Migraines | The Boneyard

Migraines

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I don’t get them often, but today I’ve dealt with my worst as far as I can remember.

All the symptoms: splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, irritability, tingling arms…basically just want to crawl into a ball and wait it out.

Chicken or the egg…does stress make the migraine worse and/or do migraines make simple situations seem more stressful?

Any tips/pointers to help?
 

temery

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I don’t get them often, but today I’ve dealt with my worst as far as I can remember.

All the symptoms: splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, irritability, tingling arms…basically just want to crawl into a ball and wait it out.

Chicken or the egg…does stress make the migraine worse and/or do migraines make simple situations seem more stressful?

Any tips/pointers to help?

Both

I get migraine auras and lose my sight for 1/2 hour or more. Happens every few weeks. The headache is minor, but the loss of sight was scary as hell until I was told it was nothing to worry about. This was just another heap piled onto existing eye problems.
 
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I get them and think it could be a lack of sleep for me, or not eating enough in the morning.

Usually just those annoying auras for 30 minutes or so with some disorientation and sometimes a minor headache afterward.

The worst is wen you sense it coming but it hasn't come yet, ugh. Super annoying.

Tips? Try to get a good night's sleep and make sure you eat in the morning. A doctor from Switzerland once told me to eat (more) bananas.
 

Edward Sargent

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I don’t get them often, but today I’ve dealt with my worst as far as I can remember.

All the symptoms: splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, irritability, tingling arms…basically just want to crawl into a ball and wait it out.

Chicken or the egg…does stress make the migraine worse and/or do migraines make simple situations seem more stressful?

Any tips/pointers to help?
Migraines can be stressful but it sounds like stress is your trigger. If you don't get them often try sumatriptan, rizatriptan or newer zolmitriptan or rimegepant. Stay away from topamax as its side effects like brain fog are troublesome. More importantly though is figuring out what triggers your migraine. Stress, not eating, dehydration, bright direct sun, red wine, red meat. Mine, and I get them very infrequently, is quick drop in barometric pressure (i know when the big storms are coming). Stress causes different hormonal changes in your body, as does menstruation and hormonal medications both of which can also trigger migraines. Migraines can be quite debilitating and unfortunately often downplayed especially by those who dont get them.
 
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I don’t get them often, but today I’ve dealt with my worst as far as I can remember.

All the symptoms: splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, irritability, tingling arms…basically just want to crawl into a ball and wait it out.

Chicken or the egg…does stress make the migraine worse and/or do migraines make simple situations seem more stressful?

Any tips/pointers to help?
If you're open-minded to pharmaceutical free solutions-- May want to research Transcendental Meditation as a meditation practice that minimizes stressors and reduces migraine frequency. It's more of a life style decision than use it when you need it type of strategy. Overtime-- You become much more relaxed and less impacted by previous stress triggers

Many studies have been done on this topic.
 
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I don’t get them often, but today I’ve dealt with my worst as far as I can remember.

All the symptoms: splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, irritability, tingling arms…basically just want to crawl into a ball and wait it out.

Chicken or the egg…does stress make the migraine worse and/or do migraines make simple situations seem more stressful?

Any tips/pointers to help?
I can only speak to my experience, but I haven't had one in over 10 years. Mine were so debilitating that I would lose periods of time. 30 minutes, up to 2 hours at a time. Stress was the root of mine, therefore I eliminated the stress-related things. I sold everything and set myself up with no bills, nowhere to be, doing things that I want to do, not things that I had to do. It's a major lifestyle change, It's extreme and not for everyone, but it worked for me. I hope that you find what works for you.
 

temery

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If you're open-minded to pharmaceutical free solutions-- May want to research Transcendental Meditation as a meditation practice that minimizes stressors and reduces migraine frequency. It's more of a life style decision than use it when you need it type of strategy. Overtime-- You become much more relaxed and less impacted by previous stress triggers

Many studies have been done on this topic.

username checks out
 

Drumguy

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Sumatriptan . The only thing that has worked for me. Pop 2 when I feel it coming on and rest...usually does the trick
Me too. I started geting them a year ago, and it's the only thing that makes them better, although they're not as debilitating as many others here. I top Suma off with advil and coffee.
 
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If you're open-minded to pharmaceutical free solutions-- May want to research Transcendental Meditation as a meditation practice that minimizes stressors and reduces migraine frequency. It's more of a life style decision than use it when you need it type of strategy. Overtime-- You become much more relaxed and less impacted by previous stress triggers

Many studies have been done on this topic.
You're speaking my language. I meditate every day and yes, I noticed yesterday and today that I've been harboring more stress than I usually do this time of the year.

Most of it is based on some new adjustments this year I am not used to and also trying to solve problems that I do not have the answer for, which I notice I ruminate a TON the last few weeks.

Powering through the day today just trying to be a little kinder to myself and taking things in stride.

I thought about taking off work today, but came in anyways with the notion that I can always leave once my classes are done.

Thanks for the help everyone! Much better today, but definitely battling that migraine hangover. Lots to reflect and learn from this to prevent this in the future!
 
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You're speaking my language. I meditate every day and yes, I noticed yesterday and today that I've been harboring more stress than I usually do this time of the year.

Most of it is based on some new adjustments this year I am not used to and also trying to solve problems that I do not have the answer for, which I notice I ruminate a TON the last few weeks.

Powering through the day today just trying to be a little kinder to myself and taking things in stride.
Be like water my friend
 
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You're speaking my language. I meditate every day and yes, I noticed yesterday and today that I've been harboring more stress than I usually do this time of the year.

Most of it is based on some new adjustments this year I am not used to and also trying to solve problems that I do not have the answer for, which I notice I ruminate a TON the last few weeks.

Powering through the day today just trying to be a little kinder to myself and taking things in stride.

I thought about taking off work today, but came in anyways with the notion that I can always leave once my classes are done.

Thanks for the help everyone! Much better today, but definitely battling that migraine hangover. Lots to reflect and learn from this to prevent this in the future!

Are you exercising, eating well, sleeping 8 hours?
 
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Thanks for the help everyone! Much better today, but definitely battling that migraine hangover. Lots to reflect and learn from this to prevent this in the future!
Glad to hear you're feeling better.

I get occasional migraines, as well as excruciating tension headaches. My migraines are mainly triggered by stress, barometric pressure changes (common in central Florida), and red wine; while my tension headaches are of course triggered by tension (stress).

This thread has some excellent suggestions for coping. I would add the use of ice packs (put ice in a plastic bag so it can mold itself to your head's shape -- but first make sure there's no holes in the bag!). Another suggestion is to make sure you recover in a room as dark as you can make it (use a mask on your eyes to block the light if you need to). Several here have suggested coffee; the key ingredient here is caffeine. A can of Coke, or anything else with caffeine, can also be used successfully.
 

CL82

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Both

I get migraine auras and lose my sight for 1/2 hour or more. Happens every few weeks. The headache is minor, but the loss of sight was scary as hell until I was told it was nothing to worry about. This was just another heap piled onto existing eye problems.
Temery: Doc, I get these splitting headaches and then I go completely blind for a while.

Doctor: Yeah, that’s nothing to worry about.

Temery (if he were me): Are you out of your bleeping mind? I just told you I can’t bleeping see. I go completely bleeping blind! Nothing to worry about? What the bleep is wrong with you?
 

ClifSpliffy

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I can only speak to my experience, but I haven't had one in over 10 years. Mine were so debilitating that I would lose periods of time. 30 minutes, up to 2 hours at a time. Stress was the root of mine, therefore I eliminated the stress-related things. I sold everything and set myself up with no bills, nowhere to be, doing things that I want to do, not things that I had to do. It's a major lifestyle change, It's extreme and not for everyone, but it worked for me. I hope that you find what works for you.
'when your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill
-old little feat lyrics.

stress kills.
'What produces cortisol in the body?
Cortisol is a hormone produced by the two adrenal , which are located on top of each kidney. The pituitary gland in the brain regulates cortisol production. Cortisol plays an important role in the stress response. Maintaining an adequate balance of cortisol is essential for health.'


of course, that posters comment aboot 'diet' anything products, is absolutely correct in the implication - poison. a direct and irrefutable causation for a lot of neural weirdness, like thc intake beyond an ability to handle it.
we each have a highly unique ability to handle these inputs.
bottom line? high rpms (beyond the ability for our machine to regularly handle it) wear out our machine. 'fight or flight,' despite that brief history of us wearing pants, still dominates aboot 90% of our waking thoughts. period. turn off that cortisol fuel injector in our machine as much as possible. like the cortisone shot, it just melts away bone and tissue.

cut down screentime to a level that, over time, demonstrates to you by experience, a level that your machine can handle. the whole package -eyes, your back from sitting so much, poor food and rest habits, the whole shebang, will benefit.

in the op's case, and even tho you have a high level ability for basketball analysis, mebbe, just mebbe, it's too much for your machine to deal with.
signed, someone who learned long ago that my conscious abilities, at times, were far beyond my physical abilities to handle 'crushing' many things that the world rewarded me for crushing.
keep it. im going home to watch cartoons, and then head out for a stroll cuz i sat too much. i don't care how much u pay me, or shower accolades, i ain't doing it, cuz i can't.
enlightenment.

we had a uncle relation long ago, around late 1800s, who was famously known to us as the laziest man on earth. a good dude by all accounts, he was a champion porch sitter back in the gogo days of Bridgeport's industrial explosion. he married a gogo wife who had stores and such around the east side of town, and they were a perfect match cuz their life was 'u do what u can do, and i'll do what i can do.' both lived well into their 90s. once, she made him get out of the chair, and head down to Florida to check out that place. we have the pictures. he had to stand up for those, in a studio with fake palm trees, and sand on the floor. prolly needed another nap after that busy day.
 
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I think it’s all about knowing your trigger and doing the best you can to alleviate the issue. For the last decade or so, since senior year of HS, I’ve gotten one roughly every 6-8 months, and I get them BAD. Unbelievable pounding, super sensitive to light, nauseous to the point of hurling a few times, etc. And this would last me for 4-6 hours. I remember vividly one during the night of the Marquette game in early 2021, when Polley went crazy in the second half.

I eventually found that they became slightly less excruciating if I took excedrin when I knew it was coming and just laid down preemptively in a dark room with a damp washcloth over my eyes/forehead.

However, after years of being petrified, knowing one was always around the corner, I now haven’t had one for well over a year (knocks on wood), because I realized that I always seemed to get them after intensely working out for weeks on end, and doing a very poor job of drinking water. Ergo, I postulated my trigger was dehydration, and since that inference, I’ve taken the obvious steps and have been OK.

That said, I still keep one bottle of Excedrin in my nightstand. Because you never know when it’s going to rear its head again.

Edit: also, the ABSOLUTE scariest feeling is when you realize it’s coming. For me, my vision can’t focus and I feel the pounding in the head start. Manageable, at first, but it grows exponentially. Usually, once I realize my eyes can’t focus, I know I’ve got 90 minutes tops before being immobile for a few hours. It’s a rush to make sure I eat something, chug as much water as I can, make sure all my work emails are replied to, etc.
 
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Are you exercising, eating well, sleeping 8 hours?
Not at all the same time, that would be a mess, but I work out 3-4 day per week once school starts (heavier gym workouts 2x, home workouts 2x and yoga 1x) once school starts, eat a mostly vegetarian diet and sleep better during the school year compared to the summer.

Do you consume diet drinks?
Never, except for the occasionally Propel/Gatorade mixer things, which I drink more often in the summer and almost never during the school year.
 
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My wife's triggers are stress, lack of sleep, and bacon. Possibly also coffee/caffeine, which is strange, because that's in a lot of remedies.
 

August_West

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Both

I get migraine auras and lose my sight for 1/2 hour or more. Happens every few weeks. The headache is minor, but the loss of sight was scary as hell until I was told it was nothing to worry about. This was just another heap piled onto existing eye problems.


Ocular Migraine. I've never had a painful actual conventional migraine headache in my life, but get Ocular migraines maybe about 10 times a year for a long time now. Spots in vision and when its really running hard its like looking through a kaleidoscope without, you know, the kaleidoscope. When they first started happening I attributed to flashbacks (sadly I kid you not) but they got frequent enough where I actually saw Dr.s. Fortunately, 30-60 minutes of a dark room with my eyes shut will clear them up. Unfortunately sometimes they happen when driving, even with prescription sunglasses. I know enough know to pull over and shut down until it passes if I don't have a co-pilot. Weird, scary stuff, but like you I was told not to worry about anything but the symptoms.
 
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Not at all the same time, that would be a mess, but I work out 3-4 day per week once school starts (heavier gym workouts 2x, home workouts 2x and yoga 1x) once school starts, eat a mostly vegetarian diet and sleep better during the school year compared to the summer.


Never, except for the occasionally Propel/Gatorade mixer things, which I drink more often in the summer and almost never during the school year.

Propel has Potassium sorbate and Splenda as ingredients. My daughter had frequent migraines and finally gave up diet drinks. Her migraine issues have almost completely subsided. This does not sound like your issue. I wish you luck.
 

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