I very rarely ever get migraines, bad headaches yes but migraines I reckon I could count on two hands in my entire life. My eldest daughter on the other hand has suffered with them since she was only months old. She has followed the same pattern since she was a baby; intense pain, darkened room, tries a dose of something to relieve but soon vomits it up and has the next dose and only then does she slip into a deep sleep that reminds me of my friend after an epileptic seizure. Over the years we have tried everything and so have many doctors. We can find no trigger or cure as such.
Well I had a horrid one the other day with blurred vision and nausea and I thought maybe a calming bath was what I needed. Just as I had stepped in the phone rang....I missed it. Just as I stepped back in my mobile rang, it was my eldest ringing for a chat. When I told her I was in the bath and what I was doing she told me to get out immediately!
The latest word she has had from a helpful pharmacist is to take off a jumper. You may not feel hot but your temperature will be slightly elevated and cooling the body helps. Well that makes sense because we always resorted to cool wet face cloths for her forehead. "So get out of that bath" she said. She has had more success with aspirin based analgesics than paracetamol based ones and the pharmacist recommended they be taken with caffeine to "push it through the gut quicker"! (If you click on the link below it is explained in medical terms)
Well I'll be! I thought caffeine would be a big steer clear but maybe it's the old adage of things in moderation. This is by no means a recommendation about drugs etc and as I work for a nephrologist, I am reluctant to advocate aspirin carte blanche but as this is a fairly common condition, I was hoping to get people talking about their experiences and tried and tested tales. There are many who mis-use the term "migraine" (second only to the mis-use of the diagnosis "flu"...come on people surely you have a cold and there is no shame in being sick with a common cold, it's hell). So lets share.
Killer heads - YUK ! Obvious the beast has moved on or you wouldn't be near the PC :)
ReplyDeleteGot to agree with the coffee thing - I seem to crave one when the ol' blindisder comes along. Mixed with a dose of isopropen.
My dentist recently found my jaw was mis-aligned and was the cause - this after 20 years of migraines !
A friend of ours also has had excellent results from years of blackouts with a local remedial therapist and accupressure - she is a young thing too and so pleased not be a slave to the paralising migraines.
No lights, no clothes, no food, take Tylenol (acetominophen) and lose it, take it again and try to sleep. I've actually found that a noise such as the radio turned up just to the point of barely being able to hear it helps. It's like my body commands my brain to stay asleep so I won't be subjected to the pain of the sound.
ReplyDeleteI've tried migraine preventive drugs and migraine reactive drugs and nothing has worked as well as good ol' Tylenol. I will try the aspirin, though, and see what that does!
My husband gets them that severly also, it's awful to watch. I know it's probably not very PC to say it but he's a typical male and won't go to the doctor!!
ReplyDeleteMy sister had them when she was very young and tried different diets etc, she had a lactose intolerance but she also tried acupuncture and I think that might have helped.
I have suffered terribly with migraines over the years and one such episode saw me carted off to hospital in an ambulance, placed on a drip because I was dehydrated through excessive vomitting and given Aspalgin soluble tablets to take. It was recommended I use these Aspirin/Codeine based tablets for future migraines. I have done this but now they are no longer making them...shock...horror!!! Luckily I have recently had a lifestyle change caused by health reasons...and in the last six months I have not suffered a migraine!!!
ReplyDeleteI used to have migraines and was finally given a medication that worked and it had caffeine in it. I now only get miserable tension headaches, and even they are rare, and I take Excedrin, which is Tylenol and caffeine. They work, just be careful of rebound headaches with too much caffeine taken too often.
ReplyDeleteI really feel blessed that I no longer have migraines!
Hope you do ever get another one.
Blessings!
CottonLady from West Texas, USA
Oops!!! I meant to say Do NOT ever get one! So sorry about that!
ReplyDeleteCottonLady