Migraine Headache

[Bill Siegle]

I get em too but not as bad as some have described. The artwork is spot on especially if the mouth on the head is torn open with every pulse of the blood pressure. So glad I have been lucky enough to have had them subside in frequency.

 

[wardleather]

Ah guys...I think this is an artful depiction of a splitting headache, right? I think some of you need to got see someone who's trained to deal with pressure in the skull. I'm most certain that regular exercise would solve a lot of issues. But, some of you just need to relieve some stress. Breath...relax. Life is good. The sun is shining. Buy another knife...whatever. Take your kayak off a waterfall or jump out of a plane at 10K feet. You'd be amazed at how stupid daily nonsense is compared to the relevance of living.

 

[LMT66]

Sorry to invade the thread, but you might not have migraines but a cluster headache. You might want to see a neurologist.

+1 on that. Oxygen tanks everywhere when a cycle hits. 30-90 day bouts, usually twice yearly, for 23 years now.

Rule of thumb, Cluster H/A's give pain behind one eye or the other but usually not both. Migraines feel like your whole head hurts.

Many doctors are unfamiliar with Cluster H/A's so it's best to see a neurologist.

Many have seen this documentary and it's 100% accurate.

 

[RobStanley]

The migraine for me is a whole body experience - physically and emotionally. For a few days, sometimes a week, before the actual headache, I get a severe depression and a need to sleep that's almost uncontrollable. I fall into a dark hole emotionally, it's just awful! Then the depression breaks with flashing vision and an agonising headache on the left side of my skull, starting behind my eye, going right through my brain and down into my spine. Usually lasts 2 - 3 days. When it lifts, I feel like I've been away for a while, almost jet lagged, discombobulated if you will. It's a bizarre experience, but after it's completely cleared I feel like totally new person. Until the next one.

Anyway, better put in some knife content...

 

[PeteH]

My daughter suffered from migraines for years. Turned out she had Celiac disease - couldn't tolerate the gluten in wheat, barley and so on. She went gluten free and hasn't had a migraine since. Might be worth a try.

 

[powernoodle]

Rob -

Mrs. Powernoodle and I are impressed with your artwork, and I've stolen it as my new desktop. I have had migraines as well, but fortunately for me they only cause partial loss of vision and a very mild headache with no other symptoms. Very scary at first when you don't know why you are going blind. I empathize with your tribulation.

 

[jnich005]

+1 on that. Oxygen tanks everywhere when a cycle hits. 30-90 day bouts, usually twice yearly, for 23 years now.

Rule of thumb, Cluster H/A's give pain behind one eye or the other but usually not both. Migraines feel like your whole head hurts.

Many doctors are unfamiliar with Cluster H/A's so it's best to see a neurologist.

Many have seen this documentary and it's 100% accurate.

I had one doctor say something about cluster migraines/headaches, and I have seen every kind of doctor there is to try to find some answers, but all they do is make you pop a bunch of pills that makes more problems. All I know is the pain makes your body basically go into shock thus the vomiting, and when the pain subsides I tend to pass out from exhaustion.

I have found that diet and exercise help a great deal, but the thing that has made all the difference for me is a good Chiropractor. I found a guy that uses a non force technique that is amazingly effective. In fact this is my first year in the last 11 that I have avoided the marathon of pain so to speak. I only had a few bad migraines this year as apposed to the 100 or so.

 

[monk3yfist]

That is amazing.

 

[Oku]

To all my "Partners in Pain"....

I've had Migraines since I was 11 (now "over 40" and leavin' it at that).

I've been on BP meds and have tried most of the "quick fix" pharmaceuticals out there (most of which made me even sicker than I already was).

I finally went to see a Naturopath (same one who saved my oldest boy....the MD's were medicating the little guy to a fare-thee-well for ADHD and ignoring the fact that he was pale and not growing...but that's another story). Anyway, we did the E.L.I.S.A. food allergy screening (95 common food allergies with both immediate and delayed reaction testing) and altered my diet drastically...it helped some, but did not solve the issue totally.

I recently started a protocol with Petadolex (butterburr extract made by Weber & Weber). The stuff is available on line with no scrip, (for now) and by golly it works well for me (so may be worth a try for some of you.

I've stopped the pharmaceutical prophylaxis I was on for 11 years (kept things more or less in check...1 or 2 attacks in 3 months on average) and have had 3 "episodes" since then. The difference being that I feel much better more often, and the "Fixit" drug (for me sumatriptan succinate) will now solve the issue in about 20-30 minutes. Once the "visual Aura" clears, I skip hours of debilitating pain and move straight to a milder "hang-over" for a couple hours.

How good is it? I had an "attack" while working my table at the Eugene knife show and managed to stay at the table, talk to folks and finish both days with no further issues. Easy? NO! But the fact that it was possible speaks to the effectiveness of the extract.

Bit of a "ramble" but I wanted to make the availability and efficacy of a product that might help some folks out.

(Disclaimer: Mods, I do not work for, market, or otherwise make money from Weber & Weber or any of their products)

 

[OldPhysics]

The migraine for me is a whole body experience - physically and emotionally. For a few days, sometimes a week, before the actual headache, I get a severe depression and a need to sleep that's almost uncontrollable. I fall into a dark hole emotionally, it's just awful! Then the depression breaks with flashing vision and an agonising headache on the left side of my skull, starting behind my eye, going right through my brain and down into my spine. Usually lasts 2 - 3 days. When it lifts, I feel like I've been away for a while, almost jet lagged, discombobulated if you will. It's a bizarre experience, but after it's completely cleared I feel like totally new person. Until the next one.

Anyway, better put in some knife content...

Hmm. Mine aren't as bad as yours, but thinking about it ... I have perhaps been ignoring some reliable 'onset' symptoms such as you've described.

My migraines come for years, then go for years. Sadly, they are currently here. They really interfere with my work and I'd like to make them go away. So far, no solution.

Oddly, I can sometimes 'think' my way through one, if it isn't too bad. Can't really describe the process, but it's like grabbing it by the tail and beating the thing to death ... mentally. Can sometimes short-circuit the whole dismal thing by many hours this way. I know, this description is probably no use. But, believe me, anything that shortens the pain is worth trying, no matter how crazy it might sound.

 

[monsterdog]

"Feverfew", look it up.

Fantastic picture, man.

 

[slaimd]

My best wishes go out to you all that suffer from migraines. My Dad used to get them and his descriptions sounded terrible.

If I were to get migraines, it would medically disqualify me from ever doing my job - which I love. That alone would be terribly painful.

I hope you all find reprieve from such terrible pain.

 

[silkworm]

Oddly, I can sometimes 'think' my way through one, if it isn't too bad. Can't really describe the process, but it's like grabbing it by the tail and beating the thing to death ... mentally. Can sometimes short-circuit the whole dismal thing by many hours this way. I know, this description is probably no use. But, believe me, anything that shortens the pain is worth trying, no matter how crazy it might sound.

I suffered from migraines growing up, from about 13 to 20. RobStanley has the description right. Mine were just like that except I felt sort of out of body right before the aura came. I also just sort of learned to "think" them away. When the flashing lights showed up I just closed my eyes, relaxed and convinced myself it wasn't gong to happen. Remarkably it worked - for me. It's an experience I hope I never have to relive.