Hi all
I just found this site. It is most interesting. I am 27 years old, and have been suffering from migraines for at least half of my life. As I have gotten older, the headaches have become more frequent. I actually suffered from one today. I always try to deny the fact that an aura is beginning, until it is in full force. I find my visual auras to be quite disturbing. I guess this will be the first headache of several to come, since mine are usually seasonal. September was when I last had a migraine. I have taken several medications (Zomig, Maxalt, Fioricet, Midrin), but none seem to work 100%. Today, after taking Excedrin Migraine (which is all I had available), my headache wasn't as bad, but I had severe nausea. I had to leave work, which I felt guilty about. It has been interesting to read the stories of others. I will definitely stop back in sometime soon.

Caroline
Wednesday, March 28, 2001 at 21:22:22

We are desparate and I am hoping I can get some input and or advise from someone out there who has been through this. My daughter Rachel is 13 1/2 and has had a non-stop headache for over two years now. That means it has never gone away (except for two five minute intervals.) No medication works, even Vicodin. She has been on twenty five medications, spinal taps, MRI's and she has even been hospitalized twice to no avail. We are seeking help from the Houston Headache Clinic but even that doctor seems frustrated. He has said hopefully she will outgrow it by the time she is eighteen. She continues to go to school and function in extra curricular activities, but it appears the headaches are getting worse and I am concerned that she is becoming increasingly depressed. She has done bio-feed back and has seen a pain management therapist but I am a little tired of doctors saying that she is stressing herself out and making it worse. Just having her think that she is causing the problem makes her stress out about it more. (reminds me of doctors saying if you want to get pregnant, just relax....) We are going to try acupuncture next but then we don't know what else to try. I would appreciate any help you might give. Thanks,
Deborah

Deborah Patterson <mpatterson9@houston.rr.com>
Wednesday, March 28, 2001 at 11:39:49

OK, here it goes... I've been reading this journal for a long time now and have read some very interesting stuff. Now it's my turn to vent if you will. I am 38, married with 2 boys, have had migraines (or so that's what they call them) for only about 5 years now. I had a very bad water skiing acident and I hurt my neck real bad. Every since then I have had terrible headaches on a daily basis. The dam things never go away. I was in a neck brace for awhile and seen about 7 different specialists. They all said that there was nothing wrong with me to cause these headaches. I now suffer with this stabbing pain that starts from the base of my neck down to the middle of my shoulder blades. I have a headache every single day! I miss sooooo much work because of it and my family misses mommy because I'm always home in bed or on the couch! I have finally found a great family doctor who understands my pain, but will not do much more for me except give me all the pain pills I want. He will not send me to a specialist because he says that there is nothing that can be done. So he just hands me another script for pain meds. UGH! They help, but I never, ever had a headache in my life until this accident. I have a HMO plan and I sware they just do not want to help. I don't want to make this doctor mad by being demanding to make him send me to another doctor and I don't want to loose his kindeness in giving my pain meds. This is the only med that works for me and I know I'm killing my liver by taking it, but it's better than being in pain all the time. At least I have my life back, sort of! So I just wanted to let everyone know that there are some doctors out there that will give the correct meds, but it seems that I can't find a doctor that will go any further than that!

Kris <h20skijunky@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, March 27, 2001 at 23:54:48

I think this is a great page, and a great way for people to read about other's experiences. It's a relief to know that the frustration you feel, personally, isn't unique to you...
I've had migraines since I was about 19, and my mom has them. Usually I get them with my period, but for the last few years I was getting a migraine overlapping a tension type headache which started from pain in my right shoulder. When the new type started, I couldn't recognize it as a migraine, because it didn't start the same way. Formerly my migraines had a very specific pattern: start behind right ear, go to right eye, whole head, then vomiting the next day. Now they last 3, 4 even 7 days, but are less severe and without vomiting. They start on either side, and can be triggered by muscle pain.
Frankly, the only thing that ever worked as a guarantee was Fiorinal with codeine. Unfortunately, my neurologist doesn't want to give just pain killers. I tried Zomig (took max dose, got rid of maybe 50% of headache), Maxalt (75% gone after max dose), Imitrex (no effect, but heart raced and got dry mouth). Now I'm on pamalor, taking 30 mg nightly. I'm to increase by 10 mg until I have no more migraines. I think pamalor has helped, (god, who can really tell sometimes?) as I don't have migraines every week, but I think it's not doing to help with the monthly Big One.
I also never thought I had "aura" until a friend of mine told me she heard that dizziness is a pre-migraine symptom. I get dizzy the day or two before a migraine. Not so much "dizzy", as just physically disoriented. I'll misjudge where the door is and where I'm walking and walk into the side. Or I'll bang my head on a cabinet.
I know what it's like to be frustrated because the medicine isn't helping, or isn't helping enough. The pain from a migraine is just unbelievable. Just keep trying, keep asking questions until you find something that works.

Aneta <ABDubow@hotmail.com>
Tuesday, March 27, 2001 at 17:03:55

hello...

i'm a twenty year old woman who comes from a long line of migraine sufferers, and have been one myself since i was in elementary school. they used to come once a year, usually during the summer, but now once a week or every other week. fortunately, imitrex works pretty well for me, i take the pill and two hours later it's pretty much gone, especially if i sleep during that time. i went through a slew of painkillers before that, fioricet, vicoprofen, darvocet, etc. i'm putting myself through school right now, so missing work and school to lay in bed zoned out on painkillers wasn't an option. the key is, or at least has been for me, to catch it as early as i can. i usually find myself saying to somebody "i don't feel well" but can't identify what exactly is wrong...this i know is a migraine. i've been taking ib 800 or two aleve, then if it gets worse i take another ib 800 along with the imitrex. it works wonders. i wish i was patient enough to write down all of my symptoms and when they occur. i find the full duration of my migraines is about three days. i wish you all luck in finding something that works for you!

prettyalice <synchronicity5@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, March 27, 2001 at 11:23:03

Hi everyone, I found this site in early December and have been coming here daily since, I found this site to be very supportive for me. I have been posting in the discussions all the time but have not added to the journal till now, so here is my story.
I have been suffering with migraines for over 20 years, they used to be monthly then they moved to weekly and the last 7years since my last child was born they moved to daily. I have been to probably 20 G.P.s and about 10 specialists with out gaining any insight or help to my problems. I was told several reasons as to why I was having the pain, it was all in my head, marriage problems, financial problems,drug seeker etc. All of which only made my migraines worse, I really got to the end of my rope 2yrs ago, I had no where to turn and I had never heard of anyone who had them the way I did. I was sure however that they were not in my head, and I wasn't a drug seeker and I knew I have never been a very sickly person except for these migraines. I also was very happy with my family, husband and my job so I knew there was something terribly wrong. After trying every medication known for migraines and nothing seemed to work,I started to get very depressed I was being looked after by my family doctor who knew me well enough to know something was terribly wrong and that I was in constant pain. However not knowing alot about migraines or what i even had there wasn't alot he could do but give me pain meds and this kept things going for a little while, when he retired I had a month to find a new doctor that would hopefully give me the pain meds and maybe find out what was going on, this process took months going from one doc to another, with no real help. Then I ran into my current doc in the er, I broke down and told her everything I had gone through and how my life was in a total shambles because of these daily migraines which I had a specialist tell me I couldn't be having that many migraines etc. This new doc said she would be interested in helping me get to the bottom of my problem and help me find a specialist to deal with the pain etc. As they say the rest is history she sent me to a pain clinic and a headache specialist and at one point I was admitted to the pain clinic for six weeks, in that time they investigated the migraines and also worked on manageing the pain level. Now it is 2yrs later I still suffer alot from the migraines but I went from daily pain levels of 7-10 to a couple hours a day pain free and every 2weeks or so I get a day a whole day maybe even 24hrs worth of pain free time. I feel like I have my life back, I still get frustrated at times but I feel like I am understood now and that has been great. Just recently I was told my actual diagnosis by the clinic it was chronic complicated migraines with cluster headaches, thats what they call what I have been going through. The doc said to me she thought I would be happy to finally have a diagnosis I said yes I was but now it didn't matter to me as much as it did when knowone (doctors, nurses, er, etc) would believe me when I told them how much pain I was in and how often,I said now that I was getting help and being supported it just made it that much more easier to manage the pain. I still have to go through taking daily meds, and breakthrough meds as well as ongoing visits with the doctors, and med changes, side effects,and sometimes nothing seems to help the pain, vomiting etc. But I know I have a good team of docs to help me and we all keep trying as well I know now there is many other people out there going through the same things I do. I am not thankful that others have the same pain I do but I am happy to know I am not alone.I also hope through some of the things I learnt well having this condition I can pass that info along to others so they can learn by my experience,and now through this site I can learn from what others have tried. Bye Roxy.

Roxy <tmensink@telusplanet.net>
Monday, March 26, 2001 at 20:05:03

Hello Everyone,

I AM NOT TAKING MEDICATION and do you know why? I've had migraines for 6 or 7 years now. And at its worst I used to get
3 migraines a week. To get to the point, I have done some trial and error over the years to figure out a cure without
medication. This is what works for me. I eat as a vegan and do yoga and exercise everyday. Tah Dah! And that's all I did. It
all went away. Ok maybe I get one migraine a month from menstral. So I figure the big factor in my case is probably
food allergies. What is a vegan? Well let's just say I don't eat meat, dairy (butter, milk, cheese), fish. I also don't have
nuts, wine, ..... I eat pasta and wheat or bread on occasion. I take Vitamin B12 to substitute
the meat. So what in the world do I eat? I eat lots of raw fruits, raw veges of occasion (sorry not a big fan of raw veges),
soy milk, vege cheese, un-hydroginized butter, un-hydroginized chips,I eat vegetarian chili (comes frozen), barley with
mushroom soup, split pea soup, mexican pizzas, gaucamole dip, frozen blueberries with banana and soy milk, vegetable
dumplings, etc..
So are you hungry yet? Those are just some ideas of what I eat.
As far as the yoga goes... Well I used to go to a chiropractor three times a week and it did wonders for me. But who can afford
it? Shoot I don't even have health insurance. I believe that maybe the adjustments were helping but not getting to the core
problem. And yoga is like a poor man's chiropractor, of course they don't tell you that.
Well I don't want to take up too much space. I'd like to tell you my story sometime. Ok good day everyone.

Liz
livinginprocess@yahoo.com

Liz Huibregtse <livinginprocess@yahoo.com>
Monday, March 26, 2001 at 06:26:22

Hi i'm here for the first time as well i thought since i suffer from migraines i might as well learn about them.
I've had migraines since i was 2 which means i've had them for 15 years because i'm 17 in 2 months. I also went to the doctor hundreds of times for all kinds of tests but my parents were constantly told that someone of my age could not get migraines which is completely untrue as we found out. Even though we did find this out we went back and back again and we were again told that they could not do anything about it and that i would have to find out myself what was triggering them which for a 2 year old was pretty difficult so i plodded through it for these 15 years with my mum following me round the house with a bucket just in case i threw up i get migraines at least twice a week and they can last up to 6 hours until i go to sleep these sights have been extremely helpful and i'd like to say thank you to everyone who set them up cause sufferers of migraines usually get no recognition of having a serious illness so thanx for your help. However for those people that do get migraines out there it just shows how strong you are because even though i get them i still managed to get through my GCSE's with flying colours and i am half way through my A levels
If you have any questions any of you would like to ask me about my experiences with migraines then email me at taico84@hotmail.com and i will be happy to answer any of your questions
Tracy

Tracy Isaac <taico84@hotmail.com>
Tuesday, March 13, 2001 at 14:25:31

Today I went to a dermatologist for botox treatment. I did not, of course, mention migraine as being the reason I was seeking this treatment, only that my forehead was too creased and I wanted to smooth it out to look the best I could. Not that they care.

I also woke up with a migraine this morning (the worst kind) and took a maxalt and two vicadins. but I swear that after the injections the migraine dissapated, the pain in my left shoulder/back area was gone, and I felt better generally.

If any migraine sufferers out there have tried botox, I would certainly apprectiate hearing your comments.

Thanks, and get well!

Melinda Anderson <mellanderson@netscape.net>
Tuesday, March 13, 2001 at 12:30:11

I haven't been here for a while. I just want to let you know my daughter is still having great sucess with Effexor XR. She has suffered from terrible migraines that started over 4 yrs ago. She went to a headache clinic. She was taking 80mg of a beta blocker in the AM and PM. She has tried Prozac and Paxil. To make a long story shorter. She started counceling this past fall (leaving a top 10 University and moving home) just over 4 months ago she was put on 75mg Effexor XR (time released). It's been like a miracle. She has now lost most of the weight she gained on Paxil. The migraines are very few and far between and very managable with Zomig and doesn't interterrupt her life like it use too. She is completed weaned off the beta blocker. She is going to a local college and is on her way to making the deans list. For her and most others it is stress/anxiety and she didn't realize that.

Karen

Karen <Kbout2@home.com>
Saturday, March 10, 2001 at 19:43:33

Hi everyone! It's nice to be in a circle of people who all have compassion for each other. I wanted to give a sort of public service announcement. I'm a big fan of the Discovery channel. I saw bits and pieces of a great show last month, but due to my two darling little boys (and all the attention they demand), wasn't able to fully take in all the information. I wrote to the producer and found it will be aired next month. It's definitely worth putting on your calendar. It's called "Science Of:" and the episode is called - Headache, the painful truth. It will be shown April 16 at 8 and 11pm eastern time. Program your vcr's because there's some good headache info. I wish I had copy to take to every emergency room across the country since it promotes the fact that migraines/clusters are a disease and should be treated as any other disease. No nurse or doc would think twice about giving insulin to a diabetic in distress. Why are they so hard on us? Anyway, that's a long fought battle that maybe someday we'll win.

Other info, another helpful supplement on the market is from the Pharmassure company called Migraplex. It's like the other mentioned in the previous postings. It contains feverfew, magnesium, and B complex vitamins. It's helped me a bit. It's in the vitamin section of your grocery or drug store.

Hope this helps! If anyone out there has weather-related headaches, I'd love to hear from you! Please e-mail me. And a big thank you to all those who've posted who are spouses, friends, or significant others of people with migraines. Without your support and understanding we feel alone. We appreciate you!

Jen <jc72569@aol.com>
Friday, March 9, 2001 at 18:22:28

Hi First time for me to this site, but I just cant thank you all for your notes so very much! I have migraines four or five times a day. I only take Imitrex shots for them.I can't even think for about an hour after each shot.Lucky for me I have a great wife and a great doctor.Thankfully my migraines are shutting down for a while noww so I can acctuaally post a note on this site.I have tried all of the drugs to prevent migraines from recurring but to no availe. The tips and stories I have read have given me the courage to carry on in my fight to at least wake up each day and think it is a new start.Don't ever give up you guy's. Thank's for all the great posts..... I'm finally not alone.

STEVEN <SDRAGSD@AOL.COM>
Wednesday, March 7, 2001 at 23:35:37

Tay,
What a nightmare! I can't imagine how scared you were.
It just amazes me that doctors can be so unwilling to listen
to a patient! It seems to me that any "thinking" person would
realize that a woman that visits the same ER many times would
have the brains not to hand over a script made out to someone
else to the dr at the ER if they were really trying to get
away with something!
Sometimes I think that those ER docs jump at the chance to
call the police and put some excitment in their day. I am sure
that all that tension and stress did not do you any good that
night! I am glad that you are feeling better now and next
time, I think all of us will look at the name on our prescriptions before we take them to be filled! Thanks for the post!

Dana <InsomniacInTexas>
Wednesday, March 7, 2001 at 10:45:23

Hi again, I had my worst experience at the ER on Friday last week. I had been to my DR to get a perscription for my March refills of injectable Stadol(3 bottles a month), he is an older DR but he does give me the relief I need for my migraines. I did not have any of my Stadol left and I could not get my refill till monday so went to the ER on Friday night. I had been to the ER a lot as i ran out of money to get my refills(very expensive). The P.A. that saw me is very familar with me and so was the Dr. in charge. I told them I was going to get my refill on Monday and that I had seen my Dr. that day. I showed the my perscription and the P.A. said he would rewrite it so I could get it the next day as they did not want to give me a shot. He went out to show the other Dr and then came back in. He asked me if I knew who some lady was I said no I had never heard the name before and he told me that was the name on the perscription. He said he thought I was trying to commit perscription fraud and that nI was a drug seeker. He went to call the police and have me arested. I had never thought to check the name on the top of the scrip. I am leagly blind, I have a guide dog, and I thought I was going to go to jail. I was so scared. They finaly made up thier minds and sent me home(still with horrible migraine)on Saturday I called the clinic and told the nurse what had happened to me. She found out the name of the woman ahead of me on friday was the name on the perscription. She had the ER fax the perscription that they had kept, explained to the ER that it was a mistake and I was not a drug seeker. I got my perscription filled on monday so am fine now. Please check your scrip for the right name so this will not happen to you! Tay Hodges

Tay Hodges <tayhodges@hotmail.com>
Wednesday, March 7, 2001 at 02:06:55

Hi,
It's been awhile since I have come to this web page. I'm on Zoloft for daily migraines it has helped somewhat but not entirely. Has anyone tried or heard of Petadolex, it's put out by Weber and Weber. I keep getting info in the mail how it is supposed to prevent migraines. Anyone out there tried it.
Hope everyone has a pain free day.

Sandy

Sandee <Sandj71@aol.com>
Monday, March 5, 2001 at 18:19:52