Everyday I feel as if I am alone, dealing with this awful pain that controls my life. After reading some of these entries, I realize that I am not actually and that there are others that have the same problems and feel the same pain that I do. We may not be close distance wise but pain wise were are all the same, in a way. So how come even after reaching this conclusion do I still feel so alone?
I am in college now and my whole life revolves around my pain level. I can not go out everytime that I want and I can not always do all the work that I want...does this explain why sometimes it is lonely?
How do we get past this feeling? I am sorry if this is a bad entry but sometimes writing it out can help.
Anyways, this is my thought for the day....a Saturday and I am sitting in the apartment alone because my head is about to burst from the cluster attacks to the regular daily headache to the migraine...oh what to do...
Thanks for listening, I needed to rant. :)

Jill <rajibar@stapower.net>
Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 15:00:30

Hey everyone. I have an interesting and terrible story. I have had migraine symtom headaches for some time now, but I had never been diagnosed until I arrived here. I am a Cadet at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. Migraines to the point where they inhibit you from doing your job will get you kicked out of this place. I am training to become a soldier and leader of America for tomorrow. If there is anyway I can learn to cope with these headaches and stay here to serve you, please let me know. I have tried a different diet, less stress, sleeping right, drinking plenty of fluids, pills, crawling in a dark room, sleeping, relaxation techniques. Nothing seems to be working. My mother says they are temporary, but she doesnt know. No one really does. Helping me through these will be your little subtle way of helping out our country. Thanks so much.

Rob <spikeu4@aol.com>
Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 09:08:53

Hi,

I'm 19 yrs old and I get migraines too...Nobody in my family has them so I really wonder why I get them...If its stress related,my friends who may be as stressed up as me dont seem to get them...Man! and I'm blabbering now coz i'm havin an attack now...

I read several otha entries and the other migraine sufferers mentioned somethg abt time and migraine..I totally agree...mine comes like at 12 noon everyday(during migraine periods) when its scorching hot (I live in Singapore)...I wonder if there's really any relation to weather..But I think there's definetely a relation to food because i noticed tt everytime I eat Roti Prata for breakfast(An indian dish- Fried dough dipped in spiced curry sauce)I will definitely get a migraine attack... I, of course stopped my consumption of Roti Prata.(which is a big loss)

Actually I feel sorry for my family members and friends too when i get an attack coz I really get into a very foul mood and jus wished to be left alone...and they fuss ard me..I know they mean well but I really cant help it sometimes..

Anyway, to all migraine sufferers...hang in there!

choryin <yuany@singnet.com.sg>
Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 00:10:15

My name's Jaimie and I'm 21 years old. I've suffered from migraines for a little over 2 years now. At first I thought they were coming from birth control pills, because they started shortly after I began taking them, but even though I've stopped for nearly a year, I still suffer from migraines often. I've read the posts from a lot of people and many of you write that you have them for sometimes up to 3 days! I couldn't even imagine them lasting that long for me! Mine usually last only 1 day. I had one just last night, actually, and the pain is still fresh in my memory! The symptoms are much like what some of you wrote. There is a horrible pain over my left eye and when my eyes are shut there is a flashing light that looks like a search light rolling over my eyelids. Any light, sound, or movement is just absolute torture and the nausea is terrible even though I've never vomited from a migraine. It normally starts later in the evening, like one woman here wrote it began after 4pm every time. I've noticed the same and every migraine has begun sometime between 4pm and 7pm but I can feel them coming on all day. I sometimes don't have a migraine for a month, but other times I have one several times in a month. I also have terrible ringing in my ears like one person wrote. My ears ring non-stop anyway, but during a migraine it is several times worse! I wish I knew what caused them and what caused them to start in the first place, but my father used to have terrible migraines as well and my family believes it has to do with high stress. I think I believe this because the migraines seem to come during stressful periods in my life, but I wish I knew how to make them stop and vent my stress through a different avenue!!

Jaimie <Dream4Ev0302@aol.com>
Friday, September 13, 2002 at 16:27:08

For MELANA,
I have done the amitryptlene. It made me not want to get up in the mornings. The dose increases weekly on that or did with me anyway. I have done the toradol inj too. They do help faster than the pill but toradol is bad on your body. It can cause renal failure. NOT GOOD! But for the nothing else is working ha or the I do not want to go to er it is ok to use very sparingly as my doc says. Hope this helps you and e-mail me if you have anymore ??????

nikki <sonflr@aol.com>
Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 22:38:29

I have read a few letters; I work with the people how suffererd with migraine and headhache since 1988. I'm physical therapist in St-Basile Le Grand in Quebec. We have good results in treating this king of problem. You have to work in the three causes:neck inflammation or stifness, emotional problem and your way of life in relation with the food and the work and the rest.

Normally after 2 months or treatment with a physical trerapist who knows this problem, there is a great improoving and the person doesn't need medication.

Don't discourage yourself, there are solutions and these solutions are not in taking medication.

Nicole Bilodeau, pht

nicole bilodeau <nicole_bilodeau@sympatico.ca>
Tuesday, September 10, 2002 at 16:42:47

I stumbled across this site while trying to fine research for a speech I am going to give on migraines. I am 19 years old and I have been suffering from migraines since I was eight. I am currently taking 100mg of topamax everday to prevent them and I take 100mg of Imitrex when I get one. I was to the point where I was in pain almost everyday. My senior year of high school I missed over a month of school because of them. Right now the topamax, which I have been on for three months now has reduced my migraines to about ten a month. I feel for everyone who has felt the pain that I have. Unless someone has had a migraine they are rarely understanding about how seriouly it effects our lives.

heather
Monday, September 9, 2002 at 12:09:59

I just found this site and I must say it has helped me a lot reading the entries and realizing that there are many people who are suffering from this awful pain, yet they have the courage and strength to face it and fight it. I have been suffering from headaches for about the last two years and still am not sure if they are migraines or something else. However the descriptions seem to fit what I have been feeling. I have been to a few doctors and have had a number of tests run. One test examined the amount of metals in my body and I found out that I have mercury, lead, aluminum, and arsenic at higher than normal levels. I wonder if there is any correlation there? Also one doctor advised me to have the metal fillings in my teeth replaced because of the mercury content. I have done that, but so far no change in the headaches. I also had a root canal performed about two years ago, and although my dentist can't see anything wrong, it still hurts and seems to be tied into the headaches. To add insult to injury, another test performed to determine my allergies to food, showed all sorts of reactions including beer. So I have been tip toeing around various foods for the last two years and it doen't seem to have any effect.
Ah well. At least my pain doesn't seem to be as bad as most of the people who have written to this site, and I really wish them well and hope there can be some better cure for this.
Tom in Atlanta.

Tom <Tomkmac@aol.com>
Sunday, September 8, 2002 at 18:57:20

As do everyone who has posted I too have migraines. I am glad I found this site. I may not write a long letter as it is late and i still have a migraine. I have had one for 3 days now and missed 3 days of work. About 3 weeks ago I got in trouble at work for being out for 3 other days. I told my boss and union steward that I was having a migraine headache. Imagine getting in trouble for a migraine. Ahhhh!!. Anyway. I read all the posts that were listed and I feel for everyone. Once I read a book about migraines and a teen age boy drew a picture of his migraine and I said that is the way I feel when I get one. Mine start out in the back of my head at the base of my skull then go all over my head like a vice has gripped my head then it goes to one side of my head and stays there. Sometimes I thow up. I went to my doctor today and he gave me a shot. It was the first time I have ever had a shot for a migraine. The headache went away for a while. But it is back. I have now seen spots every once in a while. that are there for a split second then go away, which I never did before and my ears continously ring. Midrin makes me feel like a zombie. I remamber someone saying that in their post. This is the weekend and Monday I hope my headaches are gone. My Dad used to have bad headaches where he had to go to bed with a cold cloth. Also my mom's dad had what he called " sick headaches". So I do beleave it runs in families. I hope and pray that everyone finds releif soon. Cheers everyone.

Terri <terrisdollhouse@aol.com>
Saturday, September 7, 2002 at 00:43:38

My wife has suffered with a headache for about 14 years. The pain is constant and varies in intensity from mild to severe enough to put her in bed for a couple of days. She also has classic migraine head aches on top of the constant pain. We have tried just about every drug, she has had MRI's ,Cat scans,
even accupunture. Presently she takes tylenol and advil and Imitrex. We don't really know what else is out there as far as relief short of trying different drugs which is no answer.
Help!!!

bob anderson <banderson@chaffee.net>
Wednesday, September 4, 2002 at 20:09:59

HI, it was interesting to read all the stories. I feel your pain. My first migraine came when I was 24 years old and pregnant with my 2nd child (a boy, I always said it was those male hormones!). It lasted for 3 months, came every day at around 4pm then never came again for almost 20 years. That one was classic migraine, they thought I was stroking out, the left side of my body became numb, cold, weak, then the eye flashing stuff then an hour later the headache would hit. Headache didn't describe it. I wanted to die. Vomiting, the whole bit.
Anyway - almost 20 years later. I started having migraines again, but not quite that intensity. But, I have just 'celebrated' one full year of having headache nearly every single day. Will this last the rest of my life? I hope not! I started with GP, went to neurologist and then to pain management. These headaches are there, every day. When they intensify, they throb at my left temple, down my neck and back of skull, the pressure is so great! Sometimes I am nauseated. Currently I am on blood pressure meds, valproic acid (anti-seizure, not approved for migraine, but that's why I'm on it). I have had a nerve block... nothing helps long term.
I have no answers for any of you (us). But, if your doctor tells you that daily headaches are not a pattern of migraine, just read through all these entries! God Bless, hope there's a cure.

Vaira <wyllbee@yahoo.com>
Wednesday, September 4, 2002 at 12:35:37

Hello, I'm 30 yrs old. I can remember I first started having headaches when I was about 16. At first i would have them about once every 3 months, then i would get them about once a month, lasting about 3 days or more. My doctor said it was my menstral cycle causing it, then he said i was having sinus infection..never giving me anything for the pain, he would give me antibiotics for the infection. Whenever i would get the headaches they would start out with a slight pain over my left eye, if i could take about 4 excedrin and 4 tylenol sinus right when it started, I might have some kind of releif, but if I couldn't get those meds....I was done for 3 days or more. The headache usually felt like somebody had a knife just stabbing me over the eye, then it went down to my neck and i would fill so sick. I would have take those days off from work and just lay in bed in a drk room. I would apply pressure with my fist to my head, almost like knawing, trying to do anything to make the pain go away. Finally, I switched to a female doctor and she got the ball rolling. I tried alot of things first, but the would only mask the headache and what finally worked for me was Imitrex and I am so glad that something worked the same day, instead of me having to wait 3 or more days.

Rhonda Burgman <rhondaburgman@hotmail.com>
Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 12:46:41

Dear All

I am so glad I have now found a web site were I feel that I am not the only one suffering. I am 41 and have been suffering from migraine since I was about 12 years old. Most of my imediate family suffer from some form of migraine. (father,sisters,brother and now two of my nephews)

The symptons that I get when I have a migraine are, at first I feel totally confused and feel that everything around me is not real, I then feel that I cannot talk as my words are very slurred. After this I have coloured flashing zig-zags which start in my right eye and eventually moves over to my left eye which at times leaves me disabled as I am unable to see. The migraine then progresses to a thumping headache with nausea and pins and needles down one side of my body. This can last between 1hour to 8hours and afterwards I feel totally exhausted for a day or two.

I am currently having these migraines at least once or twice a week, I was having them everyday but my GP put me on beta-blocker which have lessened the migraines but I am now waiting for an appointment at the hospital to see if there is anyway I can keep them under more control.

I am very worried about the days that I have to take off of work, because my employers are not very understanding and I feel that they just see this as any other minor headache. I really feel strongly that there should be some sort of campaign to let doctors and employers of people who do suffer from migraine do understand that this condition is out of the control of the sufferer. I feel because there are so many young people who suffer from this condition, that they need as much support as they can get for when they go into employment and that their employer (and doctor) understands the condition fully.

sorry to go on so much but I feel that I did not and I am still not at the age of 41 getting any support from my GP and employer whilst there is still no cure for this terrible condition. I do hope that everyone finds their own method of dealing with their migraines, and I would like to say good luck to you all.

Jeannette

Jeannette <Dabbs.jeannette@talk21.com>
Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 08:17:29

I am glad to see that I am not alone in this. Not glad that we all have to suffer like this. I am a 33 year old female. I have been having migraines since January 2002. So this is sort of new for me. After 4 months of daily headaches and weekly migraines, I came across a website called www.truthinlabeling.com which educated me to the dangerious effects of MSG. I tried eliminating MSG and other ingredients associated with MSG and it made a hugh difference. My headaches were extremely mild and each week I was identifying more and more chemical triggers that were responsible for causing my headaches and migraines. I thought I had it under control. For 4 months I managed to eat healthy and I lost over 50 pounds. Well sadly 3 weeks ago, the cycle of intense headaches and mirgraines has started again. I have tried every triptan drug out there and every one of them has intensified the pain. My doctor now has me trying Topamax for migraine prevention, which is an anti-seizure medication. It is NOT FDA approved for mirgraine prevention. I figured I might as well try it and see if it helps. She also put me on Fioricet which helped at the time I took it, but the mirgraine came right back the next day. I was told not to take more then 3 Fioricet in a week since it is highly addictive and I worry about the dangers of dependency since that leads to more migraines.
I am curious to know if anyone out there has had a similar experience with having a headache every single day and if they had any success with anti-seizure medications. I was diagnosed with Migraines with Aura. Althought the only Aura I get is blurred vision in the right eye. My pain is on the right side. Starts with the pain on the right eyebrow, stabbing pain in the right ear, pain on the right temple, the entire right side of the head down to the neck area. I always feel a pain at the top of the head like someone pushing on it with their finger. My head feels swollen, hot, and I feel a dripping feeling inside.
I also become sensitive to smells and sounds. No vomiting, just extrememly tired and weak. If you can relate or can offer any advice please email me.
It's good to be able to talk to someone who understand. Not much support out there. God Bless You All.
My prayers are with you. I hope that someday very soon, we will have a cure.
Julie

Julie <dearjewl@aol.com>
Friday, August 30, 2002 at 20:45:33

Hi, my name is Briana and I am so glad I found this website! I have had headaches almost everyday for almost as long as I can remember, but the first time I remember having a migraine I was 14 years old. I would only get them once or twice a year until I was about 19, and they weren't that bad. I am now 22, and for the last 3 years, I have been getting them every one to five months, and lately they seem to be getting more intense and longer in duration. I live a very healthy lifestyle, I am not overweight, I eat right, never skip meals, and exercise 4-5 times per week, and drink lots of water. I don't smoke, drink or do drugs, and I have no other health problems and take no routine medications. I don't even have any family members who suffer from migraines. I see blinding lights first, then flashing zig-zag lights with colors, and then mild pain with throbbing, followed by severe pain, pressure, and nausea. There's so much pressure that I feel like I just want to poke a hole in my head and let some of it out. The last few times, I have also felt really shaky, weak and sweaty. My most recent migraine was 2 days ago, and I still feel like I am drunk. I feel dizzy and weird. I just want to die when I get a migraine. I have to just stop whatever I am doing and go home and go to bed. I hate it when I feel like crap and people ask me if I want some tylenol. I know they are just trying to help, but people who have never really had a migraine just have NO idea what it is like. Even my doctor is not very understanding. I have been keeping a migraine journal for the last couple of years and have been unable to find a link between migraine triggers such as diet, menstrual cycle, etc., and my migraines, although I think disturbances in my sleep schedule may play a part in them. One thing I did notice is that they usually happen on a Monday or Tuesday. I have been taking Midrin for few years, but it seems to be working less and less, and two days ago when I took it, it didn't work at all. Also, I have tried Imitrex a few times and it does not do anything at all for me. I am in nursing school and am less than a year away from my BSN and RN degree, and I would really like to get this under control. Does anyone have any similar experiences or ideas for medicines or treatments to try? I would be glad to talk to anybody - just email me. Thanks.

Briana <bjhspain36@hotmail.com>
Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 20:08:35