the gentle sense that something has become unsynched in my body/brain, then an ever so slight unsetteling feeling behind my right eye. This can last for about half an hour, and this is my window to get any kind of fast working pain killer down my neck. If I am away from any medicine within half an hour this sort of seasickness behind my right eye becomes a twisting, turning lacerating pain. I was then at the mercy of something that would leave me bed ridden and at times almost suicidal. I remember fantisizing about smashing my right eye into a corner of a brick so hard because I wanted to hurt and attack the pain...Pretty hardcore but true.

I used to get them more when I was in my twenties, that decade was worse. These attacks would last for 3 days, I was a fucking mess being scraped of the floor. Like jelly. Nowadays I get them less and for only a few hours. Once upon a time If I migraine came on I knew I was in for Hell. Nowadays I can treat them better. The medicene has improved vastly (I use imigrane recovery) and I stay away from cheese, chocolate, as much dairy as possible and caffeine.

I think the medicenes nowadays are really good. I think they have invested lots of money into treating them, and I've heard about nasal sprays which can treat a migraine in seconds.

  On 6/17/2010 at 1:25 AM, Keith said:

Hmm, interesting simulation, nothing like I experience though. I have migraine bordering on the chronic, it's not that unusual for me to go every day for a couple of weeks with some kind of aura symptom, and to have on and off periods lasting months, although fortunately I'm about 95% aura and only about 5% headache. I do however run pretty much the full gamut of aura symptoms and get quite spazzy, including problems with speech, memory, cognition and sight. I have quite 'unusual' vertigo episodes. At its worst I can have quite pronounced motor problems, and at one point they were testing me for MS. Sound tends to be a trigger or irritant rather than light. In the past I've relied on 'lifestyle' to minimize it as I only take prescription drugs as a last resort, although I had a really bad extended episode a couple of months ago. I'm currently waiting on my neurologist writing to my GP and myself with some suggestions (he's pretty good and rather than being 'take this, do this', he's happy for me to make an informed choice). I'd be interested to hear anybody's experience with prescription meds.

As an addendum to this, I stayed away from the prescription stuff in the end and lifestyle choices have largely worked. I did get carted off by paramedics after a seizure in 2011, and trying to explain to both them and the doctors that I wan't insane or having a stroke but having a special migraine was interesting, they'd never come across it before. And I did go through a period of having classical aura for the first time last year, quite extreme, would ultimately lose my vision entirely, but I always had warning, so thankfully it never happened while I was driving a forklift truck.

Oh yeah, turns out my migranes were related to my crazy high blood pressure at the time, didn't know that about a couple of posts up.

I still get those fucking zigzaggy blind spots every now and then though :(

Started feeling a migraine coming on (was having a hard time seeing), and I thought if the next few hours of my life are going to miserable I should at least be comfortable, so I bought some ice cream. After finishing the pint, my sight is going back to normal.

Wow ancient bump. Since being on blood pressure medication (which runs in the family, I’ve had high BP since my early twenties even though I was fit as a fiddle) I haven’t had a migraine for years. Which is a great victory

Wow, completely forgot I started this thread.

I basically figured out that my migraines were primarily due to lack of sleep.  There are some secondary triggers that I avoid, like tons of onion / garlic, staring at a screen all day long.  I always try to get decent sleep and lately if I can't, I usually just get a headache in the same place as my migraines (behind my eyeballs) but they're definitely not migraines.  There's no aura, pain is not as bad, I don't get the "migraine hangover" foggy brain afterward.  Maybe it's because I'm exiting my 30s and getting older?

Someone in the thread mentioned pot as a remedy...  I've never smoked pot, but I did feel a migraine coming on once just as I was sitting down to have lunch at a brewpub.  I decided to do an experiment and see how my migraine would be affected by 2 strong beers.  Big big mistake.  It basically amplified everything by 1.5x.