Migraines

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I get migraines from visual stress (bright sunlight, and maybe seeing too much stuff going on around me). I used to be able to get rid of them or at least ameliorate them with caffeine, but it doesn't seem to work any longer. Has this happened to anyone else? It's like the migraines have changed; I get nauseous when I have them, which didn't used to happen before.

I don't want to take any sort of drugs. I'm hoping to get funding for Irlen testing. What other kind of treatment can I try in the meantime besides lying in a dark room for the entire day?

Last edited by starkid on 12 Dec 2013, 4:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I either get migraines with aura but no headache or "migraine equivalents" (a name suggested by one doctor I saw), but I find that salty foods seem to help.

Migraines do sometimes change in people when we get older. If they're changing, it is something you should tell your doctor. My neurologist and my primary care doctor both know my migraines have changed.

Preventing migraines is really what you should attempt to do first.

SO! Ways to help with visual overload! (Because visual overload is what's leading to migraines for you (it does for me too, among other migraine triggers))

Irlen testing is good. If you call up local testing areas, you might get lucky and they might be training new testers and need training subjects. That's how I got my initial testing done. Plan on spending another $300 beyond the testing if you want to go through them to get the official Irlen lenses. (I couldn't afford that and went through and did my own testing, but it is something not everyone would be comfortable doing or able to do; if you are comfortable and able to do lots of testing to find a near optimal color for your glasses for if you can't afford Irlen diagnostic testing, PM me, and I'll explain what I did). I might get their lenses my next pair of tinted lenses though.

So, even without the Irlen testing, you can use colors, try different background colors on websites on your computer screen. Do those types of things. For on the computer it might also help to sometimes use mobile sites instead of normal ones if too busy of websites bother you. Reducing visual fatigue over time will help.

As well as that, check what type of lighting is easiest for you to be around. For me I prefer cool-white LEDs. So, that's what to use around me. Even with my tinted lenses, it doesn't matter, I should still use optimal lighting in my home environment. Visual fatigue builds up, and reducing those to start with makes it less bad when I'm dealing with the bad when I can't.

If you have issues with seeing too much going on around you, that might be issues with peripheral vision overload. That's an issue I have. You know how horses have blinders to prevent them to see their peripheral vision? I've taken advantage of that type of idea and made human-blinders to cut out my peripheral vision. If you have something like sunglasses that you like to wear (I personally hate sunglasses, but this requires something you're wearing on your face to attach them to), then make blinders that block out so you can't see out of the corner of your eyes and wear them when things get to be too much, or when in an environment you expect to be too much. Or just always if you want to deal with not having peripheral vision. You can make them something like leather if you want them to look all fancy and not look weird. Leather ones actually can look quite good.

Bright sunlight is really one of the biggest problems. Closing your eyes is really a thing to remember to do. It's really hard remember. Luckily this is one of the areas I've found the tinted lenses end up helping most in. It is possible however, to do some rearranging of your schedule and how you get yourself from place to place and when to minimize bright sunlight issues.

What do you consider drugs? What do you want to take and not want to take? I have lots of knowledge in this area (I take supplements, migraine preventatives, migraine abortatives, and OTC pain killers as well as using lifestyle changes, so I don't avoid medications (I can't), but I have a lot of knowledge in the area).

Things that tend to help once a migraine sets in:
-Ice on the neck helps a bunch of people but not everyone. Massaging the neck similarly helps a bunch of people but not everyone.
-I've had ttouch used on me with great success when my medication wasn't working (http://www.ttouch.com/whyTTouch4You.shtml)
-Hot showers (in a dark room)
-Getting a lot to drink, making sure you are not dehydrated at all, because if you are it effects you more (I find juices most effective)
-Deep pressure; both on the head and on the body. (I will in fact, wear around a band on my head that is putting pressure on my head, again this doesn't need to look funny, use a hat or something to either cover it or as part of it), for the body there are compression shirts and weighted vests as well as weighted blankets
-Mitigate symptoms; If you are nauseous, that's a thing that peppermint helps with, so use peppermint. If you are struggling with balance (I have migrane associated vertigo), then use a cane so you can walk.
-If you can sleep between situation and your migraine taking a nap helps almost everyone I know with migraines.

I get them every couple of weeks or so and they really get in the way of my life because I cancel social appointments.

Given what you said about coffee, it might be you have a caffeine addiction; I did.

And of course cold weather rolls in, and I am back to coffee. But at least I now don't drink it when I come home. It is/was staining my teeth too.

No; I only drink coffee for migraines. I'm still quite sensitive to caffeine, it just doesn't stop the pain anymore.

I always thought bright lights triggered my migraines. Then I once tried botox in the forehead. Coincidentally it was summer - the worst time for my migraines. I didn't get any migraines that summer. 3 months after the botox wore off, I started to get migraines again. I figured the botox stopped me squinting - I didn't even have to religiously wear the darkest sunglasses all summer. It worked out cheaper to get the botox than to pay for the expensive migraine meds I was using. Plus less side-effects - didn't make me drowsy. It seems to prevent them. I still get the occasional one but it made such a huge difference. Then I read about the FDA approving it for migraines. I can't afford to get the FDA recommended botox regimen for migraines, but just the usual 'cosmetic' kind in the forehead works for me.

I've been getting painless ocular migraines for years, but about 4-5 years ago I developed what were later diagnosed as hemiplegic migraines (the aura mimics a stroke). I then gradually developed classic migraines. Both kinds responded to imitrex. I recently started using herbal migraine preventers, with some success. Oddly, since getting hypnotherapy for neuropathic pain, I have had only one head "ache", and one severe fatigue/motion sensitive episode that might've been a partial migraine.

Starkid - I get bad migraines too.

Tuttle's posting is right on the money. Excellent advice.

As you are 32...I have sometimes noticed that having an orgasm right at the beginning of the headache (as it starts to come on) can help. Sex is another good way provided you reach your goal post. Otherwise, plenty of fluids and a dark room is the best I can suggest.

On saying that some people swear by bananas. I have no idea if it works (eating them, that is).

Sorry about the sexual nature of this post but it can work...for me anyway. But then I get most of my migraines either during ovulation or around the time of the month so my method may not work so well for a male as my headaches seem to be mostly hormonal these days (although I can rarely get them at other times of the month as well..that depends on what I have been eating).

It is not 100% effective though as I still have a migraine this evening regardless. I may have been too late..I was out when it set in and once the headache gets underway it won't always stop it.

Still, it was fun trying...even if I was on my own.

I had horrific migraines until I hit menopause. Though I am sure that there was a connection to hormone levels later on, I remember them from when I was 3 years old [not much of a hormone thing at that age] Now, I get them once or twice a year and they are not nearly as severe as they were before.

MIne arrive roughly every fortnight as well. There is such a distinctive pattern to their appearance that I call one my 'ovulation headache' and the other 'aunt flows baggage'.

I hate being stuck on the migraine train every month when aunt flow is on her way into town...I wish she would leave her baggage at home.

I am wondering if mine will go away after menopause.

I have complained to my drs about my hormones. They don't seem to take pms and hormonal issues like that seriously.

My migraines have changed over time - they've become milder but more frequent. Not sure whether that's better or worse...

I can sometimes get them from visual overstimulation too. I remember one terrible afternoon spent in the company of a good friend and her boyfriend: the two of them were all over each other, stroking each other and exchanging little kisses, and something about those constant, small movements gave me a horrible migraine. Museums can do it too, and crowded places.

In addition to the excellent suggestions in the previous posts, two other possibilities:

I've been told by various pharmacists that taking magnesium - regularly and/or when you feel a migraine coming on - can help. I can't say it's worked for me, but different things work for different people, so perhaps it's worth a try.

I happily take pills if a migraine sets in, but if I feel one brewing, I've found that eating something sweet (ice cream works best, for some reason) can sometimes ward it off. It's interesting that beneficii recommends salty foods - I don't think those would help me at all. Another instance of 'different things work for different people'.

I guess you'll just have to try the various suggestions and see what works for you

I get migraines a lot. For a couple of reasons. My head hurts as often as it doesn't hurt. I only take migraine meds now if I just can't stand it.

I am praying you don't get a migraine for your next social appointment.