Migraine

[BrynTeg]

Does anyone else here suffer with migraine headache, i had an attack yesterday, first one for a while, as a child i used to get one or two a week and missed loads of school, playtime etc, as a teenager i had loads of tests etc and tablets but nothing worked, but one day my local gp tried me on tablets that control epilepsy and since then i take 3 a day and have had maybe 10 attacks in 5 years
anyone else suffer

 

[DVD-Man]

I suffer! had them as a child also, they stopped around puberty but reared it's ugly head last year (12 years later) the first attack was so acute, I ended up having a panic attack and was taken to A&E. The pain was terrible but once I realised what was actually happening I calmed down and was sent home after some injections.

Now I handle them with Migraleve, maybe not powerful enough for everyone but if taken when you feel a headache coming on it's very effective. They are also good for hangovers as the pink tabelts have an antisickness drug in them BONUS!

The hard bit is having access to them anywhere, so I cut them up into strips of 2 and put them in coats and my wallet.

£7.95 from pharmacy, such a lifesaver that I don't mind the price one bit.

Liam

 

[karkus30]

Oh yes. It strikes me when least expected and is a nightmare if you happen to be driving.

I also use Migraleve and keep a couple of red pills handy in every spare wallet and in the car.........as soon as those flashing lights appear, take two and cover your eyes until the flashing stops.....cant avoid the headache but at least it makes it bearable.

Once had two in a row and my left hand ceased to function, lost all motor function and feeling.....very scary !

I believe you can have some sort of long term injection, but I have never investigated that possibility.

 

[BrynTeg]

i swear by my pills, epilim and they are 500mg 3 times a day, my gp told me that bad migraine is very closley linked with epilepsy so thats why my tablets work so good i suppose, just wished i had been on them as a child, i remeber the days well, couldnt see properly pounding pain,had to have the room dark for the whole time it lasted, and the sickness was beyond too.
They are terrible to get

 

[CorbyDave]

DVD Man

I used to take Migraleve but discovered that Paracetamol and Codeine tablets are exactly the same as the yellow Migraleve (ie: without the anti-nausea ingredient). They cost next to nothing so I bought a few packs and keep a few in the car, at work, bedroom, lounge etc. for when the dreaded migraine strikes (fortunately not too often for me).

Dave

 

[neilneil]

Migrane is one of those conditions like Flu that many people claim to have but have not. From what you have described you guys definately have had migrane.
My mum used to get them and she described it as your own private hell. She couldn't even keep the pills down for being sick and the room had to be blacked out.
She use to work in a chemist and got loads of people coming in asking for something because they have a bad migraine. It's most unlikely you would be in any fit state to go to the chemist if you actually had a migraine.

From what I've seen of them you have my sympathy.

I very occasionally get the wavy lines/lights in my vision but even then it rarely produces anything more than a regular headache so I count myself as very lucky.

-Neil

 

[squirrely]

I have not had an attack for about 2yrs but i was prescribed sumatriptan and amytriptaline(sp) for my cluster headaches. For about 15yrs i was struck by these headaches, usually twice a year for about 3 months each, on average i used to get about 60 migraines(although they are not technically migraines) per stint,it was hell. The Docs actually refer to them as suicide headaches.

 

[BrynTeg]

in the worst ever one i got i blacked out at the wheel of a van!! luckily i was delivering down a country lane and only ended up ina hedge, lost my licence to drive for 14 months though

 

[Solomon Grundy]

I hate that moment when you get the blind spot in your eye...where you can't see what you are looking at but can see around it. Then the silver shimmering around the edges of the blind spot and it gets bigger until you can hardly see anything. Eyesight gradually returns, then the sick feeling comes followed by the pounding headache.

I hate migraines but it is that first moment when you realise you're going to get one that i hate most, worse than the pain and the sickness and the headache. You just want to go to sleep there and then and wake up a day or two later. The day after a migraine is bad too, you know when you cough or sneeze or move your head too quickly it feels like you've been kicked in the head!

 

[BrynTeg]

but the first thing you eat after having a migraine tastes lovely, strange init

 

[DVD-Man]

DVD Man

I used to take Migraleve but discovered that Paracetamol and Codeine tablets are exactly the same as the yellow Migraleve (ie: without the anti-nausea ingredient). They cost next to nothing so I bought a few packs and keep a few in the car, at work, bedroom, lounge etc. for when the dreaded migraine strikes (fortunately not too often for me).

Dave

Correct but the yellow are to be taken if the migraine continues, i only buy the pink ones now as the yellow ones are a waste of cash.

Yes like many have said if you don't catch a migraine it's game over for at least 8 hours, feel dead tired after it too.

Liam

 

[Knyght_byte]

my mum uses Immigran (sumatriptan plus other stuff iirc), however the Doc only gives her a repeat for 6 at a time and tells her to only take a half unless its really bad....

i get them once in a while, both me an my mum seem to have them linked to our other problems (arthritic/ortho type stuff).....i just swallow a couple of syndol tho and go to bed for a day...lol

i get normal headaches a bit more frequently but they blend in to the usual pain in my body from my other problems so i ignore them, only take a syndol when it gets really bad (as in borderline migraine level).....strangely, with normal headaches, no matter how bad it is, i actually enjoy listening to reasonably loud music that has a repetitive beat......never understood that...lol....cant do that with a migraine tho...heh...my brain would become a puddle and plop out my ear

 

[Carl Stock]

Fortunately, I do not suffer from migraines. However, my Dad and sister do.

Dad tends to get them on a regularly basis – say, every four months or so – for no apparent reason. He then has to take paracetamol and go to bed for hours on end in a darkened, quiet room. He also suffers from the problems with vision – ‘closing in', coloured blobs, etc. – but no vomiting. I think he suffers from a bit of nausea, though he takes the two paracetamol (1000mg) and then falls asleep. Paracetamol makes him drowsy anyway, even without a migraine.

My sister used to suffer regular migraines – say, every week or so – until she finished at her secondary school, which she hated, and went to college and university. She has not suffered one for years now, although I believe she had a relatively mild one a couple of years or so ago. Her symptoms in any case were the same as Dad's (above).

One of the most basic treatments is paracetamol, which is often combined with an anti-emetic (anti-nausea and anti-vomiting ingredient) called Metoclopramide hydrochloride (“Met-oh-cloh-pram-ide hi-droh-clor-ride&#8221, often going by the brand name Maxolon when purchased separately:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100001589.html

Metoclopramide hydrochloride also helps to speed up the absorption of paracetamol, meaning that relief should be more rapid even if nausea and/or vomiting are not present.

I take Metoclopramide hydrochloride on its own for the nausea I sometimes experience with my condition. Some links have been shown in research between my condition and migraines, especially where there is a family history of both. There is one family member on Dad's side with ME, along with me, and my Dad and sister suffer with migraines. Some migraine attacks can take up to three days to recover from, and this similar to my condition, where it can take three days for symptoms to appear after certain physical and/or mental activities. These symptoms can then last for a very long time after those three days in ME.

Painkillers like codeine, which is combined with aspirin (Codis 500) or paracetamol (Veganin), can be effective with head pain. Paracetamol may not always cut it! Also, as others have mentioned here, there are other, more powerful, drugs on the market. In any case, one should get migraines diagnosed by a doctor and keep an eye on it, and GPs can often supply more effective treatments anyway.

And I think most people who experience migraines will say this: migraines are not headaches!

Regards,

Carl

 

[BAN5HEE]

Used to get them in my teens alot. Was prescribed these little blue pills can't remember what they where called they seemed to help. Don't get them any more though just the occasional headache. Nothing annoys me more then when someone says they have a migraine and they are walking about happy as Larry chatting away. That's a headache. If you had a migraine you would be crawling under your desk praying for death.

 

[lovemunkey187]

I suffer from them occasionally now. I used to get them really often. Found out that the trigger was Coca Cola/Diet Coke/Cerry Coke/Sprite/Lilt& Fanta, Oh and Red Bull doesn't do me any favours either. I'm fine with the Pepsi family of drinks and Dr Pepper

The other thing that brings them on is stress of new situations.

I get the whole drowsiness/too bright/too loud/vomiting thing. Then wiped out for about 2 days from the start of the attack.

 

[BrynTeg]

quite a few fellow sufferers here then, has anyone else been told its close to epilepsy.
like i said mine were so bad they took my driving licence away

 

[nobbydog]

Yep, all this is very familiar for me, instant I notice one coming on I take Migraleve. Doesnt stop the eye 'jaggies' but the headache and sickness is kept at bay. Ironically last Thursday evening my eleven yr old daughter said calmly 'daddy, if I look at your nose I cant see the right side of your face'. My heart sank and without putting words in her mouth I got a perfect description of how I suffer. Poor little mite, inhereted from me, classic symptons. What is worse she went to bed, recovered ok, but needed picking up from school as she had another attack in the morning. Since then she's been ok, but have explained to her what its all about and to expect it for the rest of her life. By the way, I inhereted it from MY dad!

 

[OldAndSenile]

I've suffered from them on and off for years now, and even though I think I've worked out a few things that trigger them, I can still get them for apparently no reason... Apparently Aspartame is a very common trigger for them, and I know it gives me really bad migraines if I have too many sugar free things...

I used to use Migraleve, which was really good because of the anti-emetic in it, but as someone on here has mentioned, they're £8 a box and are essentially codeine and paracetamol. You can buy the anti-emetic bit of the tablet - Buccastem - over the counter at a pharmacist at a fraction of the price and "roll your own" Migraleve for a lot less!

The good news for people who get really bad migraines is that sumatriptan is now available over the counter (it's called Imigran), it's £8 for 2 tablets, but it's well worth it if you get REALLY bad attacks - they work in about 20 minutes in most cases. You'll get the 3rd degree off the pharmacist before they'll sell them to you, but they're a very worthwhile emergency measure.

 

[dman256]

I get them every now and again, if I dont catch them in time im guaranteed a full day in bed with major pain. I was buying Migraleve in a chemist one year and she said some of the people that went into her said they had started finding Alka Seltzer to be quite good if you take it at the early stages. Ive tried it ever since and found if I take it at the earliest signs they dont seem to be half as bad and sometimes have got rid of it. Not sure how or why they might work.