Home grown migraine remedies? - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

07/27/2007 05:06:39 PM · #51

Originally posted by EducatedSavage:

Originally posted by Rebecca:
Well poo, this is day ten, so I've finally made an appointment, for next Wednesday. It's mostly been low-grade the whole time, but this is just too long. I think it's mostly just eye strain and stress, but that situation isn't likely to get any better anytime soon (computer at work, books and computer for school at home) so we've got to figure something out.

You have an appt for NEXT Wednesday? Oh, man - I hope it clears up before then! That's terrible.

This coming Wednesday. Best I could do with it being Friday and my awesome nurse practitioner being out of town until then. Sadly, I have every expectation that it will still be hanging out by then.

rox_rox

Canon EOS-20D

07/27/2007 05:08:34 PM · #52

Just curious if any other migraine sufferers have blood sugar issues?

I get an optical migraine (scotoma) every time my blood sugar drops (hypoglycemia) and/or when I get dehydrated (often a byproduct of the blood sugar drop). I'm told there is a big adrenaline rush when these things happen. Perhaps stress also releases adrenaline, thus triggering migraines?

Rebecca, I really hope you find relief soon.

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/27/2007 05:31:53 PM · #53

Originally posted by Rebecca:

Home grown migraine remedies?

eta: sorry, it's all I could come up with. I've done enough damage for one day. time to go back to work.

Message edited by author 2007-07-27 17:32:55.

Skyarcher

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

07/27/2007 10:20:39 PM · #54

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Originally posted by Rebecca:
Home grown migraine remedies?

eta: sorry, it's all I could come up with. I've done enough damage for one day. time to go back to work.

The sad part about that pic is, I know you meant it as joke and comic relief, but there have been a few times when I've had migraine that I actually thought about stuff like that.

Rebecca, I know you said that you have appointment next Wednesday... uhm, if it is a migraine and you've had it this long, why aren't you going to the ER? Why wait any longer?

Seriously hope that it is not a migraine in the long run and that you feel better soon.

kyebosh

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 80-200mm f/2.8L

07/27/2007 10:28:52 PM · #55

home grown eh? lol.

Whenever I get a migrain first thing I try to do is to medicate, and then fall asleep, because that's the only way to avoid most of the pain.

If you frequently get them see a doctor. I've got a prescription for barbiturates which help a lot, but will pretty much knock you out if you take too much. They started adding caffeine to them to counteract that. I can't say if that will help your situation.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

07/27/2007 10:31:34 PM · #56

Because I don't feel like sitting in an ER for 10 hours as a very low priority for its staff, all for a headache I can live with, especially when an ER copay costs me significantly more than an appointment.

It hit me tonight, too, that I traded out my monitor at work for one that was supposedly better, but it isn't anywhere near as sharp as it should be, and that the eye strain from that combined with a huge increase in the amount of time I've needed to be working on the computer is probably the major player here. Since I've been home tonight, even on my own home computer, I've been fine, save a little lingering oddness in my right eye (which is pretty typical of my migraines). First thing on Monday I'm begging my bosses for my new computer. It's already on the agenda and one of them has even complained about how crappy my monitor is, so hopefully it won't be too difficult to wrangle it out of them earlier than expected. They've been watching me suffer all week, so I think I'll have a solid case. I'm betting that replacing the monitor alone would fix most of the problem.

Message edited by author 2007-07-27 22:33:38.

bergiekat

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

07/27/2007 10:32:20 PM · #57

Lots of great suggestions here. As for triggers, everyone has their own triggers and it varies SO much. As a GENERAL guide, my neurologist gave me over 8 pages of "general" triggers that can cause migraines in different people. Everything from foods, to drinks to barometric pressure changes to hormone levels. Chocolate and corn kill me. But cheese doesn't and should based on what other people deal with.
Best advice is to journal. This will give you an idea what foods/drinks/etc. cause your particular migraines and see a neurologist! My regular doctor kept telling me I had "tension headaches" until I ended up in the emergency room!! (I don't see him anymore.) Over the counter might help, but did nothing for me. Best of luck!!! Lots of great new meds should you figure out what is happening and want to go that route. (I'll happily send you something if you can't get anyone to help, lol! I stock piled while I had insurance.)

07/27/2007 10:37:12 PM · #58

Eye strain will DEFINITELY do it. I know my job and computer can set mine off... I can't imagine waiting any longer, though! Maybe Urgent Care instead of the ER or your dr? Urgent Care should be cheaper and have a shorter wait. Of course, most of them are likely closed now, but maybe tomorrow?

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

07/27/2007 10:40:10 PM · #59

Originally posted by bergiekat:

Barometric pressure: check! A cold front just arrived with a spate of thunderstorms.

Hormone levels: check! My body started rejecting a hormone-based prescription I was on for a Girl Problem, so I quit using it last week.

Stress: Check! The bank was sold and is going through a million changes. This week is pretty typical - the rules changed at least a dozen times, a co-worker retired, three officers tendered their resignations, and I helped close a deal for $3.5 million. I've also been moving (and still am), and I must take my accounting final by Sunday.

There are lots of things going on that are undoubtedly contributing. But I do think the eye strain with the craptastic work monitor is the straw that crushed the camel.

bergiekat

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

07/27/2007 10:52:53 PM · #60

Originally posted by Rebecca:

...
There are lots of things going on that are undoubtedly contributing. But I do think the eye strain with the craptastic work monitor is the straw that crushed the camel.

That too. Sounds weird, but if you can hang with it, some stretching also works. Hope all works out SOON! Oh, and a massage may do wonders!!!

The ER will give you Demmerrol and something else (cant' remember), so just hit urgent care and they may do the same. It will help with the current pain and then you can work on figuring out what to do to prevent or at least ease the next on. Best of luck!!

Message edited by author 2007-07-27 22:56:16.

pixter

Casio Exilim EX-Z750

07/28/2007 06:06:30 PM · #61

Good luck with the remedies. I have also tried most of the ones posted. One suggestion I was once given by a nurse who also had them was warming your hands and/or visualizing your hands becoming warmer.

I wouldn't give up my mirgraine meds but as any migraine sufferer knows, when they hit you'll try anything!

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

07/28/2007 07:14:54 PM · #62

Havent seen this one posted so far but my wife uses thermacare wraps a self adhesive self warming patch she wears across the base of her neck. She uses the usual OTC drugs, but this heat patch is the difference maker, we dont travel with out them any more.

fencekicker

Panasonic DMC-FZ5

07/30/2007 10:07:33 AM · #63

Originally posted by rox_rox:

I sometimes get low blood sugar also (but not high blood sugar). I found that out when I was pregnant with my second child, and yes, headache was one of the signals that my blood sugar was too low, as well as sugar cravings, brain fog, fatigue, and dizziness. However, I didn't start getting bad migraines (with neurological symptoms and nausea and pain so extreme that the posted chopping block looks like a reasonable solution) until a several months before my third pregnancy. After I had my third child I also noticed that I'd get an adrenaline rush when my blood sugar dropped too low (which interferes with digestion, causing the levels to drop even lower). I do think in my case there is a connection. To prevent low blood sugar, I have to make sure I consume an adequate amount of protein each day/meal and I avoid refined sugars.

That said, I can also get a migraine without my blood-sugar being too low. So, while my blood sugar level is a trigger, it apparently isn't the only one.

I think mine may also be influenced by hormonal changes, but its not consistant enough for me to be certain. Maybe certain things make me more prone to it, but perhaps a combination of those things is required for a full blown migraine in my case?

I had a headache yesterday and last night (a 6 out of 10 on my scale where at 5 I need to take action and 10 is dying). There is a weather front stalled over our area and my husband has been fighting a bad cold, which I think is starting to affect me. The past week has also been a stressful week.

bergiekat's advice about keeping a headache journal is very good. I started to keep one once, but didn't stick with it. I've always been terrible at journaling.

Rebecca, I hope you feel better soon. You might want to check the info that came with your hormone prescription about side effects. I had a prescription once that gave me a severe migraine that lasted several days (then on about day three of the migraine I got a large rash and realized I was allergic to the medication).

07/30/2007 10:55:47 AM · #64

All weekend, no headache. Woot! Back at work now, and I definitely think the monitor is to blame, my eyes are having trouble looking at it. :P

07/30/2007 04:49:00 PM · #65

Did you get a chance to talk to your boss yet?

07/30/2007 05:39:50 PM · #66

Originally posted by EducatedSavage:

Did you get a chance to talk to your boss yet?

Sent a pleading email to one, mentioned it to another. We'll see.

07/31/2007 12:30:10 AM · #67

It may help to use those eye-strain exercises you find all over the place on the internet in the meantime?

08/01/2007 02:34:50 PM · #68

The doctor concurred with my assessment of eye strain plus stress. Work has promised me a new monitor sometime in the next week, and I get to take Xanax on an as-needed basis to help take the edge off the stress. I've finished moving and I'm done with my summer class, so I have the next twenty days to relax a bit and put some things in order to keep in my schedule once the fall semester starts, like revamping my diet, re-enrolling in Saturday yoga classes, checking out the treadmills in the clubhouse. So yay, just a few more days with this piece of crap monitor and things are looking up!

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

08/01/2007 04:02:24 PM · #69

I'm so glad to hear that! It really does sound like things are looking up! I'm glad your work is willing to get you a new monitor, too, that's kinda special these days!

ellamay

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

08/01/2007 05:19:13 PM · #70

I also get mig. recently I have heard one of the B vitamins is also helpful, I am not sure which one, but I have been trying taking a B complex (I usually take double what recommended dose is) but you could at least try a single dose.

I also take imitrex sometimes, but it makes me feel weird and tingly so that is always at bedtime or last resort.

Givemeashot

Nikon D200

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6

08/01/2007 05:30:24 PM · #71

I would say i get one at least 1 to 2 times a month.. and that is not including the small ones i get.... when i get a migraine.... i usally feel better if i get sick ( hey sorry but for me it helps) and i finda place in the bed that does not hurt my head and stay there.... ( most of mine are in my right eye and it shifts to the right side of my head... i use a almost ice cold wash cloth and put it on my eyes and add a little pressure it works for me... most times i use Excedrin Migraine ( call it the magic pill lol ) the Green and white coated one...

JeffryZ

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6

08/01/2007 05:34:36 PM · #72

Dehydration is the most likely reason when I get bad headaches. Diet sodas- especially those with aspertame can cause it for some people. Or caffene withdrawl. SO try liquids, but not diet sodas or coffee or tea (caffene is a diuretic which can add to dehydration).
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Givemeashot

Nikon D200

08/01/2007 05:50:19 PM · #73

Originally posted by Givemeashot:

LOL im going to Quote my self =)....

Well i was going to say if it is Caffeine that is causing your head ache dont take this it has 65mg of Caffeine in it...