Migraine headaches

[nancy324]

My doctor just told me that she thinks the vertigo I've been having for the last year or so is related to migraine headaches, although she said it's extremely rare to develop migraines in your fifties. She gave me a medication called Treximet which helped the headache but gave me palpitations. Does anyone else get migraines, and if so, what works best for you to relieve them? I'll be seeing my doc again soon and want to have some ideas to discuss with her. Thanks!

 

[Sweettaka]

I've had migraine headaches for most my life but I don't get as many now that I'm in my 50s. I take Amerge when I get a migraine and it pretty much kills the headache. When I was younger I use to get the classic aura that would distort my vision preceding the headache. Now I get slightly dizzy and I'm very sensitive to light and sounds before the headache but it's so subtle it's too late to take medication like Imetrix to prevent the headache.

 

[wgilchrist]

Nancy,
I'm 37 and have been having migraine for the past few years. I have HBP which may or may not be the cause of the headaches. It could be hormones...I had three babies in 4 years and breastfed all 3 for their first year. I think that might have made my hormnes p.o.'d.
My Dr has me on Topamx which is an antiseizure med. It really helps but I still get them.
HTH.

 

[horseshowmom]

I had episodes of severe vertigo for years before it occurred to me to mention it to my doctor. There is a form of migraine called *vertigous migraine*. The headache portion of the migraine is often very mild but the vertigo is debilitating. I was given a prescription version of the stuff you take for sea sickness/ motion sickness (so sorry, my mind is completely blank and I can't recall the name!!!) That usually knocks it out for me when accompanied with some OTC pain killer.
On the other hand, my 19 year old daughter has suffered from crippling migraines since age 9-10. We finally found a neurologist who took her seriously and has broken the pattern,,,,she was having migraines 5-6 days a week for almost 2 years before we found this doctor. She was put on Topamax daily for almost a year, plus Treximet for migraines which stopped working, then moved to Frova which also quit...now she uses Maxalt during a migraine and it has remained effective for a year...knock on wood! When she gets into a severe cycle she goes back on the Topamax plus a steroid to break it. She also has a rescue medication which basically knocks her out for 12 hours so she can sleep it off when all else fails. Thank the Lord, after the 1st year of treatment she has been pretty stable for almost 2 years. Breaking the cycle of migraine, re-bound headache was the critical step for her. She has decreased frequency to 2-3 migraines a month for the past year and is able to manage them with just the Maxalt at this time. We hope at some point, migraines become just a horrible memory for her.
I wish you luck in your management. Don't give up if the 1st thing doesn't work and DON'T let your pain be dismissed. It took almost 6 years for me to find a doctor who would listen to us! Be stubborn!!!

Becky

 

[snowflakenj02]

I've been dealing with vertigo on and off for the past two years. Never had a bad headache or migraine with it, but have had pressure in my head and face. I recently went to an ENT because I thought it was sinus related. After an MRI was done and he could not find anything, he suggested it could be a migraine causing it and said that if it continue to see a neurologist. This was definitely a first, I didn't know that the two could be related.

Sharon

 

[nancy324]

I've been dealing with vertigo on and off for the past two years. Never had a bad headache or migraine with it, but have had pressure in my head and face. I recently went to an ENT because I thought it was sinus related. After an MRI was done and he could not find anything, he suggested it could be a migraine causing it and said that if it continue to see a neurologist. This was definitely a first, I didn't know that the two could be related.

Sharon

I never made the connection either, Sharon. I heard people talk about their migraine headaches, and thought they sounded awful, and didn't even compare them to the headaches I had. But then my doc asked if I got headaches with the vertigo, and I do, along with a kind of unsettled feeling in my stomach, but since the dizziness was the worst part, I never made the connection until now. Now that I think about it, I've probably had them all my life. I remember lying in bed as a child and feeling the room spinning around me. Maybe those episodes were migraines also. In any event, it's very helpful to finally have a diagnosis!

 

[diane57]

My husband suffered from migraines for many years; his doc put him on Inderal (a blood pressure medication, although at the time his blood pressure was normal) about 8 years ago - he has not had a migraine since he began the Inderal. It's been like a miracle cure for him.

 

[RunninTeach]

Nancy,

I also get migraines, and less frequently, experience bouts of vertigo, but for a long time, never made the connection between the two. (In my case, I then developed double vision, which I eventually came to believe is tied to the migraines and vertigo, but after numerous exams by neurologists and eye doctors, it's still a mystery.)

I have been getting migraines since age 25, and they have changed over the years—the onset symptoms, how severe they are, how long they last. It used to be that I would experience visual symptoms and light sensitivity and within about 5-10 minutes, I would feel that freight train of a headache accompanied by nausea that would last for several hours, forcing me to do nothing but lie down in a dark room. Someone had advised me to drink Gatorade to help with a migraine, and I found that it DID work. It didn't eliminate the migraine, but taken with Excedrin Migraine, it sped up the recovery time.

Over the years, I started to see a reduction in the # of migraines I would get per year until 2-3 years ago when I had what seemed to be a very minor fender bender. It triggered some back issues and increased headaches, and I found that chiropractic care plus the OTC meds and Gatorade made a difference.

My migraines are waning and now they are far less severe than they were, but sometimes now when they do hit me, there is no visual "warning" like there used to be, and sometimes now they last for a few days. But knowing how bad they used to be for me (debilitating for an entire day) or how bad they are for others (debilitating for several days or weeks!), this is much more manageable, and I can't complain.

Good luck! I hope you find what works for you.

 

[RapidBreath]

What works for me is zinc like a lozenge or a airborne. I use them at ttotm. Or just a zinc tablet works. Take it with food because its tough when your stomach is empty, a little hard to digest. Also, my mom gets vertigo she controls it with real psuedophedrine. You have to see the pharmacist to get that in CA now.

 

[trying2bfit]

I have posted this somewhere before. My daughter who is 12 has been getting migraines since she was nine. This will sound strange but I tried to help her nutritionally first thinking possibly there was a connection. We do already eat pretty healthy. I read that a lot of migraine sufferers have some sort of sodium imbalance. Juicing about 4oz of celery will knock her migraine out within minutes. Celery is a form of natural sodium; Table salt will not work. She would have daily migraines for two years to where she would agonize in pain in a dark room. Now she rarely gets them. I juice regulary to prevent them it is not fun to watch your child suffer. I also read there may be a magnesium link also. Anyway, just thought I would throw that info. out there in case anyone would like to try. She has told me eating a piece of celery works also, and eating too much sugar will trigger a migraine.

 

[nancy324]

I have posted this somewhere before. My daughter who is 12 has been getting migraines since she was nine. This will sound strange but I tried to help her nutritionally first thinking possibly there was a connection. We do already eat pretty healthy. I read that a lot of migraine sufferers have some sort of sodium imbalance. Juicing about 4oz of celery will knock her migraine out within minutes. Celery is a form of natural sodium; Table salt will not work. She would have daily migraines for two years to where she would agonize in pain in a dark room. Now she rarely gets them. I juice regulary to prevent them it is not fun to watch your child suffer. I also read there may be a magnesium link also. Anyway, just thought I would throw that info. out there in case anyone would like to try. She has told me eating a piece of celery works also, and eating too much sugar will trigger a migraine.

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing that. Celery is one of my favorite foods, and maybe that's why. Very interesting.