hey everyone, im 15 years old and ive had bad headachs since I was a little girl. I can remember complaining to my mom when I was as young as 6 that my head hurt. The pain only lasted for a couple hours but as I age, my pain gets worst and lasted longer and now I have developed migrains. Around age 10 the headachs stopped for about 2 years, going into grade 7 they started again. My parents thought maybe it was the weight form my thick hair that was causing it but I would get my hair cut really short and still the pain would just got worse.
Now it is at the point when I get a migrain, I have to take a couple pills and a bottle of water, go to my room close the blind and sleep for a couple hours in the dark. The pain can get so bad that my vision goes all blurry, i can't talk normal and I hope I don't black out. Ive had a migrain for five days now and then pain is starting to dull. My ears are still ringing, I still have presure in my temples and my neck and my shoulders are still killing me but it is dulling a little bit. For medication, I was taking just asprin, but it was getting to the point that I was talking 8-10 a day and still in tears from the pain. So I moved to about 4 Advil for migraine relief and 3 Advil-extra strength ibuprofen tables a day. I went to the doctors about the problem and he sent me to a migraine specialist. He told me it was stress causing it, at the time I thought that could be it because I just finished school. It it now the end of august and ive had migraines all summer long. I don't have a job and I sleep into 11 every morning...what do I have to be stressed about? He also made an appointment for me to get a CT scan. He made the appointment in earliy july and my appointment was booked for late march of 2005.
So now I am trying to find something that will help me until then. I am starting grade 10 in a week and im in constant pain, how am I surposed to concentrate like this? I have read all of your entres and ive writen down some of your advice and hopefully sometime will help me. I asked my doctor if there was some sort of medication he could put me on, he said no because I was to young and didn't want me to be on medication for the rest of my life. So im amusing he rather me be in constant pain and suffering until im 18 and then out me on heavy medication for the rest of my life.
I want to thank you to everyone that have their advice posted, if I find anything that helps I will post it. Also, if u have anything that you think will help me please email me. I wish everyone migrain-free days!

Andrea LeBar

Andrea <hockeygurl__89@hotmail.com>
Monday, August 30, 2004 at 11:32:23

I get migraines. I am fortunate, I only get the visual effects with a mild headache following. I went to two ophtamologists to confirm it. I was keeping a log of the almost daily aura's.
Then I read on Rhondas migraine page about the connection between tannins and migraines. This was about 6 years ago, I think. It clicked because I had switched to tea as a replacement for coffee just a year before. I switched because coffee was causing me stomach problems. Could it be this simple, I thought?
First I dropped all tea drinking and went back to coffee. Within two days the migraines stopped. I went for 42 days without a migraine.
With my minor symtoms, I thought and experiment was in order. So I went back on tea and was OK for a few weeks, but then the auras started again. I tried this several times, keeping logs, and without fail two days after I stopped drinking tea the migraines stopped. I experimented with different teas and found that it doesn't make a whole lot of difference what brand. However it does seem to make a difference how I steep the tea. If I let it steep for more than 4 minutes it causes problems. But each time eventually even that precaution stop working.
Over the 40 years I have been an adult, I have tied some funny symtoms to tea. I get numbness in my forearms if I sleep with my elbows bent. I verified over several years that it was iced tea drinking in the summer months causing the numbness. Now that I am older the problem seems to have moved to my shoulder and I have added chocolate to causes of that problem. Strangly, elseh, chocolate doesn't increase my migraines.
Has anyone else noticed a connection between tea and any of these symtoms?

David <Dave1bart@Prodigy.net>
Sunday, August 29, 2004 at 01:32:51

For 40 years I have been involved in researching tinnitus. I have an extensive background in medical/pharmaceutical research.
A fair number of tinnitus patients involved in our studies were
also migraine sufferers. Although migraine relief wasn't our primary aim, still we had some patients that claimed their headaches subsided while also being relieved of the noises in their ears. I do not claim to have a cure for either condition, but I do have a formula that has shown exemplatory results as far as tinnitus is concerned. The product is not commercially available and I have no intention in getting back into business. I have tried getting a few pharmaceutical companies interested in producing the product as an OTC but all they wanted was the whole pie and give very little to nothing in return. It's a crying shame that a product like this with its potential will not get out ont the market, but so it be.
As far as having researched lemon bioflavonoids and vinpocetine, I have looked deeply into both these ingredients. As for the bioflavonoids, I do not find any use or jstification for their use for meniers, headaches or tinnitus. As for vinpocetine, in proper combinations with other synergistic ingredients it has a potential for tinnitus but not for migraine. I worked in Germany for many years with vinpocetine
and although many of the claims that they report are somewhat exadurated, the product appears to have some value. Now back to migrains. Magnesium appears to demononstrate some benefit but I would not hold out too much hope for it being a cure all.
There are some combinations of ingredients that might be beneficial to migraine sufferers but they are not available in the US.

Dr. T <www.mbm.org>
Thursday, August 26, 2004 at 12:28:38

I am only 16 yrs. old and I have had migraines since I was 14. My dad who is 47, has had them since he was a teen. I have been on 6 different kinds of migraine medications, and not one of them worked. Some made me fell depressed all the time, I got to where I wanted to kill myself. My Dr told me that I had not given the medicine time to get in my system like it should. I told her that I was tired of feeling the way I did and I quit taking it against her advice. Some made me sleep all day. I would go to school, and I would sleep until time to go home, if I made it to the end of the day. Most of the time one of my teachers would call and have someone pick me up early. I would stay up all night trying to do everything I missed while I was asleep. Some didn't do anything. I still had the migraines, I stayed awake in class, I slept good at night, my life was like I wasn't taking anything at all. I have researched so many medications, its not even funny, when I go to my Dr. she always says that its only meant for adults. The medications she had me on before was also made for adults, so what would be the difference? My insurance is accepted at very few places so it has been hard for me to find a new Dr. I can't see a nerologist with out aa referrel or my insurance won't pay. I've had an MRI but they said I was normal. But how would they know? every person is different so just because you are normal doesn't mean that I am normal by the same standards. How can tell they tell since they don't have pictures of me before my headaches? Maybe I am just remembling on, but no one should have to live one day with the pain a migraine brings on. And no one can tell us that they know what we are going through, "they have had headaches", but not like ours, so how do they know?

Jamee <silently_screaming07@hotmail.com>
Monday, August 23, 2004 at 12:21:11

Hello fellow pain survivors,

I was diagnosed with migraine headaches 7 years ago, but have suffered from yearly sinus infections (minimum 1-2 times per year) since I was 10. I have almost daily pain of some sort, whether it be simple sinus congestion or a full-blown three day near-death experience. Over the past 6 months I have been suffering from bouts of vertigo as well. Needless to say, I've had to make several adjustments in my life just to get by:

1. I only see one of my friends anymore, the others are somewhat unsympatheic.
2. I have to exercise almost every day to reduce stress and keep my neck from hurting (usually the start of my pain). If I skip a couple of days I run the risk of getting a headache.
3. My vision may blur, my speech may slur, and I may feel depressed at any given moment. People think there is something wrong with me when I try to interact in these situations.
4. I am afraid to go on trips/vacations since I have developed full-blown headaches during those times.
5. I never reveal my condition at work anymore (see below)
6. I basically plan my day expecting to be in pain.
7. I have taken enough Excedrin Migraine to kill a horse.

I've been to a neurologist, an ENT, had two CAT scans, one MRI, and put countless amounts of painkillers through my body -- all to no avail. None of the prescription medication helps me. I've been through so much pain (physically and mentally) that sometimes I don't know how I still wake up in the morning. Sometimes I wonder what I did right to keep from dying.

My pain was diganosed originally while working in an extremely stressful job situation. On top of it, the supervisors there were extremely unsympathetic. I had used all of my sick and vacation time due to migraines and all they did was give me low job reviews and make me feel like I did something horribly wrong. These were the kind of people that rarely get headaches at all, and can take 1/2 of an aspirin to stop the pain. I haven't been able to do that since I was about 8 years old.

Even before the migraines started, I started seeing a chiropractor occasionally to help with the sinuses (a drug addiction of another sort). This helps only sometimes. During this time period, I was seeing one that also did accupunture. During one visit with a full-blown migraine, the pain was so bad that I removed the accupuncture needles before the doctor could.

After he adjusted me, I went home and eventually wound up going to the emergency room that night at 10 pm. They gave me an IV of an anti-nausea drug and that was the only thing that made it go away. The pain level that night was off the charts. I was almost blacking out, and I thought for sure I was dying. The fact that I woke up the next morning totally surprised me. Missing more time from that job only put me further down the respect list.

Eventually, I filed with the EEOC, but it was rejected saying that "there wasn't enough evidence to prove my job was causing me undue stress". I swear on my soul that I never had this problem until I worked there. Eventually, I just walked in one day and resigned.

Since this job, I still live with the pain. Some days are better than others, but there have been a few times when I almost went to the hospital again. Once, I even went so far as to load my .357 magnum and sit with in my lap. I was almost certain that I was going to have to kill myself because I had just reached the end of my rope. But I couldn't -- giving in to death only meant those jerks at that job would win.

People have asked me to turn to religion for help, but I am not a religious person. Praying has never helped. Sometimes I believe that a god of some sort exists and enjoys torturing us for its own amusement. I usually just wind up cursing out god at 3 am.

I don't see any relief in sight, so I have just learned to deal with this "lifestyle". My experience has made me feel like a war veteran of sorts, someone who has battled the enemy repeatedly but never won the war. Some day I might drop dead from this, but hopefully not. For me, the key to dealing with this is to find solace in something that appeals to you -- art, music, sports, whatever. Do it an enjoy it. Overdo it if you want to. Remember, you pay a daily price for being able to do so.

Above all, I thank you reading and wish nothing but pain-free days for you all.

Frank
Sunday, August 22, 2004 at 00:02:51

Most of my family has suffered from migraines for as long as I can remember. I myself have for over 20 years. Something we have found that reduces the frequency and severity is grapeseed extract. My dad only gets about one a year now. My daughters have been reuced immensely in severity. It probably won't work for everyone but if it can help even one of you it was worth posting. Grapeseed is available over the counter and is not very expensive. It also has good effects on your circulitory system. Good luck to all of you.

Robbi <robbi.1068@sbcglobal.net>
Friday, August 20, 2004 at 23:36:12

I have had a bad migraine for 7 days now. I have had a headache since I was 11 pretty much non-stop. I will tell you, when these bad ones hit, it stops everything I am doing, like living my life. I am running out of prescriptions to take, my tolerance has grown as big as my headache. I want it to stop! I don't want this pain any more! I want to stop shaking, I want to stop grinding my teeth, I want to eat, I want to stop hitting my temples, I want to go back to work, I want to play with my son, I want to sleep, I want to take this damn ice off my head, I want to have these horrible thoughts to stop passing through my head, I want to stop feeling sorry for myself. I want some effin' relief!! I am a man, I do have a life and I want it back. I am ready to write, "the pain is dulling." in my stupid HA log, - novel.
Thank you all for letting me vent.
Aaron

Aaron <aaronhorton@centurytel.net>
Friday, August 20, 2004 at 11:13:03

Update to what I posted Aug of �97........
.Rhonda - after 20 years of a life like those listed here, I finally found a solution that works from MEDLINE...simply spray 5 squirts of 4% lidocaine, etc 1 minute apart, in one or both nostrils at the FIRST tickle of h/a....repeat in 10 minutes and so on 'till pain is reduced....lidocaine washes out of your system a couple of hours, so don't worry about repeating thru the day to keep the pain down....my doc and druggist and I put this together from WEB info.....too simple?....maybe, but I've had clusters since '77, been there, taken ALL that and this is the first "treatment" that has given me my life back.....(a month passed).....just returned from my ENT....he finally realized that my using lidocaine, Anbesol, benzocaine etc. intranasally indicated a trigger point in the nose possibly responsible for "clusters".... he "probed" it and got an "explosive" response from me....yeowww....he send me for head CT scan and in an hour discovered I've had a "deviated thick nasal septum" since birth (or from an injury).....(??why didn't the other ENTs, docs, etc spot this 20 years ago?)....the deviation bent the septum to the right, contacting the outer nasal wall....that contact spot is my "trigger point", which responds to irritation, inflammation, pressure, congestion, temperature changes, etc and ALSO responds to topical mucous anesthetics (4% lidocaine, benzocaine, etc - Anbesol works great in aborting the "flash pain" of a cluster) when carefully sprayed or daubed at the VERY FIRST sensation of pain in that area, signaling the onset of a cluster...in a few minutes the trigger spot is dead and I'm no longer thrashing around in agony....great relief!!!!.....my ENT has me scheduled for outpatient surgery (nasal septal reconstruction) Monday morning...at the least it will help clear my congestion, breathing and snoring...at the best it will "break" the contact point of it's pressure and stop my clusters...give a week or so to recover and I'll let you folks know how it all comes out...keep your fingers crossed!....if it works some of us may have another choice!!!!..later.

.Now � the update...it�s been seven!!! (7) whole years I haven�t had a single twinge of pain SINCE...it worked!!!......cluster migraines ARE NOT headaches � they are rhinofacial pain not unlike Sluder�s Syndrome........do the above and get it fixed and NEVER hurt again!!!!!

.......pass it on, please?

....JBD valde@icehouse.net

JB DeMotte <valde@icehouse.net>
Monday, August 16, 2004 at 17:44:10

I am a 32 yr old female. I suffered from migraines since I was 18. I started taking Midrin for them in the begining, but eventually that stopped working. I went to various neuros just looking for some relief. I was even hospitalized for a week one time on a morphine drip for "intractable migraine." The meds my docs gave me for the pain began to get progressively stronger. I cannot take any of the "triptan" meds (like Imitrex) because they cause my blood pressure and pulse to go dangerously high. I tried the following "preventive" meds: propanolol, neurontin, topamax and many others that I cannot remember at this point. For pain, I was taking Lortab 10 on a regular basis, Stadol NS, and occassionally percocet. This in addition to the many trips to the ER for demerol or morphine injections.

Ultimately, the pain became so severe that I ended up quitting my career of 6 years. Once I was removed from the stress of work, the migraines improved a bit, and I applied and was accepted to law school. (Going to law school had always been a dream of mine). Unfortunately, once I started law school the migraines came back full force. I struggled through my first semester, and one night at the end of the first semester I was driving home from a final. I had been up all night before studying, not eating enough, just generally not taking care of myself. On the way home (driving in the snow no less) I had a seizure while driving and wrecked my car. All the neuros could find no reason for the seizures... sure, I had migraines, but all my CT Scans, MRI, and EEGs were normal. I did not have epilepsy. My electrolytes were in the normal range. They could find no reason at all for the seizure.

Unfortunately, this was not my last seizure. I had several more over the next couple of years, still with no apparent cause. Finally, one night I began acting very "loopy." My husband immediately rushed me to the ER (at this point we had moved to a very large city with excellent hospitals) and they immediately admitted me. They took my blood sugar and it was 12. (Most people go unconscious when the level goes below 30). I was perfectly conscious, just acting crazy. A normal blood sugar range is anywhere from 90-120. The odd thing was, I had just eaten about an hour before the episode occured. I ended up in the hospital for 6 days during which time I was not allowed to eat for the entire 6 days. My blood was tested every 2-4 hours. Ultimately, I was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia. This was the cause of the migraines and the seizures. I very, very rarely get a migraine now, and when I do, a plain old Aleve will get rid of it.

I highly recommend all of you migraine suffers to have yourself tested for hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar caused all of my problems (hypoglycemia is the opposite of diabetes). All I had to do to treat the hypoglycemia is eat several small meals a day, check my blood sugar regularly with a home monitor, and add more protein into my diet.

Hypoglycemia may be causing your migraines too. I urge all of you suffering the terrible pain of migraines to be tested for hypoglycemia. My quality of life is wonderful now... I do not live in fear of migraines anymore, nor do I have to take narcotic pain meds.

I hope this helps someone.

KimG
Sunday, August 15, 2004 at 06:22:03

Hello..I have had migraine headaches for as long as I can remember. I am 27. I get migraines, sinus, cluster, stress, and tension headaches. I don't think there is ever a day that I feel completely well..I had sinus surgery to try and help that problem...still healing...probably didn't help...What I want to know is if anyone gets that pain/pressure in the eye socket? It feels soooooo good if I lightly put pressure on my eye...I take Midrin. Sometimes it helps, and sometimes it doesn't. I just want to feel well.. I notice that the weather also affects my headaches...Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...it's so difficult to live a productive life when you never feel well...Good luck to all with headaches and I wish you find a way to be without them. Please email me if you want to talk about things that help you!

Kate <nursegirlie@earthlink.net>
Thursday, August 12, 2004 at 12:21:48

I have had migraines as long as I can remember. I remember coming home from school with headaches in the 1st grade. My Mom said I would get headaches, especially on the days we had spaghetti at school. I had a great bus driver in school, he always watched out for me. He even let me sit under a shade tree one time while he went around the block. It is now 2004 and I am 45 years old. I noticed that I would keep a migraine on the week I was off of birth control pills. I mentioned this to my GYN. I now take the pill four months at a time before I stop taking them for a week. Now I rarely get migraines except for the week I am off the pill and they are not as severe. I take the 20 mg Imitrex nasal spray. It seems to work fairly well, but most times I have to take a second dose to keep the migraine from re-occuring. I guess that I will always have migraines, but now they do not dominate my life.
Thanks to Modern Medicine.....

Shirley
Monday, August 9, 2004 at 15:51:38

Hi Everyone. I am 28 and have had migraines since I was 19. It started in college so I assumed it was do to the stress, moving away from home, late nites yadda yadda. I started watching my behavior and talking to doctors. I did the whole journal thing (depressing when you see you have a migraine at level 7 3-4 x a month), tried the trigger diagnosis-nothing, it's genetic!, and started seeing a neuroloigist. My first visit I was put on Depakote daily and given immitrex for taking as needed. I was wary about the Depokote-the doc didn't know me or even ask many questions about my history. So I stopped taking it (it wasn't even doing anything) and found a new doc. My new neurologist was great! SHE listened to my feelings and understood about how I felt about taking "any drug". We tried the Nortriptilian for 2 years-no diference, then the imitrex stopped working since my body was used to it. My doc didn't like it when I told her i had to take 5-7 at once for any relief-that was after i'd used the shot for 2 years ouch!
We went to Zomig. It's been working ok. You get the same crappy, icky side effects of imitrex but it works well. Of course 1 pill costs $50 so I can only get it when I have health insurance.
During the past 9 years in addition to the the mirgiane-specific drugs, I was taking 4 Advil and 4 Excedrin every morning to stop the constant dull head pain I have most of the time. It's a bit much so my new doc has helped me switch to Naproxen. I take 1000 mg every morning and pray. It's been ok. I've cut down my headaches to about 2 a month. I hope my liver holds out.
Now I'm moving so no more health insurance. Scary stuff.
Why can't these pills be cheaper!!! We NEED them to LIVE a normal life!!

Kate Noble <digikate01@yahoo.com>
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 at 16:59:11

I've been suffering from migraines since I was about 13 years old. They're always sporadic. I can go months without having any, and than I'll get one and they won't stop. Symptoms always start out with tunnel vision and than weird blind spots on my right eye. That's when I know I have to sprint for an Imitrex before it's too late. But if I don't get one in time I start to feel really strange. Unable to get my words out, tongue goes numb, occasionally a whole side of my body will get tingly, nasea (sw).. overall it almost feels like my brain won't work. Than the headache hits. Imitrex is my miracle drug. If I take it as soon as I feel the warning signs it takes it away. But, I find myself taking a lot of it because first tiny symptom that even resembles the start of a headache.. I pop an Imitrex. Imitrex has a handful of side effects on me too. My jaw feels like I just blew up 1000 balloons, tightness in my shoulders and neck, difficulty swallowing or eating, and fatigue. All worth it honestly. When my headaches got to the point where Imitrex was a daily thing, I was started on medication. Topamax, than Inderal, than Depakote ER, than Prozac, there was a few more but I don't remember what they were. Topamax (30mg) made it impossible for me to concentrate, so I was taken off. Depakote ER (1500mg) made me gain literally 80 pounds and made my personality go crazy, so I was taken off. (My migraines were actually assumed to be linked to my depression.) Prozac (40mg)worked well but also made me gain weight. Now I am on Inderal LA (80mg) for going on 2 weeks. No headaches so far, but the side effects aren't so great. I have horrible nightmares, I wake up in the middle of the night and see things that aren't there (just off the wall hallucinations), it's rough on my stomach, loss of appetite, and it actually seems to make me slow. I have a hard time talking and getting my thoughts out and actually slur a little bit. I'm hoping that these side effects are only temporary because the drug really does a good job. I guess we'll see though. Seems that no matter what drug you take theres always a downfall. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. Thanks!

Lys <baby_gurl_lys@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 at 21:11:25

Tracy,
My son took Depakote ER for two months and died with acute pantrites. That is a side effect of the medicine that the druge detail person did'nt tell the dr.. My hubsand is a pharmacist and it was'nt in the PDR or what they call blacklined. He also had some relief from botox. I just wanted anyone who takes Depakote ER to let your Dr. know of any strange thing going on,because we just thought my son had the flu.

Brenda gayle mayo <bmayo@ditigalpassage.com>
Friday, July 30, 2004 at 17:57:11

Hi there,

Since I got very drunk a couple of years ago I have had what seems like a constant migraine, I feel very drunk all the time at first i thought it could not be the alcohol but i got drunk again and was sick and my migraine feeling got worse, now i find coping with normal everday life quite crippling and it makes me sad. Ive been to so many doctors and ive had so many docs say it could be this and that,that i am quite fed up.

no one knows how to help me and i dont even know how to help myself sometimes, I really dont have a clue at the moment I just want to get better, migraines are horrid but im actually living inside one and i feel like im dead, tired all the time and detached.

Id love ppl to contact me if they have something similar, actually im begging ppl to contact me i havent got anywhere for so long I just want abit of reality.
tinydancer666@hotmail.com

Clare Blackman <tinydancer666@hotmail.com>
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 at 17:37:06