"can't you just take some aspirin?"

[seren]

Don't forget vomiting yourself into dehydration and spending the next day on IV fluids because your blood pressure drops so low.

Seren

[geordicat]

I can't grasp quite how bad a migraine is - but anything worse than the cramps that used to put me in bed once a month for an afternoon or two has to be BAD NEWS.

Different people have different levels of pain/vision problems/stomach problems, but imagine if you will.....

....the worst cramps in your life. Horrible pain and nausea. You can't make any movement involving your torso, because it will feel like a red hot poker jabbing into you. Regular painkillers don't work, and powerful ones just make you more nauseous. All you can do is lie still and wait for it to go away. And it takes DAYS.

Now imagine all that pain in your head. You still have the nausea. You still can't move. But now that it is in your head you cannot move or focus your eyes (that red hot poker again!), nor can you move your head around on your neck. And you are still stuck waiting for it to go away.

Don't forget being hyper sensitive to everything.  Every little thing.  Air hurts.  The sheets feel like barbed wire and broken glass.  Just moving your head to find the cool spot on the (concrete filled) pillow hurts.  Your HAIR hurts.  Every little sound is magnified 1000 times and shot directly into your already-pounding skull.

Here's a giant cup of tea and a plate of warm from the oven cookies for all migraine sufferers.

[Miss Vertigo]

I can't grasp quite how bad a migraine is - but anything worse than the cramps that used to put me in bed once a month for an afternoon or two has to be BAD NEWS.

Different people have different levels of pain/vision problems/stomach problems, but imagine if you will.....

....the worst cramps in your life. Horrible pain and nausea. You can't make any movement involving your torso, because it will feel like a red hot poker jabbing into you. Regular painkillers don't work, and powerful ones just make you more nauseous. All you can do is lie still and wait for it to go away. And it takes DAYS.

Now imagine all that pain in your head. You still have the nausea. You still can't move. But now that it is in your head you cannot move or focus your eyes (that red hot poker again!), nor can you move your head around on your neck. And you are still stuck waiting for it to go away.

Don't forget being hyper sensitive to everything.  Every little thing.  Air hurts.  The sheets feel like barbed wire and broken glass.  Just moving your head to find the cool spot on the (concrete filled) pillow hurts.  Your HAIR hurts.  Every little sound is magnified 1000 times and shot directly into your already-pounding skull.

Here's a giant cup of tea and a plate of warm from the oven cookies for all migraine sufferers.

Also don't forget the electric shock sensations going off inside your brain, the ones that make your head feel like a Van der Graaf generator... fun fun fun!

Oh, and the neck pain. Right on those knobbly bits at the bottom of the back of your skull.

And the physical anxiety, just for good measure.

[geordicat]

I can't grasp quite how bad a migraine is - but anything worse than the cramps that used to put me in bed once a month for an afternoon or two has to be BAD NEWS.

Different people have different levels of pain/vision problems/stomach problems, but imagine if you will.....

....the worst cramps in your life. Horrible pain and nausea. You can't make any movement involving your torso, because it will feel like a red hot poker jabbing into you. Regular painkillers don't work, and powerful ones just make you more nauseous. All you can do is lie still and wait for it to go away. And it takes DAYS.

Now imagine all that pain in your head. You still have the nausea. You still can't move. But now that it is in your head you cannot move or focus your eyes (that red hot poker again!), nor can you move your head around on your neck. And you are still stuck waiting for it to go away.

Don't forget being hyper sensitive to everything.  Every little thing.  Air hurts.  The sheets feel like barbed wire and broken glass.  Just moving your head to find the cool spot on the (concrete filled) pillow hurts.  Your HAIR hurts.  Every little sound is magnified 1000 times and shot directly into your already-pounding skull.

Here's a giant cup of tea and a plate of warm from the oven cookies for all migraine sufferers.

Also don't forget the electric shock sensations going off inside your brain, the ones that make your head feel like a Van der Graaf generator... fun fun fun!

Oh, and the neck pain. Right on those knobbly bits at the bottom of the back of your skull.

And the physical anxiety, just for good measure.

oh yea...  and the SOUND of that!!  sizzle sizzle crackle pop snap
but really loud

[VorFemme]

Thanks - I now know more than I ever wanted to about how a migraine feels.  Sounds worse than a combination of the monthly cramps that left me curled around my belly with a hot pad for six hours a day (more if I couldn't SLEEP after taking a Midol) and being stung by about twenty hornets (do not mow a hornet nest - it was painful even after taking a Seconal and passing out for eight hours so I could wake up long enough to eat a little so I could take another one and go back to be that night) and the UTI that had me crying six or eight times a day.........for a week.

Rolled into ONE episode and then dragged out for several days at full intensity.........

[skbenny]

I think I've mentioned before that I call migraines suicide inducing pain.  Of course once you pass into the realm of pain where you can't sit, lay or stand, throw-up continually, and can't think, sleep or stay awake, it all becomes sort of unreal in a weird kind of way where anything that stops the pain is wonderful.

Does anyone else get really talky right before a migraine?  And then during the aftermath, can't even sling together two words for several days?

[Miss Vertigo]

Does anyone else get really talky right before a migraine?  And then during the aftermath, can't even sling together two words for several days?

Oh yeah. Very definitely. Sometimes, though, it's the other way around - I can't string a sentence together during the prodrome but after the pain goes, I get this euphoria where I want to talk nineteen to the dozen.  Thankfully, for the rest of the world, I live alone 

Actually, one thing I am thankful for is that I very, very rarely throw up with a migraine. I can't remember the last time I did actually. I can feel violently sick, but that's as far as it goes.

[amanda_tlg]

I think I've mentioned before that I call migraines suicide inducing pain.  Of course once you pass into the realm of pain where you can't sit, lay or stand, throw-up continually, and can't think, sleep or stay awake, it all becomes sort of unreal in a weird kind of way where anything that stops the pain is wonderful.

I haven't had one of my bad migraines in 2 years. But after reading this thread....I'm deathly afraid of getting another one!

Mine started when I was injunior high. All the MRIs and CAT scans did nothing. My mother, the soap opera queen, was sure I had a tumor.  The doctors all insisted that they were either stress headaches or that I would 'grow out of it.' Well, about 10 years later, I think I finally did.

My worst migraine nightmare was about 3 1/2 years ago. My DH and I were raising lizards and frogs. I had been out running errands and I could feel it coming on. I was getting the auras and the strange flashes of light. I knew I had to feed the critters before I could lay down. In one cage, we had 2 Chinese Water Dragons. They were bright green and about 8 inches long each. As I approached the cage, I swear I saw the things swelling into Godzilla proportions. I freaked. Of course it was a hallucination, but that didn't stop me from running to bed for 2 days. When the migraine finally 'popped' I was scared to go look into the cage because the headache had given me really freaky, truly creepy dreams about them.

[Miss Vertigo]

Also don't forget the electric shock sensations going off inside your brain, the ones that make your head feel like a Van der Graaf generator... fun fun fun!

oh yea...  and the SOUND of that!!  sizzle sizzle crackle pop snap
but really loud

And the violent spinning vertigo that sometimes goes with them (hence my username, actually!)

The first time it happened I thought I was having a stroke - it terrified me.

Now? Meh, I just live with it, and try not to let it freak me out.

[dawbs]

there would be death.

I never had migraines until close to a year ago (Mr. Dawbs did, so I had already learned a great deal of sympathy) when I got a headache w/ nausea where I could hear things in my brain...
It lasted nearly 3 months.

'twas the DOCTOR who was telling me "oh, take a few Tylenol, and I"m sure it will improve," and then fought giving me any pills.  Or a referral.  (I know I"ve mentioned on here the level of hatred I have toward that doctor's office)

Luckily, my co-workers mostly (and my boss completely) understand.
Which is just as well, since I woke up this morning, poked Mr. Dawbs, and asked him to bring me an ice pack, one of the barbiturate pills, and some applesauce (taking pills w/ that decreases the chance I throw it up).  And then I spent 2 hours having flashes of blinding light every time I closed my eyes...
(now I"m down to a dull roar)

[Joannie81]

I've never had a migraine, but have much sympathy for those who do.  My mother told me once that she could always tell when a patient came in because of a migraine.  She said she could see it in the expression on their face.  She made sure that they got treated well, because she couldn't imagine being in as much pain as she saw on their faces.

[SunkenTreasure]

I highly recommend Triptan (prescription only), but you have to take it during the aura phase. It doesn't really help once the headache is at the debilitating level.

*I apologize if this is too specific. I don't want to advertise, but this has worked miracles for me. After my last migraine (six days, two hospital visits, and lost 11 pounds), I had to get something I could carry with me. It's prevented three since then.

[macysnail]

I've had migraines since puberty but they didn't get BAD until about 8 years ago.  I would have them for days or weeks at a time, and never went more than a week without one.  I tried all of the different triptans to stop them once they started but they made me so sick and barely made a dent in the migraine, just thinking about taking them now is making my stomach turn.  I was on several different preventatives and they really helped, they would limit the migraines to one or two a month.  They all stopped working eventually though.  I truly truly lucked out when a friend recommended midrin.  It's an old medication and doesn't do a thing for most people with severe migraines but it was a wonder drug for me.  They would stop within about 20 minutes and I had no side effects like I did with the triptans.  Of course you have to take it during the aura phase because it doesn't work once the migraine is in full force. 

Other than that the best thing for me has been learning to identify my triggers and reducing them.  Sugar was a big trigger for me, I don't think that's very common but since I cut out carbs my migraines have decreased drastically.  I also have chronic neck pain which is a big trigger for me so when my neck starts hurting I take care of that right away and it reduces the chance of getting a migraine.  The doctor recommended sleeping with a soft neck brace and as much as I hate doing it I almost never wake up with a migraine anymore.  I feel like a dork and it took months to get used to sleeping in it but it's helped tremendously. 

Anyway, the guy in the OP must be a genius.  The highest paid neurologists in the country haven't figured out that simple aspirin helps migraines, but he has. 

[Miss Vertigo]

Depending on the type of migraine from which you suffer, triptans can be contraindicated. People with basilar-type migraine, for example, shouldn't be taking them, or so I believe.  They're also contraindicated if you have raised blood pressure, because they constrict the blood vessels to stop the migraine.

I took one once in an emergency - my migraine had raged for five days, my vision was green and yellow, and I was just completely desperate. It had gone within 20 minutes of taking it, but the side-effects were vile.

macysnail, I agree with you about the trigger issue. I'm working really hard to try and eliminate mine, with varying degrees of success. So far, I've identified: MSG, nitrates (found in most cured meats, hotdogs, bacon, that sort of stuff, and vegetables which are naturally high in them such as spinach); poor sleep; menstruation, ovulation, atmospheric pressure, certain scents, relaxing after a period of stress - I'm sure there are more.

The trigger issue is really complicated, though. As I understand it, one single trigger on its own may not necessarily cause a migraine but combine it with something else that's happened that day and it will do. So one day I could eat a bacon sandwich and get away with it. If on another day I eat that bacon sandwich and then have a poor night's sleep, or the weather changes, I'm screwed. It's very frustrating trying to keep tabs on everything.

What are everyone else's triggers? Maybe by comparing notes somebody might hit on something they haven't considered before.

[andi]

i started getting them around age 7.  mom took me for tests and tests and tests, nothing.  my biggest triggers are / were lack of sleep and at one point beer.  one sip of beer, even the SMELL of a beer.  (and i really love a good beer once in a while)  Weather changes, stress, hormones.  it's hard to nail it down - but at least sometimes you can learn to avoid a few

i was very lucky at my old job - both my bosses suffered from them and my project manager's wife had them as well so they knew if i said "migraine" to just let me go home, take meds and sleep.  they got really bad in my mid 20's because i working insane hours and not eating right.  my boss actually had to drive me home one day after finding me in the bathroom (i'd been "missing" for about 30 minutes). 

i have a dear friend that's now on her 4th or 5th set of meds, and she finally relented to getting botox shots that have helped beyond belief.  it's something i'd recommend looking into for those who suffer multiple day onsets several times a month.

and yeah - sometimes i think the after feelings are almost worst than the migraine itself.  not fun at all.