Who here gets migraines often?
I got one this morning when I woke up. In fact, the migraine was the thing that woke me up and it messed up the start of my day. How do you guys deal with migraines?
All I could do was take two Advil tablets and go back to sleep. Migraines suck
>>17126941
>All I could do was take two Advil tablets and go back to sleep. Migraines suck
That's pretty much the only thing you can do when a migraine comes. I used to get them often as a couch potato. I started exercising a lot more and they have gradually gone away, now I only get a slight headache once every few months.
>>17126941
I get them. I have them more if I'm sleep deprived or if I get a lot of eyestrain or am exposed to flashing lights (even just driving behind a snowplow at night). Sinus inflammation, certain neck positions (thank you car accidents), stress, and too many food additives in too short a period of time can do it too. Sometimes I'll get really bad pain with them, other times I don't, but I always get light and noise sensitivity and wooziness.
Topamax and Inderal seem to help prevent them somewhat. Topamax had bad side effects for me. Inderal is more tolerable. Have used stuff like DHE (I think both the IV infusion and the nasal spray), tea from morning glory seeds (uncoated), etc. with varying effectiveness. The nausea from DHE got to me in spite of anti-nausea drugs, so it wasn't useful for a "take it and go back to work" type treatment.
A lot of times I would try stuff, try to deal with the side effects, give up, and go back to taking Tylenol and going to bed. That's pretty much what I do now. I have black curtains on the bedroom windows and I live in a quiet town, so I can isolate myself from noise and light pretty well. I call it "House of Usher mode." Only thing is, if I can't actually sleep right then, it's fucking boring because my head feels like a rotten tooth and even trying to listen to music or a podcast can hurt. Occasionally if the lights are dim I can read a book or work on something with pen and paper, but that's about it, and it's hard to concentrate. If I can sleep though, it seems to go away faster. Sometimes I will feel super depressed for a day or so right after a big migraine.
The other thing that seems to help a bit is that every few months I get subcutaneous lidocaine shots in my scalp and neck. That interrupts it if I'm having one at the time, and it also seems to help them not recur as badly for a couple months. I get those from my neurologist.
>>17127061
Also wanted to add: on the light/noise sensitivity tip, if anybody can think of any activity that a person can do that doesn't require the lights to be on and doesn't involve noise much if at all - i.e. something I could do when I have a migraine and can't sleep, and am just waiting it out - I would be so grateful. Right now all I can think of is fapping, meditation, or maybe some kind of brain puzzle or something.
>>17127119
Dude, I feel you. I woke up with that migraine this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep because of how painful it was. I wanted to listen to a podcast or watch something on my phone, but those activities just worsened the pain. So I took my Advil and just tried waiting it out until I dozed off.
Migraines suck. It's like someone is knocking on the back of your brow, a dull pain that gets nauseating over time.
>>17126941
Excedrin migraine is amazing. See a doctor tho.
>>17126941
Schedule an eye exam.
>>17126941
Sadly, there's not much else you can do without a prescription. If you get them regularly, though, they make orally-dissolving tablets that can halt them.
Otherwise, lying down in a dark, quiet room is usually the thing one does. Some people find that small amounts of caffiene help, but don't take too much or you risk setting off a new migraine. This is why things like Excedrin have caffeine in them.
Do you have a formal diagnosis yet? If not, see a neurologist. Cluster headaches are often mistaken for migraines, and vice versa; both are treatable, but the treatments are different. Also, if your headaches are associated with flashes of light, see an eye doctor.
If you get them regularly, see a neurologist ASAP. If you can get more than 15 in a month, you're considered at-risk for a stroke, so call your doctor immediately (at this point you may end up filing for disability).
At one point my wife was getting 3-4 migraines a day. Luckily we've got them under some semblance of control now, but you learn a few things. If you get them that often and that badly, it's usually a sign of an underlying problem.
You're eating something you shouldn't be.
-Stop smoking cigarettes
-Avoid alcohol
-Get an allergy test (IgG, IgE, and IgA reactivity to common foods. Very good heuristic)
-Filter out the common triggers. Old food, (histamine and tyramine), cheeses, chocolate, sulfates in wine and such, etc.
Migraines do suck.
>>17127862
During the summer, I got three migraines within two months. It was weird cause I'd never gotten them before.
But since then I was okay. Until now.
