Migraines

[sludgebass69]

One indicator of migraine is dilation of the blood vessels at the neck and base of the skull, so vasoconstrictors are typically the correct treatment. Caffeine has been recommended to me by my doctor and it definitely helps. However, one condition is that in order for it to really work, you should not normally include caffeine in your daily diet.

Yep, for me only Excederin (or the Target brand fake) works. I've tried Tylenol and aspirin, but without the caffeine it didn't work. I always try to remember and have Excederin with me wherever I go, but in a pinch I've used Tylenol, aspirin, and a few Cokes or Mountain Dews and it has worked....


I'm sure someday my stomach and liver will repay me.........

[bassman1956]

For me, as soon as I notice my eyes are a bit off, I take 4 Advil, a half cup of coffee or such, and some bland starch like pretzles, crackers, rice, not sugary or chocolatey. And stop looking (focusing hard) at things, find a dark corner and shut down if I can.

[Thumper]

I've never had one yet.

Knock wood.

[bassred]

Had a ripping migraine all day yesterday, perfect thing to have when you have to mix a show in Vegas.... I looked drunk when I left work, my head and neck and shoulders wee so tight and my eyes wre half-closed and I was walking less than straight.. 800mg of Ibuprofin and plenty of water throughout the evening, it went away while I slept (luckily enough it let me get to sleep.. I've had them so bad that all I could do was lie there in the darl and sob....) I haven't had one in a while, I guess the stress from my current employment situation is getting to me, that and the pressure is changing with the weather, and I think that has something to do with it too....

[rummy]

I got some prednisone.

[ThudMaker]

I get about 5-10 depending on the year. Nothing to do about it except pump a bunch of motrin into the system. I tried some stuff that you are supposed to take when you felt the onset of one (it won't work otherwise), but I never could tell before it was too late and the medication was too expensive to waste it like that.

[Derek5272]

I typically get 5 or 6 a week now, and they last from the moment I wake up until I fall asleep. They're a huge pain in the ass, but I manage to cope with it. The bad ones can really screw me up though, as my vision gets blurred, and floors and walls tend to move on me when I'm walking. On a related note, I've become very tolerant of blunt forces on the sides of my arms...

 

Also in the last couple of months I started getting cluster headaches. Usually a couple a day, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to half an hour. When I have a migraine and I get a cluster headache, the pain difference is so huge that I can't even feel the migraine anymore until the cluster headache goes away. Not normally as debilitating as a migraine for me though, since it's just pain and not nausea, blurred vision, etc. However, the really bad cluster headaches knock me to the ground, unless I happen to be laying down at the time. One time I fell out of my chair, missed my bass by about 3 inches. Would have been SO pissed if I hit it.

[Bassius]

Anybody else get 'em?

[boogiebassbill]

my girlfriend is an RN...but I still do over the counter drugs unless really really bad

[Thunderbroom]

Caffeine is bad for migraines as it restricts the blood vessels. I used to get migraines (no pain, just total loss of vision), but they have completely gone away fro the past 10 years. For me the triggers were dehydration and lack of sleep.

The first time I had a migraine I didn't know what it was.

I was in class and my vision just went wacky. I couldn't even walk straight. I left class and alerted my secretary. A colleague drove me to the hospital. The doctors ran all these tests and then one asked me if I ever had migraines. I told him that I hadn't because if I'd had a headache that bad I'd have remembered it. He told me the migraine wasn't the headache and that some people don't get the headache (about 10% of migraine sufferers). He said the migraine (as I recall) is the blood vessles constricting and releasing.

Whew! No headaches!!

Only now I get the crazy vision, the headache and the nausea.

[78pbass]

Ever since I was a kid. Took 20 years to figure out that if I take 3 Excederin as soon as I feel it starting, I'm usually fine. If I let it go too long though, I'll end up in a dark room with my head buried in a pillow, followed by throwing up.....

That's me exactly

There are 2 kinds of Migraines; one type caused by a dilation of capillaries, the other by constriction. We have a constriction issue that the blood thinning and vessel dilating effects of Aspirin eradicates.

The other type is aided by Imitrex and similar. If I take Imitrex, i am 500x worse than if I dont take anything at all.

[bbl]

Yep.

4 Advil and a bottle of Gatorade.

I believe my triggers are:

- excessive caffeine
- staring at a monitor for too long
- excessive physical exertion
- dehydration
- low blood sugar

Also, during and right after my migraines, I get really horny. Anyone else?

[der oxenrig]

I had a brain tumor.

 

Oh, and I still get migraines all the time. They suck. Narcotics work the best for them.

[bassred]

Yep. 4 Advil and a bottle of Gatorade. I believe my triggers are: - excessive caffeine - staring at a monitor for too long - excessive physical exertion - dehydration - low blood sugar Also, during and right after my migraines, I get really horny. Anyone else?

I did wake up with a huge woody this morning, never thought to pay attention after my last migraine..... my wife said she has a bruise on her lower back from it/me cuddling her..........

[bikehorn]

My dad used to get them all the time. Really crippling headaches that he said started when he was 22. He hasn't had them in a few years but it used to be that once he had a migraine, he was out for the rest of the day. I don't know how he would deal with them, he would be at work in the operating room with a surgery in progress when it hit him. I don't know how he drove a manual transmission car home all the way from Niagara Falls to St Catharines(about a 25 minute run) with a headache like that. If the very few killer headaches I've ever had are any indication, it must have been horrendous.

He used to take this stuff called Vasograine, which promoted the constricted blood vessels to widen. That and some OTC painkillers like aceteminophen or whatever.