It's so amazing to find a sight where others suffer from the same malady as myself. I have suffered from headaches since I was 17 years old, I am now 35. When my first headache began I went to a chiropractor, at the advice of my parents, it had gone on for about a week with no sign of abatement. The chiropractor did her thing with no results until she finally put a rubber glove on her finger and pushed on the inside of my upper palate until something popped. She said that that would take care of it, which it did, however, ever since then I was convinced that I was suffering from sinus headaches. I used to joke how I was going to invest in Sudafed, just to recover my loses. It wasn't until one day, 4 years ago, I was reading an article in the LA Times that explained the symptoms of migraines that I started to cry, because I finally understood what was happening to me. Before then I used to think that I was at the mercy of the weather or other cosmic forces, with no ability to predict when one would make its presence known. I finally figured out why in the last couple years I was becoming nauseous and vomiting, I thought I had food poisoning. In reading what others have gone through I realize my episodes are not as severe as some people's, but I do get them at least once a month, always on the left side of my head, always related to my cycle and if it weren't for my medication they would last two days, with me unable to sleep. By the second day I'm extremely weepy. My husband is pretty understanding, but he doesn't get it. In the past he would try to get me to take 3-4 aspirin, with coffee, which only made me feel sick to my stomach, different from feeling nauseous. I would tell him it didn't work, but I think he was trying to help in a situation where ultimately he is helpless. I wish there were a cure. If more men suffered from them I think there would be a greater urgency to find one. At least now I know about when they are going to occur, but the medication I am taking isn't nearly as effective as it was the first time. It's frustrating how people think all you have to do is "x". If it were that simple wouldn't we all be doing that? Although, I think I will try abstaining from caffeine products, I'd rather live without certain things than keep using drugs. Ultimately, it too is hard on the body.

Christine <cgrandeur@aol.com>
Friday, February 8, 2002 at 17:42:06

YEP VENTING TIME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!Went to the neuro yesterday and told her what my friend had done with my meds. And she called me a DRUG ADDICT! Mind you I have not even went in for a shot in the three weeks that I have not had any meds from a friend taking it upon herself to take almost a whole bottle of stadol ns. Yes I have been in the bed a many a days but refused to go into the hospital to get a shot. Then go figure after she called me that she gave me demerol. What's up with that? Call me a druggie cause I told her the truth and then give me a stronger narc. Go figure. My referral got turned down and now I have to get her to give me another. She was mad cause I wanted to see another doc anyway. Took me almost a moth tho get that one. Now she doubled my dose of neurotin again so I will be dizzy for a week and still have this damn headache. She said that telling stories was a sign of becoming addicted. But my thing is that if I were addicted I would have called and asked for another bottle the day after the person did this to me. Am I right in this assumption? Did I call NO and waited my time so I could go back to see her. Guess that's what I get for telling the truth huh. Ok all done now. Thanks for letting me vent. Hope you all have a great week.

nikki <sonflr@aol.com>
Thursday, February 7, 2002 at 22:01:22

dear peopl,
i am currently a student at university i have been currently assigned to do an assinment about migraines, is there anybody that could help me with this assinments, perhaps how the y feel the treatment they use? u may even feel better!!

bushra ahmed <bushraahmed@yahoo.co.uk>
Thursday, February 7, 2002 at 07:26:11

Had my first attack at school before the start of major exams, then after several more they faded. Two years ago they kicked back in agin and I landed up in casualty. At 40 it was a shock. Now they come and go and hit me when I least expect them. Zomig works, I get a lightning display plus numbness and feel awful for 3/4 days. It's frightning.
I would love to hear from others to share the nightmares and drive the horrors away.

Sue <steve@modelpilot.co.uk>
Tuesday, February 5, 2002 at 15:38:48

I am now 23 and just started recognizing the fact that I have migraines. My entire life I have woken up with this really bad headaches, but I always thought it was because I slept too hard. About 4 months ago these headaches got worse in that they lasted all day. I originally thought it was sinus related, but when I went to my physician she told me it was a migraine. Since then I have received CAT scans and MRI's but they always come out normal. My doctor gave me some Immitrex and Amerge but both of these medications actually make my symptoms worse in that they make all the muscles in my neck and back tighten. Like many of you I'm getting depressed because I can't go to school, I'm constantly nauseous, and I can't leave the house because daylight is now my mortal enemy. I'm unsupported at home because my family thinks I'm milking this headache thing, they believe it's "all in my head", when really I wish I could take my head off my body completely. Anyway, I'm glad that there is a place where migraine sufferers can support one another and hope for a day when our pain will finally go away.

Tyra <tyra7778@hotmail.com>
Monday, February 4, 2002 at 11:43:05

Just wanted to pass on some info. I had migraines for years, went to doctors, neuros, chiros, took all kinds of medication, bought different pillows, etc. until one day a doctor told me that he had migraines and when he stopped drinking coffee, his stopped. (Of course, I almost laughed in his face thinking how simplistic the solution was). Anyway, I too, changed my diet. No caffeinated coffee, soda, tea, chocolate, MSG or alcohol. Also watching salt intake. Migraine free for almost 3 months. Hope this helps someone out there. Feel well all. Jane

jane <jane@jane.com>
Sunday, February 3, 2002 at 15:16:57

Hello, everyone! My story is the same as everyone on this page.
I Just got diagnosed with chronic migrianes. Am just trying to deal with it and wonder why it came on all of a sudden. I just started a new job and already missed a day. I try to be strong and not let it get to me. I had my first visit to the ER for the shot, it hurt very bad and the next day i had a test at school and i still felt druged up. I will, not let this headaches stop my dreams!!!!

Deborah Corbin <Debbiepr@aol.com>
Friday, February 1, 2002 at 17:54:10

I have suffered with migraines for years and have been to many doctors, neuros, chiros, etc. I've taken assorted medicationa, most of which have done nothing for my headaches. I have discovered, however, that changing one's diet can decrease the amount and severity of the headaches. Avoid caffeine (coffee, soda, tea, chocolate), alcohol, MSG, excessive salt and too much sugar. Try to exercise, when possible. Try deep breathing for relaxing tense muscles. One doctor, years ago, told me straight out to stop drinking coffee and my migraines would stop. (At the time, I practically laughed in his face not believing it could be that simple). Wish I would have taken his advice sooner! Good luck.

Jane
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 at 21:45:30

A friend who also suffers from migraines is seeking help for her debilitating problem. Her migraines are brought on by the presence of some smells, such as perfumes, that cause its immediate start. She is asking if anyone has been desensitised so that these triggers, that she finds almost impossible to avoid, will cease to react in her. If anyone would like to contact me about their successful treatment for this condition or anything similar, I would be very grateful. Thank you, Lynette.

Lynette Ripper <lynetter@bigpond.com>
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 at 04:22:01

I have never posted anything online before. I am 33 and a 12 year migraine sufferer. Mine started at age 21 after the birth of my daughter and a round with near kidney failure. I have cycled through 6 major "episodes" (gradually increasing migraines over a seriese of months until they are a nightly occourence)with periods of releif in between. I guess I am very lucky because the last episode was 5 years ago. I am currently in an episode. They come on every night with out fail. I work for a real hard nosed company that allows little sick time and had to apply for FMLA twice and was just certified for sick time of 4 days per month today. This is a huge releif, I was on final warning of dismisal for attendance. I have been seeing a chiropractor 3x a week for the past 4 months, my results have not been great, but I have had bad experiences with MD's in the past. "It's stress..."
I don't know where this is going, I am glad just to beable to vent a little before I go to bed and hope to sleep for a few minutes before the pain from HELL starts tonite.
Thank You
Heather

heather <henglis911@aol.com>
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 at 00:07:11

i get migraines a couple times a month. when i get them my face gets puffy. i have been getting migraines years. if anyone else gets what i have. i would like to hear from you.

glenn miller <glennericmiller@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, January 29, 2002 at 17:09:29

Hi, my name is Ximena, I'm 28 and I have migraines since I was 15, by the way I'm also a doctor now. When everything started they were only once in a while and not so painful, the worse began with the university, they became more painful and frecuently, but since last year they became a nightmare, almost everyday and some of them will last for 2 or 3 days, everytime I have one of the attacks I feel like dying, I can't open my eyes, can't walk because the pain increases, can't eat because I have nausea, I even wished that I could have some sort of tumor so that can be solved with a surgery and no more pain, but it is just a dream I have nothing but migraine. As a doctor that I am I've tried all the drugs that are available in my country and none of them is effective enough. I also tried two preventive treatments and I've been free of pain just for two weeks and then again.
I really know what you all feel when you say that nobody knows how painful is this, people just think is not as painful as you say and that you are trying to skeep your job, also my colleagues thought that about me, that you are an addict for taking so much drugs or "you sleep a lot, lazy", they don't know that only sleeping you can stand one, if you can sleep.
In my family my mother, brother, sister, aunt and grandpa suffer from it, so I always had their support and I prefer to continue having them instead of my neace or nephew, they are so little now so we don't know if they will have.
Right know I`m living now in Japan and I can`t find anything stronger than cafergot, so you can imagine how is my life, they only have shots of sumatriptan as the strongest and that doesn`t work with me, friends are nice but again here they don`t know what this mean.
As a doctor I am whenever a face a patient with migraine I try to be as supportive as possible, just the way I would like people can be with me, and second I`m as honest as possible with them, that there is no cure as long as I know, so I try to find the best painkiller that fits him or her.
I am so glad to find this page, I feel better now, if anybody wants to write me please feel free to do it.
Wish you a day without pain or at least not so painful.

ximena <oizumi_ximena@hotmail.com>
Thursday, January 24, 2002 at 08:12:17

Like so many others, I am glad to find this web site and am amazed at all the suffering that's going on with very little help in many cases. I have had migraines since I was 9 yrs old and am now 55. I was told that they would ease up or go away after menopause, but they are still alive and well. It's true I don't have the vicious pain and the vomiting I used to have but I still remain non-functional for 2-5 days during an attack. The pain I can control or live with, but the other effects are what gets me down-Spaceyness, light and noise sensitivity, irritability, etc. Has anyone tried MAO Inhibitor medication and/or tyramine-limited diet?? It is not a medication you use lightly and most physicians don't want anything to do with it because it is severely limiting in what other meds and foods you can ingest. It also helps control panic attacks, chronic anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome and stomach distress. I can no longer take it, so am having much more trouble with all of these symptoms.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER:
It is not our fault that we suffer from migraines
It is no one else's fault, either
We are not "weird" though sometimes our disease makes us feel that way
Depression and anxiety often go hand in hand with migraines; how can we keep from being anxious when even a mere flash of light might signal the beginning of another headache; how can we not be depressed when our headaches are life disrupting and you can never count on anything for sure??
We are all in this together, so we can encourage and commiserate with one another.
No one who is not a migraine sufferer can even begin to understand the debilitating effect they have on us physically and emotionally, even though they really do try to

Still hopeful,
Barb

Barbara Vogt <vogtbarb@open.org>
Thursday, January 24, 2002 at 03:00:07

Hello everyone.

My 16 year old daughter has now had a constant headache for 8 weeks now. The
last 3 weeks her neck and shoulder area is very stiff and she has 2 areas on
her body that are very sensitive, likes pins and needles, if you touch them.
She also has blurred vision and a spot in one eye..this gets worse at night.
She as been on amitripolene and this has helped her cope with it.
She had a knee operation last year, where she had to have 2 screws in her
tibia. we dont know if this has anything to do with the migraine at hand. She
got the screws out 3 weeks before getting the headache.

I am looking for any help that you can give...Thank you very much

Matt
mm985@aol.com

Matt Morris <mm985@aol.com>
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 at 20:59:12

"Migraine is one of the most painful and frustrating benign disorders known to medicine....
But to a person who experiences migraine (often referred to as a migraineur), migraine is
pernicious, evil, soul-stealing, life-robbing, expensive, exhausting, and humiliating. Measured
by its effect on a migraineur's life, migraine is anything but benign." [1]

nyone who has ever suffered a blinding headache probably has a fair idea of what migraine
patients go through month after month, week after week, sometimes even day after day, right?
Not necessarily. Comparing migraine pain to that of any other type of "common" headache is a little
like comparing the pain of IC to that of a simple urinary tract infection. No doubt there are migraine
sufferers whose symptoms are comparatively mild and easily controlled with medication, just as
there are IC patients whose symptoms can be relatively easily controlled with diet and self-help
measures and some minor medication. But, migraine, like IC, can be a debilitating, excruciating
source of chronic, sometimes unrelenting pain, and there is no one treatment that works well for
everyone.

Interestingly, both IC and migraine sufferers have had to endure the ignorance and even skepticism
of a doubtful medical community. Both conditions seem to have a relationship to hormonal cycles;
stress and other environmental factors aggravate both conditions; and both conditions occur
overwhelmingly in women. In more than 50 percent of sufferers migraine appears to be hereditary. [2]
Alagiri et al. reported in 1997 that of IC patients surveyed, 22.4 percent had been diagnosed with
migraine disease, versus about 18 percent in the general population. The difference of 4.4 percent
seems minimal compared to the data for diseases such as fibromyalgia (FMS) or irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS), but makes sense when one considers that there are as many as 23 million
Americans who suffer from migraine to begin with. Migraine is a very common health problem. [3,4]



Because a medical model for headache has been lacking, migraine patients... have been
stereotyped and stigmatized by even the best-intentioned physicians, family members, and
friends. These patients radically alter their lives ...believing that their only choice is to live
with their head pain. Often they also harbor the ... belief that their pain is 'all in their head'
because a physician has implied that their headaches are psychological..." [5]


Treatment of Migraine

Migraine treatment should start first and foremost with your physician. Primary care physicians,
neurologists, headache specialists, headache treatment programs, or chronic pain treatment
programs are all potential sources for migraine care. Medicinal migraine relief falls into several
categories: simple analgesics (aspirin, acetaminophen, and NSAIDS, both prescription and
non-prescription�e.g., ibuprofen, naproxen, naproxen sodium, indomethacin, etc.); combination
analgesics (barbiturate compounds)�e.g., Esgic � , Fioricet � , Phrenilin � , muscle relaxant
compounds�e.g., Norgesic � , and narcotic compounds�e.g., Percocet � , Percodan � , Tylox � ,
Lorcet � , Vicodin � , Darvocet � , and various codeine preparations); and specific anti-migraine
compounds. [See the ICA's informative Fact Sheet, IC and Pain for a detailed description of many of
these medications.] [13]

Anti-migraine preparations include the following: Ergotamine tartrate (Cafergot � , Wigraine � ,
Ergostat �); Isometheptene mucate combinations (Midrin �, Isocom �); Dihydroergotamine
(DHE-45 �); and Sumatriptan (Imitrex �). None of these medications should be used in
combination with each other, or without the strict supervision of a licensed physician. [14]
Tranquilizers, corticosteroids, and several other classes of drugs have also proved beneficial in
some patients.

Migraine Prevention

People who have four to six or more migraines a month, or who do not obtain significant relief from
other therapies, may benefit from preventive medications. Most of these are taken daily, whether
headache is present or not. All such medications have side effects, so the challenge is to find the
class of drug or the individual drug that provides the most relief with the least amount of side effects.
All of these medications were originally developed to treat other conditions. The tricyclic
antidepressants, for example, are used for properties other than those that help clinical depression.
Beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, antiserotonin agents, anticonvulsants and
antidepressants have all proven effective in some patients as migraine preventatives. Some of
these medications are used in combination with one another, but only a physician can make the
proper recommendation as to which ones to combine.

Summary

Migraines, like IC, represent a painful challenge to those who suffer from them. Even today there are
many misconceptions about what causes migraines, and more importantly, who gets them. Migraine
was once thought of as a "rich woman's ailment," probably because wealthy women were the only
adults who could afford to take time out to lie down and rest in the face of a devastating headache.
We now know that people from all walks of life, young, old, male and female, fall victim to migraines;
but like the myths that surround IC, the migraine myths have been slow in dying. Just as IC was once
described as the result of frustrated women "discharging unconscious hatred" through their bladders,
some people still believe that there is a "migraine personality," a driven, type-A person who wills him
or herself into a killer headache, and who could reverse their problem if they just slowed down and
relaxed. Perhaps the most significant recent event in the struggle to reverse the myths about
migraine came during a Super Bowl several years ago when Terrell Davis, a male football superstar,
was sidelined by a migraine headache. The world sat up and took notice.

Kristy <Kristywells@hotmail.com>
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 at 00:55:43