Do you get migraines (poll) [possible tmi I guess?]

[Ace-TheTimelordsCompanion]

As I sit here in a darkened room, wearing sunglasses, with my laptop on it's lowest brightness, I wonder how many of my fellow AVENites also go through this crap.

[Philip027]

Nope. I hear this is largely a female thing, but I have no idea how accurate that is >_>

The only time I really get headaches is when I am stressed, whereas migraines seem to be rather spontaneous, so I doubt they are the same thing. They also don't give me any sort of sensitivity to light.

[Ace of Amethysts]

Yes, but very, very rarely and they are sometimes proceeded by numbness of the fingers. They`re always spontaneous though. Mine make me pretty light sensitive.

[Ricki]

I get them every few months and there doesn't seem to be a trigger. It'll just pop up, stick around for the rest of the day (even if I get it in the morning) and then disappear magically.

[Grumpy Alien]

Yes although it's hard to say the symptoms because the migraines are a symptom of a chronic illness themselves. (Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome.) An episode can last a week now but was up to almost two months as a kid. The migraines aren't always constant and vary in intensity (and respond well to otc meds) so I'll say about seven days is the longest I've had one - in childhood.

[Perkins]

/

[rukkus]

I get severe migraines sometimes, and have since I was a child :(. Although they're not as bad as they used to be.

[dissolved]

Yeah. The pain isn't the worst thing I've ever felt (that was spinal surgery :P) but the aura and odd feeling can last for days. My reaction times slow waaaay down so I basically can't do anything. I can't eat and really struggle to drink while it's happening so I'm exhausted when it's finally over. The aura is probably the worst part as it completely disrupts my vision, and I can see the weird patterns even when I close my eyes. Can't escape the thing.

[deltaX]

I selected other to your first question, as I do get migraines, but only very rarely. Maybe a one every three months or so, and almost never for more than an hour or two. I feel bad for people who have to deal with them more often, because they're awful. :(

[Rising Sun]

I've got really nasty migraines that started after 2 years of antidepressants. Thankfully I don't have as many with treatments and caffeine.

A few of my symptoms that aren't in the list :

- pain in eye socket. My eye (one at a time, like headaches) becomes painful long before my head does. It's as if somebody pulled on the optical nerve and squished my eye in their hand, it's excruciating. That's why it took years before it was identified as migraines, as I saw an ophthalmologist first.

- I lose sleep. This is often how I notice I'm going to have a migraine attack in the next few hours.

- I'm stoned, sometimes. Last time, I was giggling for nothing like a marijuana smoker. That was really weird.

[Zoe W.]

When I was younger, I got them all the time (it was shorter to count the number of days a month I didn't have a migraine rather than the number of days I did). Very debilitating. The pain was so intense I used to wonder that my skull didn't crack open.

After menopause, the number of migraines went way, way down. Now, my triggers are mostly food-related (or lack thereof) and I can't drink any alcohol at all. One sip of red wine will trigger it for me.

Never had auras or numbness, but I'm still very light sensitive, even when I'm not in the middle of a migraine.

[Tanzanite]

I haven't had a migraine in about 4 years, and I'm honestly not sure what's changed. They were only mild migraines but still.

[Per Aspera Ad Astra]

I have been getting migraines for about 18 months. They occurred very rarely at first, and even though they were strong, the pain was manageable, and they didn't last too long (twelve consecutive hours of sleep were enough to make me feel better).

When I was a kid, I would get lots of strong headaches, but they weren't migraines.

Lately (since November), I've been getting more and more migraines. Luckily, I have a very strong and efficient pain medication that, if taken soon enough, stops the migraine. But I've had beginnings of migraines at least five times a week, sometimes more, for the past few weeks, so I have taken an appointment with a neurologist next Monday.

Last really bad migraine I had was extremely violent. The worst of the pain lasted for about twelve hours. Even the smallest source of light was causing me intense pain (just a ray of light from under my door was too much). I vomited several times, was extremely nauseated most of the time. I was burning up and sweating, but the second I would try to apply cold on myself, I would start shivering. The pain was so bad I was crying and whimpering, and I never cry from pain. Not even the time I had a full patellar dislocation, and waited over three hours for help in a cave just by the sea side, with the tide quickly rising at the end, and the pain was horrendous then. But it was nothing in comparison to the pain I've felt when I had that migraine.

I was in so much pain that, if I had been on my own, I would have called an ambulance (but my parents wouldn't let me), because I was starting to think of ways to end my life because the pain was just that bad. I had to send a text to a colleague at 6 am to ask him to tell my boss I wouldn't be coming into work, and the light from the screen almost caused me to pass out. The pain was so bad, it even went to my jaws and teeth. I was going in and out of consciousness all that time.

I ended up really losing consciousness after about twelve hours of writhing in pain (for a long time I mean, not just going in and out of consciousness). I regained consciousness two hours after that, and the worst of the pain was gone. I was left extremely weak and confused though.

In the following 24 hours, I slept for over 18 hours (which is what I usually sleep in 4 nights). I was unable to eat for over 72 hours after the migraine had begun. It took me another full week to be able to eat more than once a day, and I was eating very little food. And it took me another week after that, maybe even two, to start eating normally again.

In the days following that migraine, I was apparently forgetting words, switching syllables, using English words instead of French words (I live in France), I would skip words in sentences, or use a word that meant nothing in the context I was using it. I wasn't aware of this at all at the time, because no one mentioned it to me. I was only told this very recently.

Since then (it was a couple of months ago I think), I haven't had a real migraine, but that's because I've been taking a shit load of anti migraine medication, and it's bad for me because of another medication I am taking. I've had very strong headaches though, that I think were in fact migraines (they had all the characteristics of a migraine), but these migraines were so "small" in comparison to the horrible one I've had that I have raised up the bar for what I call a migraine.

[Guest]

ughh migraines...I had a mellower one last week (and by mellow, I mean it only lasted a day). Every time I get one, the pain is mostly centered as a stabbing feeling behind my left eye, and light sensitivity is especially bad on that one side. When I have to go out while I have one, I figured an eyepatch isn't particularly attractive and raises unwanted questions, so I made myself a pair of eyepatch sunglasses :P

In general though, it's accompanied by light and sound sensitivity and nausea. I haven't been to a doctor because other people in my family have for the same reason and doctor's aren't particularly helpful when it comes to migraines.

[Musical Articuno]

Migraines really are a nuisance -_- They can be seemingly random or they can happen if I stare at a computer screen for far too long (and I'll get it in the morning). It feels like someone took a burning ice pick and shoved it in my eye (usually the left, but sometimes it's the right one), light is obnoxious and I can't listen to music without my brain screaming. Then once the pain subsides, it turns into this lovely nausea that lasts the rest of the day.

[white_rose]

I get those auras which are a nuisance more than anything, although if I go to sleep with one then I'll wake up with quite a bad headache which is kinda weird. Sometimes I'll get one as I've been sleeping (and might even recognise it in my dream) and I'll know because one side of my head will hurt, especially with even slight head movement when I wake up. I don't get them so much anymore, thankfully

[Snao Cone]

Sometimes I don't get head pain, but I do get shaky vision.

[ace11]

I get them. Generally to do with hormonal changes i think, and eating the wrong things or not eating enough or eating too much...

I *think* the longest one was three days. There might have been one that lasted longer, but that was a few years ago and i can't remember how long it was before i finally was able to get my ass out of bed and go to the doctor.

A couple of "other" symptoms i get: increased pain with motion (turning over in bed, standing, sitting up, etc.) and dizziness and occasionally double vision, which is scary.

I don't have visual aura or sound sensitivity but i do have light sensitivity and the pukey stuff.

[daveb]

I get them, too. Sometimes I won't get any for quite a while, and other times I'll get a few in a short span of time. I'm not sure about triggers. I know some things don't help, such as hot weather. I don't get auras or some of the other symptoms. Mostly I get pain/headaches, sensitivity to light/sounds/smells, and sometimes nausea.

[kelico]

Oh gosh, yes...yes, terrible yes. I have chronic migraines. I have sometimes over 15 a month, and it feels like they never go away. My mom literally has a migraine everyday. Sometimes it's more than every 24 hours. So she will take her migraine pill, it will go away for a few hours, and then come back. That is basically the same for me, except I sometimes have some days off. -_- There was this one really awesome time when I had 2 weeks without a migraine. That was like heaven. I wish that would happen more often.

I get terrible head pain, neck pain, nausea, sore muscles, light sensitivity, and sound sensitivity. I luckily don't have auras. But yeah. *sigh* It really sucks. *big hugs for everyone that can relate*

[Hermit Advocate]

I can thankfully say that I have never had a migraine. I do get the occasional headache but that's it. It's weird though because my family has a history of chronic migraines, so I can sympathize to an extent by taking care of them when they get them. My sister gets vomit inducing ones every couple of months and my mom and all of her sibling get them as well. I guess I lucked out on the gene loto, thanks Dad.

[Guest]

I dont have migraines but because of my thallasemia i can get very severe headaches as a reaction to oxygen shortage.

Its very awful and the only thing that helps is sit in a darkened room and sleep hoping and praying it will end soon. My headaches usually last for 2-4 days untill a week if its really bad and i often feel sick and see stars when it happens.Its very annoying indeed.They usually start in my neck and go to my head at once i often have cramps and cant do much.I cant even look at a computer, tablet or phone when im that sick.

[Skycaptain]

Big supply of *hugs* to all who suffer from this debilitating condition

Happily I don't, but my mother suffers. When struck by one all she can do is lie in bed with no light in between bouts of nausea

[WhenSummersGone]

I rarely get migraines but when I do I get terrible head pain, nausea and light sensitivity. I just use medication.

[Guest]

My migraines happen a couple of times a month. They start slow, almost unnoticed, but the pain builds up in the course of a few hours. By the time I realize I'm having a migraine I'm already nauseous. Sounds are okay, but lights are awful. During the really bad ones my eyes have trouble focussing. Luckily I can take strong medication that usually stops the pain.

I wonder what it feels like to have a normal headache. I've asked people to describe how they experience headaches, and they say it's basically nothing more than an annoyance. Can't really imagine how that would feel.

[Nailgun-mishap]

I've never had a migraine in my life. My mom gets mild ones on occasion, but she can still function normally. When I actually get headaches, they're just a dull ache and more of a minor inconvenience than anything else.

I also find it interesting how migraines are apparently more of a female thing, yet most of the migraine sufferers I know are men, not women. That's probably just an odd coincidence though.

[SpeedinThroughSpace]

I get really bad headaches with light sensitivity, sound sensitivity and nausea, to the point where any sound and ray of light drives a spike into my brain, but I never vomited because of one (though I felt like I was at risk several times). Don't know if they are migraines. They might, as they are a lot worse than normal headaches, but I am always light sensitive when having any headache, no matter how light. Painkillers don't tend to work, so I can only hope to be able to sleep it off.

My mum apparently used to have migraines when she was younger, but she hasn't had one in many years. Maybe that means I might be lucky and grow out of the stuff, too?

[Grace Barton]

I get migraines but luckily I don't get them that often.

First one I had I was about 12. It started with aura that was like prisms of light that spread across my vision. Not long after I was in terrible pain, being sick, and rolling/crying on the floor in agony. My dad had to go to the chemist to get the strongest possible painkillers he could get for a child. I haven't had any that bad since (thank goodness). I don't get the aura too often; I wish I did because it would at least give me chance to take something. Since I'm prone to tension and dehydration headaches, I usually don't notice it's coming until it's there, by which time it's too late to take something.

I don't often get debilitating pain but enough that I struggle to work sometimes. I also get nauseous and just feel like I want to scoop my eyeball out. I end up tapping all around my forehead and eye socket area because, although it does nothing to ease it, it's therapeutically soothing. I always get it on the same side of my head behind my left eye so I usually wish I had an eye patch so I can block the light out, as though that would ease the pain.

I usually get asked if I want to go home when I have them at work; I always decline because my manager suffers from cluster headaches and is always in pain but keeps on going, so I endeavour to struggle through it as best I can as well. But I know one colleague who gets so ill she's usually off for a couple of days when she has them.

[UncommonNonsense]

One strange effect that very severe migraines have on me is that I sometimes lose my vision entirely for at least part of the migraine's duration. I'm blind in my left eye since birth, but the vision in my right eye is fairly normal (if a wee bit nearsighted). But when a particularly severe migraine hits, my vision in my right eye grays out until I am unable to see at all. This can last anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.

Of all the migraine effects, this one is the most disruptive to my life. I have severe chronic pain due to broken spinal vertebrae and nerve damage, so I'm used to functioning despite massive pain. Pain and nausea don't stop me from going to work or living my life. But being temporarily blind does cause my life to grind to an instant halt. Can't work, can't drive, can barely manage basic self-care. And it terrifies me every time it happens, because I always worry that *this time* it won't be temporary, that my vision won't come back when the migraine subsides.

Thankfully, the combination of a hysterectomy, some lifestyle changes, and leaving a very stressful, toxic workplace ~ 11 years ago helped to decrease both the frequency and severity of my migraines. I now only rarely get the ones that are bad enough to cause that temporary blindness.

[RK800]

I'm not sure if I get migraines but I do get cluster headaches which is where I feel like someone is driving an icicle through my skull for around five minutes.