Migraines - do you get them?

[Kunikos]

No, I don't mean "bad headaches." I mean, full-blown blood-vessel blockage in the brain that causes various problems with the nervous system including headache.

I haven't had one in about 8 months and today I get that light-headed feeling that won't go away and doesn't seem to be around for any good reason. Ruh-roh, Rooby! So I go home and realize I haven't seen a neurologist in a while so all I have is an expired (Jan '05) nasal spray dispenser unit of Imitrex. I'm sitting here at work still feeling kinda shitty, with the chemical throat drip (trying to drink some juice to avoid the taste) and hoping that everything will be sunshine and rainbows soon.

[Kunikos]

Woo. I feel a bit better. Guess the medicine wasn't fully "expired" afterall.

[Athryn]

Statistically speaking, I would be surprised to see a lot of people on this forum having migraines, since they happen less often in men than women. Men usually get cluster headaches.

[Kunikos]

I think it may be hereditary, though. My sister has experienced them before as well, but she did not have them chronically like I did at the age she had one or two. I used to take Midrin until more recently to deal with onset issues, and every night I took Calan. Calan was originally a heart related medicine, I believe, and I think it's a vaso-dilator and blood thinner.

[EvilIdler]

Had it once, earlier this year. Not sure what caused it, but a good night of gaming took the focus away from the pain.

Since I know a few people who get migraines all the time, I recognised the symptoms straight away.

[Alan Dunkin]

Had an interesting show about medical mysteries (I think it was) on ABC last night where there was a segment on migraines.. more specifically, weird precursors to migraines that involved warped vision, perspective, field of view, etc. before the migraine would come on.

--- Alan

[Kunikos]

Had it once, earlier this year. Not sure what caused it, but a good night of gaming took the focus away from the pain.

You weren't dizzy or nauseous? Lucky. I can barely even read nevermind play video games when I get a full blown, unmedicated migraine. If I wait too long before taking something then I have to lay down in a darkened room and sleep it off.

Alan, yes, that's typically called the "aura." It seems to differ among individuals to some extent; I believe it depends on where the constriction is taking place in the brain. Basically the nerves in the brain are being touched by the blood capillaries, IIRC. I haven't looked at the medical information in a while, though. Wiki knows all, though, so maybe I'll refresh my memory.

[Leah C]

That's how I get, Kunikos. About half the time, I catch it in time due to vision disturbances or a cloudy feeling in my brain and I can medicate and be ok. If I don't catch it though, I'm stuck in a dark room for a few hours with blurred vision, nausea, and dizziness. My mom, her brother, and my brother get them, too.

[EvilIdler]

You weren't dizzy or nauseous? Lucky.
Not nauseous, but dizzy. Staring intently at the screen helped. I'm pretty
sure it would have been worse if I was still using the old CRT, bulging tube and all.

[Funkula]

I've had 2 in my life. Second one felt like an explosion in my head. I honestly thought, for about 5 seconds, that I had just had a brain aneurysm and I would be dead in moments. Then I spent the next few hours wishing it had killed me.

[Ryan A]

Are migraines a side effect of being a Supertaster with OCD? If so, I'm guessing far more gaming geeks have them then the general population!

[Alan Dunkin]

Alan, yes, that's typically called the "aura." It seems to differ among individuals to some extent; I believe it depends on where the constriction is taking place in the brain. Basically the nerves in the brain are being touched by the blood capillaries, IIRC. I haven't looked at the medical information in a while, though. Wiki knows all, though, so maybe I'll refresh my memory.

Ah yes the "aura", that's what they called it.

The good thing about an aneurysm is that I don't think you'll ever feel it. You may feel it coming on (probably nothing more than a regular headache), but you won't feel it actually go, you'll probably be unconscious by then (I've known two people that have had them) and if you survive more than likely you remember any of it.

--- Alan

[InfiniteJest]

I get them fairly regularly, maybe once every three months. I have aura too--typically small visual field problems (can't read that well is how I usually notice the migraine) that expand into a series of sort of scintillating bands and loss of peripheral vision. That lasts about 20-30 min then the headache starts.

The headache, oddly enough, isn't crippling. No nausea, some photosensitivity, but that's about it. I don't feel right for a couple of days though.

[Alan Dunkin]

Oh yeah, my vote is no.. far as I know, I don't think I've ever had one.

--- Alan

[Tyjenks]

I get them most often brought on by physical activity. I have tried multiple preventative, onset, and once it's here drugs and nothing seems to work. Water, gatorade, Excedrin, over the counter, prescription, nothing works. Basically, I have to avoid extended periods of physical activity and it blows as I have a huge yard to cut and used to play basketball a lot.

So it goes. Just part of the deal I guess.

[Kunikos]

Tyjenks: go to a neurologist and try a bunch of different medications; not everything works for everyone. When I went the doc said most people try three to five things before they find something effective.

[Sparky]

Yup, I get the classic migraine with aura, and have since I was 16. Nowadays, I mostly get just the aura with no headache. This is way more annoying.

[Siren]

I've had one. I thought I had been drugged when the aura started. It happened as I was accompanying a good friend of mine on her drive back to college from summer vacation. THAT was a fun road trip.

[walTer]

I think the worst thing is that they can be hereditary...I got them from my father and I passed them on to my daughter. It sucks being 9 and getting a migraine. We both take Imitrex but it is pretty strong and sometimes it is hard to get the doc to write up a prescription.

I have a friend who is taking and recommended Migrelief...an herbal concoction that contains feverfew. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feverfew

As with many herbal remedies, doctors claim it works no better than a placebo but I can say that taking this for the last 3 weeks has reduced my headache frequency tremendously and the one migraine I got cleared up in less than a day. I have had them that last a week.

Demerol works too but sadly that is a bit more difficult to come by unless you show up at an ER.

I don't wish them on anyone and fortunately my daughter's are fairly short lived- once she throws up, and sleeps for 10 hours she is as right as rain.

[fox1]

I don't get the headaches, but I've only recently been able to go more than a year without getting an episode of Migraine Equivalence Syndrome/Abdominal Migraine/Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FSZ/is_1_31/ai_n17209073). Good times! Almost died at least twice, and had an episode that started roughly 20 minutes after I arrived at the Marine Corps recruit depot in San Diego.

On the plus side, they've gotten less frequent as I've gotten older, and I can usually convince a doctor to just give me a syringe-full of compazine and a bag or two of IV juice and usually interrupt the episode. This is much better than when I was a kid, and the docs would keep calling it "a stomach bug" and insisting that my parents weren't trying hard enough to keep my orally hydrated, until I had to be carried into the ER with my eyes sunken into my skull and so dehydrated that the nurse took 9 tries to find a vein for the IV.

[awdougherty]

I had one once a long time ago. Completely knocked me down for about 6 hours. Felt like I was going to puke the whole time, my head killed and I buried my face in a pillow to block even the smallest traces of light. Unbelievably painful. I used to date a girl who got them constantly, it was tough to see her in such a state.

[Euri]

I get migraines and debilitating cluster headaches.

[Skipper]

Yes I get them badly. Rare in males compared to females but can be genetically passed, and both my mother and father suffered from migraines so I was screwed.

You know it's bad when even with good medication, you need a dark quiet room just to prevent getting so much pain that you have to yack. They vary all over the place on location in my head, usually though the right side with waves from back to front, sometimes feeling like my eyeball will pop out. Imitrex is my friend.

I count my blessings though, the older I get the less frequent they are. Plus I have a coworker with cluster headaches that last days or even a week at a time. I would NOT want to be that guy.

[Saxman_72]

I get the acephalgic migraine, or 'migraine without the headache' maybe a couple times a year. There is absolutely no headache whatsoever - it is completely a visual thing. It starts off as a small, circular distortion in the centre of my vision, and then it expands over a 20-minute period into a three-quarter circle band of brightly jagged lines and flickering lights which then continues to expand beyond my field of vision.

It first began when I was 21 years old (in conducting class - I remember it well because it completely freaked me out), and continues to this day. Whenever it starts, I just go sit down for 20 minutes and rest as I basically can't see shit.

Both my pediatrician and eye doctor couldn't find anything else really wrong.

[Nick Walter]

The good thing about an aneurysm is that I don't think you'll ever feel it.
--- Alan

You can feel it, though only briefly before the loss of consciousness I believe. I've known someone who died of a brain aneurysm and she was on the phone with her mother when it burst. She complained of a headache, then extreme pain, then she dropped the phone.

[Tyjenks]

Tyjenks: go to a neurologist and try a bunch of different medications; not everything works for everyone. When I went the doc said most people try three to five things before they find something effective.

I have been. I tried the Immitrex which did not work at all and then some daily preventative stuff and forget what it was, which also did not work. Then I took a before and after something that sorta worked, but it fucked up my stomach. Stomach cramps and basketball do not mix. I have been busy with work and school the last 2 years and have not had the time for exercise so have simply opted out of activity for the time being.

Mine vary directly with the amount of activity I engage in. Last week I reff'ed my little girl's soccer game. Little jogging for about 30 minutes on a short field. I had a headache that had a bit of nausea and lasted about 8 hours. Now, if I had been playing and worked up a full sweat or spent my 3 hours mowing the grass, I would have been in bed for several hours with the lights off and a wet washcloth over my eyes.

[Ephraim]

Yep, I get 'em too.

Generally mine begin with loss of peripheral vision, followed with floating black speckles appearing wherever I focus, and if I don't do anything about it (e.g. take my Imitrex pills) then boom - nausea, vomiting, dizziness and intense headache.

I can tolerate sound when in the throes of a migraine, but I'm exceedingly photosensitive. Treatment once I'm in the pain phase involves lying in a pitch black room with a cold pack/wet cloth over my eyes and forehead. Sleeping it off sometimes helps, and sometimes doesn't.

Does anyone get a feeling of mild euphoria when your Imitrex (or equivalent) successfully "whooshes" the migraine out of your head? I've been told it's not uncommon, and I definitely get it.

And yeah, my mother is a migraine sufferer, so there's some more evidence for the genetic component. I have to admit I'm shocked by the positive results on the poll, I'd always assumed it was a lot less common. Perhaps there is some kind of correlation between game playing and migraines. Hm.

[Skipper]

Does anyone get a feeling of mild euphoria when your Imitrex (or equivalent) successfully "whooshes" the migraine out of your head? I've been told it's not uncommon, and I definitely get it.

And yeah, my mother is a migraine sufferer, so there's some more evidence for the genetic component. I have to admit I'm shocked by the positive results on the poll, I'd always assumed it was a lot less common. Perhaps there is some kind of correlation between game playing and migraines. Hm.

Yep I get something of a rush of "feeling great now" after my Imitrex. Then again I also get swimmy headed some days from either that or another medication some time afterward. No headache pain or perhaps only dull pain but I feel like I can't concentrate.

As for the game correlation there could be something to that. Poor eyesight would contribute to a general headache with a monitor but perhaps the strain of looking at one combined with other factors is a migraine trigger. Then again though, I'd have migraines a lot more if that were the case.

[tromik]

Migraines are a chronic, aren't they? Isn't there some disease they are associated with?

[Jab]

I get very bad headaches, but I don't think I ever had a migraine except for one time last year. My head was hurting to the point that I couldn't move and I was feeling pain shooting thruout my entire body. Then for the first time in my life I fainted on my bed, and I woke up and it was completely gone.

Something weird I noticed, is that times that I get alot of sleep(10+hours) I get headaches on those days, so it can't be completely related to lack of sleep.

[Moore]

I get some pretty horrid headaches, accompanied by what matches the description of a scintillating scitoma, visually. No idea if they are migraines but I hate them and they are debilitating when they occur. sometimes I get the visual dealie w/ no headaches and it's just annoying because its hard to read until it 'creeps' off to the side a bit.

[Kunikos]

Moore, it sounds like a migraine to me. You should consult your doctor and try to get a referral to a neurologist to see if you can get a prescription for a medication to deal with it when you are someplace where it would severely inconvenience or be harmful (such as operating heavy machinery or driving a car on a road trip).

[Nick Walter]

Something weird I noticed, is that times that I get alot of sleep(10+hours) I get headaches on those days, so it can't be completely related to lack of sleep.

Me too, exact same thing. I've never bothered to see a doctor about it though because the remedy is fairly simple. Set the alarm for 8 hours :)

[Moore]

I can pull a car over, and I dont like medication. I have a fairly high pain tolerance, it's just really annoying for a few hours and puts me in a snappy mood.

[Kunikos]

I can pull a car over, and I dont like medication. I have a fairly high pain tolerance, it's just really annoying for a few hours and puts me in a snappy mood.

Hey whatever works for you, but I couldn't miss class all the time when I used to get them chronically. Even a single day is a big strain to catch up on when you are taking a difficult course load.

[Moore]

Might suck once I'm in my new job, but at my last position I had enough clout to just tell everyone to fuck off until I was ok. I might need something for them if I (likely) cant do that wherever I end up next, so you have a point there.

I'm doing (while learning it on the fly! whee..) some web design for cash while job hunting and I totally snapped at a client the other day, heh, so you do have a point, actually.

[Kunikos]

Well, Imitrex seems to work for a lot of people. It's just a nasal spray (that has an awful throat-drip aftertaste) but it hey, if it gets the job done. I'm not really sure what else is out there, but I'm sure your doctor can (and if not, your neurologist).

[InfiniteJest]

Moore, it sounds like a migraine to me. You should consult your doctor and try to get a referral to a neurologist to see if you can get a prescription for a medication to deal with it when you are someplace where it would severely inconvenience or be harmful (such as operating heavy machinery or driving a car on a road trip).

I second this advice though not necessarily for the meds. When I first saw a doc about them he wanted to make sure it wasn't something else, like a brain tumor.

[Kunikos]

Oh, that's true. I did do an MRI and such when I got my very first one, but it turned out negative for anything like that.