Migraines revisited...

M

midwestchick

Cathlete
I know there have been threads in the past regarding migraines, but if anyone can post any meds that have been helpful, I'd appreciate it.

I'm on BCP (yaz) and right before I finish the last pill prior to the placebos, it's like clockwork that I get a migraine. I mean VICIOUS migraine. But, I also can get them other times of the month. I've had two this month - once while vacationing in Baltimore and then one two days ago that was the absolute worst ever. It is such miserable pain.

My gyn said maybe going to the nuvaring may be better since it keeps a constant level of hormones vs. the variations in the oral form. But, I still wonder if I'd have one the week I remove it.

I have d/c artificial sweeteners, esp. aspartame, in hopes that would help, but it hasn't significantly reduced them. I can't seem to find any other food/drink triggers other than hormonal.

Sometimes being 40 sucks!x(

Heidi
 
Heidi,

I'm can't speak about migraine-specific meds, but one thing that has helped me has been regular chiropractic adjustments.

Hope you can figure out a way to eliminate or reduce yours! I definitely feel your pain.
 
I have had migraines for years and so does DM. She uses Imitrex and I use Relpax when we get a migraine. She was put on blood pressure meds a couple of years ago and went from 2-3 a month to 2-3 per year. I used to get a couple a month also, and always when I got my period. I had a Mirena IUC put in 3 years ago and have only had about 3 in 3 years (probably since I haven't had a period in 3 years). Talk to your doctor about meds and a treatment plan for when you get one. When I did that my QOL improved significantly.

Good luck.

Shayne
 
It might sound weird, but you could talk to your dentist to see if there's evidence that you're clenching or grinding your teeth at night. I do, and it causes me pretty bad tension headaches (not migraines, though.) I wear an NTI device (bite guard) to keep me from clenching my jaw at night which prevents them.

According to my dentist, the NTI devvice is FDA approved for prevention of migraines as well. Apparently clenching/grinding is a cause of migraines.
 
Lots of good advice already. I know how frustrating migraines can be! My triggers are red wine, aged cheese, sometimes milk, anything with caffeine, bright flourescent lights, and bleach or other chemical smells. I really hope you find out what is causing them! Regular chiro. adjustments help me a lot as well as eliminating my trigger foods.
 
Oh believe me, I understand your headache pain!! Don't know if what I experience is a migraine or a severe tension headache, but I get them on avg 3 times a week. I have been to 4 neurologists, a D.O. and now am seeing a chiropractor. I have tried acupuncture. Didn't help me. I have taken numerous meds. Some pain releivers, some taken daily as a preventative (blood pressure meds or anti-depressants that apparantly help some people with migranes). I don't like taking meds and some have pretty heavy side affects. The last I was taking was 1 cafregot and 1 anaprox which did help the pain, but has now stopped working. I guess your body becomes ammune to the med when taken so often.
Try reading the book, Heal Your Headache by David Buchholz, MD. He talks alot about food triggers.
I have been on a gluten-free diet for the past month. Hasn't help so far. Alcohol is a trigger for me. Flying in an airplane is a trigger for me from the air pressure. Very strenuous exercise can sometimes cause a headache for me, as well as too little sleep.
I just started taking vitamin B2, feverfew and magnesium that was recommended to me at the health food store. I also visit the chiro twice a week for adjustments. Hopefully these things will help.
Your migraines may be hormonal. Hope you find relief when stopping BC pills.
I probably told you more about what didn't help me, but hopefully there was SOME advice in all that!:)
Good luck!

Gin:)
 
Another migrane sufferer here. I've tried many prescription meds about 5 years ago and none worked at all. Motrin OCCASIONALLY helps and now I just take excedrin migrane. It works about 1/2 the time to get rid of it and another 1/4 the time it atleast takes the edge off. I don't drink hardly any caffiene and that is an ingredient so I don't know why it helps so much. I feel bad though cause I almost pop them like candy since I get so many headaches. I have to lie down in my room with it dark, a fan on me and an ice pack on my head to get a little relief.
I've been told to try a chiropractor and have yet to do it other than one man who worked with my DH who did it and I totally couldn't relax when he tried to twist my neck. I can't help it, I feel like he's going to snap my neck or something. UGH!
My triggers are also caffiene, light (my eyes are VERY sensitive and I have to sleep with an eye mask also), and being way to hot. But I often get headaches for no apparent reason. I've also considered them to be possibly hormonal since they tend to get bad around that time of the month for a day or two. I tried arbonnes natural progesterone cream and it may have helped some. But I ran out and haven't got any more yet. (Its expensive!) I try to eat mostly organic food/dairy so that helps to avoid unnatural amounts of estrogen.
here is a link about that if you want to look into it: http://www.migraine101.com/index.htm
 
I'm not a migraine sufferer, thank heavens.

But I understand that MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a big trigger for a lot of people who have them. And MSG can be found in LOTS of foods, since it's used as a flavor enhancer. Try checking the ingredients of the prepared/processed foods you use.
 
A few thoughts....

Keep a food diary. You might be amazed at what your triggers are. Mine were typically strange things like not enough fat in my diet, not enough fluids, too much chocolate, flickering lights (a fan in front of a flouro light is the WORST thing for me). I know that when I change my diet or adjust my schedule (vacation ALWAYS would trigger a migraine!) I would get one.

I had a hysterectomy in Sept 2007 and since then, I have had only one migraine, and that was shortly after my surgery. Not the recommended treatment for migraines, but it shows me that most of my issues were hormonal. I used to take Imitrex and that help me quite a bit. Zomig, on the other hand, made them worse (can you imagine?!?!?) so meds are a very personal thing, different for everyone.

My heart goes out to you, I know how bad they can be. I hope that you find something that works for you!
 
Yep, MSG and aspartame are big triggers for me. I'm so sorry for the migraine sufferers, it's NOT fun. I take Imitrex when I have a wicked one, my Mom takes Relpax and also is on the preventative med Topomax.

I was on a preventative med a couple years ago, but found that eating cleaner and working out helps me a LOT. I am down to usually just getting one a month (1-2 days before TOM), and can usually get past it w/ Aleve and a nap.

Good luck finding your triggers!
 
Thanks for the responses - as far as food triggers, I've not had ANY aspartame since 1/1 (yep, no diet coke!), eat no MSG, no HFCS or nitrates/nitrates...do you know how hard it is to find food without one or more of those ingredients? Terrible!x(

I ended up going to the dr. today because I just still feel kind of crappy - fuzzy headed, a bit disconnected. Low roar headache that could worsen if I tried to exercise or do something strenuous - so I'm lying low today.

Also, on an interesting note, my blood pressure has been high (for me) lately - 125/84 and I"m normally at 110/60. So, I was just worried that hypertension could be exacerbating the headaches? Well, the dr. said he doesn't really consider that hypertension yet, but it still worries me. Apparently YAZ and all bcp can cause hypertension. I'm seriously considering going off YAZ and just using condoms again...TMI, I know, but it didn't significantly help my PMS and now with higher bp. If my periods weren't so dang heavy...dangit, I don't know what to do. I hate to go of my BCP and then bleed on and off all summer while my body readjusts...

Anyhoo, he prescribed Axert for me which is similar to Imitrex, I think. Gonna give it a go and see what happens..

Thanks for all the insight,
Heidi
 
Umm, well, I don't mean to scare you... but I do have to recount a story. A friend of a friend was having some pretty nasty headaches, dizziness, etc. Whenever she exercised, it would get worse, and she actually passed out. It ended up that she had an aneurysm in her carotid artery that was reducing blood supply to her brain. Exercise actually saved her life, because passing out made her go to the doctor. If she hadn't, the aneurysm could have burst at any time, without warning. They ran tests and found it in time.

This is a rather unusual case, but I thought you should be aware of it.
 
>> I've been told to try a chiropractor and have yet to do it other than one man who worked with my DH who did it and I totally couldn't relax when he tried to twist my neck. I can't help it, I feel like he's going to snap my neck or something.<<

Jess,
I totally understand your apprehension. It took several adjustments before I learned to relax, but eventually, I did and it has been well worth it.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee296/runninteach/exercise/SnowBunny_tns-1.jpg
http://img16.glitterfy.com/53/glitterfy084824T933D37.gif

"Do you want to feel my spatula?" Run, Fat Boy, Run
 
Just echoing other posters...if you can identify your triggers, that will help immensely. It's really hard to do, in my experience. For me, I never figured out what exactly caused the headache to set in. Like you, all I could ever figure out was that it's hormonal. But I identified the very first indication that I was about to get a migraine, and could time my medication correctly, which helped a lot.

For me originally, I was on Orthocyclen for BCP, and I would, like you, get a miagraine that lasted 7 days - every single month. No OTC medication worked. Taking Tylentol was like popping candy, no point to it whatsoever, including all of the "migraine" medicines out there.

I also had to go through several different prescription meds to find one that worked on my headaches. Apparently that's common. Some have nasty side effects, some don't work at all, etc...

Finally, we changed my BCP to Mircette - a low dose. And that made a huge difference in the frequency and duration. I still get them, but only every couple of months. And when I do get them, I finally found Maxalt (prescription) that would work for my headaches. As long as I catch the initial symptoms on time, I can take Maxalt and am OK.
 
Did you have the migraines when you were not on Yaz? I got headaches, panic attacks, heart racing problems (not associated with the panic attacks) - lots of issues with Yaz. I went off and was a different person (much nicer too!) :) I am now on OrthoTriCyclen Lo and it is great. Good luck - I can't take the migraine medication, but Advil Liqui-Gels work amazing wonders for me. Only the liqui-gels do anything. I usually take 3, sometimes 4 if it is really bad.
 
I started having debilitating migraines when I was 19 (I'm now 24) and went on every medication imaginable and nothing got rid of them. My migraines were triggered by several things - hormones, stress, sugar, traveling... Just a year ago I was diagnosed with lyme disease (which had been misdiagnosed for 12 years as chronic fatigue syndrome and several other separate maladies). Antibiotics were the cure to my migraines. You probably don't have lyme, but just thought I'd tell you my story - perhaps if you get some strange symptoms further down the road, you'll think of looking into it.

As for meds - like I said, I tried everything and nothing worked, but there was one medication that did reduce the number of migraines I was getting by half. It's called Topomax - I've heard it has some nasty side effects for some, but I didn't have problems with it.
 
Heidi:

I also have a hormonal trigger for migraines. I would recommend trying the Nuvaring. It is a fabulous method of birth control, helps control mood swings for those who suffer horrendous PMS/PMDD, anxiety and depression.

I have discovered that I can no longer take a break from the Nuvaring. I was told to use 3 or 4 without a break, then break for a week, then start again. A year ago, I could do this with little side effect, bar bloating and irritability. Now, I can no longer do this. If I try and take the week's break, I will be lying down with a migraine within 7 hours.

So, for you, the Nuvaring would be a new hormonal method and I think you should try it. Our bodies are all different, and as we progress through our forties, they are constantly changing. What worked fine when I was 40, no longer works now that I am 43. The same will probably be true for you. If the Nuvaring works for you for 2 or 3 years though, it is still so worth doing. And you may be lucky, it may turn out to be THE best way for you to get your hormones.

Clare
 
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