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

[Blue Phoenix Ace]

Has anyone had a hemiplegic migraine? It greatly resembles the symptoms of a stroke. I was sitting at my computer one night and I could not find the mouse pointer to save my life. I moved that sucker all over the place and just couldn't see it anymore. Then my hands started to get real goofy, not moving like I really wanted them to. Then the clouded vision and the numb tongue and the headache set in. I managed to dial 911 and spent the night in the hospital.

Luckily, the MRI was OK. Migraines can't be diagnosed on any current imaging technology (but strokes can). Doctors just kind of have to guess based on the patient's description what happened.

Other than that, I get about 2-3 days of migraine every two weeks. I feel like I'm unable to think clearly. Every click of the mouse or typing takes much more effort. I can't seem to speak clearly without a lot of additional effort. It's a mess.

What kind of treatments do you all use for it? I take NSAIDs for acute treatment. I tried Topamax for preventative measures but the side effects were worse than the headaches.

[XYZ96]

I've only ever gotten one headache that was undoubtedly a migraine.

It lasted about a day, started off with me just feeling a bit under the weather in the morning with a mild on off headache and sore, as if I had a cold... then over the day it got worse and worse until in the evening I was rolling around on the sofa with a horrible headache and stomachache and nausea that got worse every time I moved, which I did a lot trying to get rid of it :P

until I finally puked, was given a migraine pill and sent to bed...

I was never officially by a doctor, but my mom was there and said it was a migraine and she's a doctor.. so...

(but, that only happened once that a headache got that bad..)

[Guest]

other-aura-other-no.

No pain, only the aura.

I have not experienced what you did.

[Lixt]

Yes, I do, right side only, no aura.

Symptoms: dull pain with pretty intense throbbing (from eye socket to my neck) aggravated by even the slightiest movement of my head, light and sound sensitivity, coordination issues. The quickest one lasted about 12 hours, longest about 2 days.

[binary suns]

if pain sensation in response to bright light defines a migraine, then I am constantly in a migraine :lol:

so... I have no idea if I get migraines. the only time pain hurts me intensely is when I'm trying to figure out why I'm hurting... if I understand my pain, it feels numb immediately. so until someone tests my headaches in a way that they can tell by measure whether it is a migraine or not, I assume that they are not migraines.

but they can hurt a lot, and persist a lot, and I often have my vision affected or other senses becoming too sensitive. but like I said... these things are so normal that there's no clear difference, it's too transitional, too much of a gradient.

[binary suns]

I didn't check off anything for the second question, I checked other. but it's pretty common for me to feel head pain, to experience auras of some sort usually ignorable ones, to have stomach muscle and back pains, to feel dizzy and nautious, and light sensitivity and sound sensitivity is very common for me. so when someone asks me if I get migraines and describes these symptoms... I'm like, yeah I mean, I get those all the time, and they get worse when I'm unwell, so there's no way for me to use the symptoms as a way to declare that my headaches are migraines or not.

I've had a few times when my headaches where bad enough to cripple me, but they were momentary. it's more common that my headaches are bad enough to constantly tax me, but when it's like that I am usually able to operate just by pushing through it. and like I said... I have ways to "ignore" symptoms and make them feel less intensely. it's often that I only notice just how bad my pain is when I stop focusing on some tast and change my position slightly and suddenly I'm very aware of the pain/other symptoms and I'm like woah maybe I should be worried.

often times there's cause for it, which is why I assume I don't have migraines. if I haven't eaten or drunk enough that is a very common cause for the headaches and increased other symptoms. that's usually when it's at its worst.

[Rising Sun]

if pain sensation in response to bright light defines a migraine, then I am constantly in a migraine :lol:

It might be sensory processing disorder, migraines, or both.

[binary suns]

it's probably at least sensory processing disorder, but I deal with it so I haven't bothered to talk to a diagnostician about it.

[TophBeiFong]

I used to get severe migrane-like-symptoms all through my growing up years. I had auras, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, balance issues, misjudged distances, had an unsteady gait, was perpetually dizzy and nauseated, sometimes had halting speech, extreme pain... All the symptoms in the quiz in their most extreme form, plus a few others not included, such as incessant pain verses comming/going. It wasn't "I had a migrane last saturday." It was "My life = pain. Can I die?" I was often suicidal, wanting to end the pain. Painkillers didn't work on me, "because I'm special like that." Most pain killers work by sending signals to your brain to release dopamine. I'm guessing that after 12+ years of unrelenting pain, my body just couldn't make enough dope to do any good! It was meningioma, a form of "benign" tumorous cells, that can nevertheless pack a big punch over time. It happened slowly.... Over years. The pain slowly, skowly increased to be unbearable.

Long story short, How to waste 12+ years of your life: Think a brain tumor is a migrane. Treat it as such. Go to country town family doctors who didn't believe that you're not and never were on drugs!

[Blue Phoenix Ace]

so until someone tests my headaches in a way that they can tell by measure whether it is a migraine or not, I assume that they are not migraines.

There are no tests that can detect migraines. They don't show up on X-ray, MRI, CT scan, nothing. All a doctor can go on is the patient's description of their symptoms, and you have described a migraine perfectly. Welcome to the club. Now, go tell your doctor about it. They can give you medicine that might help, or help you identify triggers so you can avoid them altogether.

[Blue Phoenix Ace]

Also, it's not typical to get headaches more than once a month (so I hear). If you are experiencing multiple headaches a week, you may be getting migraines.

[Sally]

I take prescription rizatriptin, which works by shrinking the artery in my temple (usually the right side). It works well for me, but I know that for people with really hideous migraines, nothing but time works. You can also use a huge dose of caffeine.

[Guest]

Never had one. I get bloody bad hangovers though :p

[Busrider]

No migraines and only one bad hangover so far. - No clue if moderation or sticking to vodka is to blame.

[Guest]

No migraines and only one bad hangover so far. - No clue if moderation or sticking to vodka is to blame.

Yeah I hardly get hungover at all if I drink an expensive bottle of vodka.. Sadly I usually stick to cheap wine and beer.. ow hangover *cries*

[Ace-TheTimelordsCompanion]

Well, this last migraine I have now is not going away. Mainly aura screwing everything up, but pain, nausea and light/sound sensitivity have been coming and going too. I am half way through week for of this total and utter rubbish :(

[Rising Sun]

Well, this last migraine I have now is not going away. Mainly aura screwing everything up, but pain, nausea and light/sound sensitivity have been coming and going too. I am half way through week for of this total and utter rubbish :(

What treatments do you have ?

[DangerFive]

I'm lucky. I get ocular migraines - the aura without any pain whatsoever. The aura lasts for about a half hour and then I'm good to go. I used to get pretty bad migraines though - no aura, but lots of pain, nausea, light sensitivity - due to, uh, female things. But that's a non-issue these days.

[Alamoraine]

I get migraines all the time. They tend to happen when I haven't eaten anything for an extended period of time; other times I'm pretty sure they're caused by tension and anxiety. I have to constantly switch back and forth from the pills I take because if I take one kind for too long, it becomes far less effective. Most of the time I can sleep it off, but occasionally I have a bear that lasts a couple of days. -_-

[Ace-TheTimelordsCompanion]

Well, this last migraine I have now is not going away. Mainly aura screwing everything up, but pain, nausea and light/sound sensitivity have been coming and going too. I am half way through week for of this total and utter rubbish :(

What treatments do you have ?

I'm on pain and nausea meds at the moment, they keep switching around which ones, so I'm not on anything too long, right now I have codiene and somethingorotherclopromide or something. I'm losing track of what they have tried. They tried some that were specifically for migraines, they made me feel worse not better, and did nothing for the aura. They want me to see a naurologist but it's going to take a while to get an appointment :( :(

I am also eating things with ginger or mint in, to help settle my stomach

[ponz]

Migraines/headaches are one of the few health issues that I don't have. XD

Migraines/headaches are one of the few health issues that I don't have. XD

[TattooedSherlock]

i get migraines as a side effect of HRT (not transitioning, have an autoimmune disorder where my body attacks its own ovaries). the first sign a migraine will start for me is when i start slurring speech. have had people ask me before if i was drunk or having a stroke lol.

[Sally]

Wow, I just read a lot of the above posts from people who have really horrible long-lasting migraines. I will never complain about my migraines again.

[Ace-TheTimelordsCompanion]

Ahh, my younger, more naive self ticked that the longest I had had a migraine was a week. That was about 2 and a half months ago, and I still have the same migraine. This is horrible. Hugs to everyone.




Awww, thanks Sally, but it isn;t a competition :) Any migraine is a horrible migraine.

[Heckin Chonkosaurus]

Along with a few of the main options*, I get really bad dizzy spells, sometimes so that I can't safely walk about, I have to use my walking stick (mainly used because of spinal disc issues), which is a colossal pain in the arse.

My biggest triggers are stress, tiredness (which adds a further layer of delight to being an insomniac) and certain foods - too much coffee, too much dark chocolate and too much cheese, the final one being the most heartbreaking of all.

* Was glad to see the garbled speech option, I honestly thought I was having a stroke first time it happened. The main symptom for me is using similar sounding words that make no contextual sense.

[cavalier080854]

I inherited my migraines from my mother, hers stopped when she hit the menopause, my father and sister never got them.

[AshenPhoenix]

This poll is being locked and moved to the read only Census archive for it's respective year. As part of ongoing Census organization, and in an attempt to keep the demographics of the polls current with the active user base at the time, the polls will last for one year from now on. However, members are allowed and even encouraged to re-start new polls similar to the archived ones if they like them.

 

AshenPhoenix, Administrator