# people with migraines, do you...



## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

I have gotten migraines for years.Start with the zig-zag flashing aura.Have had everything from numb fingers and tongue to repeated auras.So far, knock wood, I've never had the vomiting and never want it! The pain usaully is on one side of my head or the other;never both at once. Have any of you noticed that you get one when a high pressure front(sunny,blue sky) comes along? I've never been able to figure out my triggers for them.It's not a food, although too much salt seems to do it.None of the other things seem to affect me(chocolate,aged cheese,etc.).Another thing- the night before I have one,I don't sleep well;wide-awake.What are your triggers? What do you take for them? I have worse reactions(worse than the headache) to most of the main meds.


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## Baba (Aug 7, 2008)

A good remedy to try for your migraines is peppermint oil. Just a couple drops in a hot cup of tea or water will do the trick. Let me know if it works for you.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Rum, strong odors, hormonal changes, bright sunlight.

Yes, I don't sleep well when it's coming on.

Sometimes it starts with a whole head pain that won't respond to Tylenol, then moves into a migraine.

Imitrex and Relpax work for me.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Some natural/herbal cures for migraines are: fresh grapes (or fresh grape juice); carrot, beet, cucumber, or spinach that has been juiced (a combination of any of these is even better); non-flush Niacin supplements; ginger (1 tsp. of powdered ginger mixed in water every 4 hrs); 

One of the best documented herbs for migraines is Feverfew (either as a tincture, tea, or tablet - 250 milligrams per day).

Also, to avoid getting migraines, be sure and avoid white flour products, dairy, sugar, confectionery, rich cakes, pastries, sweets, refined cereals, greasy foods, tinned or preserved foods, pickles, condiments and sauces, chocolate, eggs, tomatoes, corn, nuts, apples, onions, and citrus. Also MSG, all alcohol, aspartame (NutraSweet), and nitrites and any processed foods.


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## Hobbes (Apr 1, 2008)

See if your herb store has Tei Fu. It is a very small bottle with a mixture of oils. I rub a couple drops on my forehead, base of ears and neck when I get an intense pressure headache from an abrupt change in atmospheric pressure. The oil is a mixture of mints, eucalyptus, and I think one other. It helps open the blood vessels and relieves the pressure. It won't take it completely away, but at least I am functional again.


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## Marre (Dec 7, 2008)

I have had migraines for 15 years. The night before I usually will have an ache on one side of my head (always the left side). Like it hurts to even lay on that side. Then when I get up the pain moves to my upper side teeth and the pressure is so bad it makes it feel like my teeth will blow out of my mouth.

I take Amerg the lowest dosage made (because I have such bad side effects from any drug). Even though I hate taking them, if I don't take it right away I will regret it hours later when the migraine takes complete hold. And yes, I could vomit it is so bad.

I have tried several natural cures, nothing that helps. They are hormonal, I have tracked them and can tell when I will get them, and I do get them on deary over cast days also (don't really know the connection there). Nothing I eat causes them. 

Can't wait until I no longer get them. They last three days and it gets old real quick and you never get use to them. I am waiting for the magical cure, I will try it.


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

As a little girl, I can remember my mom getting them. ONe of the triggers for her was cigarette smoke. Even though she didn't smoke, this was back in the 60's when it was fashionable and was allowed in public places, so she was getting migraines a lot. I can recall her sitting on the edge of the bathtub with her feet in ice cold water to bring the pressure out of her head.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Yeah, I get migraines from fronts, and you cannot avoid them.

I found that ANY pain killer, ibuprofin or tylenol or whatever, will head off a migraine IF it is taken when the symptoms start. It turns a migraine into an ordinary headache. Once I start vomiting, it is rather too late to head one off so I take it when the one-sided headache starts.


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## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

I have had migraines since I was two and maybe longer. Please be careful w/ NSAIDS that you don't get yourself into rebound.

Food triggers can actually cause a migraine up to 48 hours AFTER consumption. There is also a theory about "stacked" triggers. For example, cheese doesn't bother me. Red wine doesn't bother me. Red wine and cheese together cause a migraine.

One of the most important thing for migraneurs is consistancy. Eat at regular intervals. Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday. For hormonal migraines Frova has been found to be very effective if taken prophilactically before hand.

My diagnosis is "severe, chronic, intractable migraine". My neuro (headache specialist) has had me try Butterbur and magnesium as preventatives, also.

Ginger can be very effective for nausea but not really for vomiting. too late at that point. 

For those that can tolerate it I have heard mint and some other aromatic herbs can help. However for me that would be pure torture. I can smell things that have not been in the house for days.

I take Frova as an abortive. I use Zofran for nausea and vomiting. I have Vicodin and Dilaudid for breakthrough pain.

There are several good websites out there that have alternative treatments included. I have tried several myself to no avail. But, the Botox did take away the crow's feet for a while. The chiropractor helped me improve my posture and reduce my neck and back pain. The herbs did REAL interesting things to my digestive system. Teri Robert wrote a very good book about migraines that I can not recall the name of right now.

Never give up. 95% of all migraineurs can find an effective preventive. I'm just not one of them yet.


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## charliesbugs (Feb 25, 2007)

countrysunshine, I, too, have the heightened sence of smell before and during a migraine.Sometimes I think I should have been working in a perfume factory because I can normally smell really well, but with the onset of a migraine its way more sensitive.Sound is also amplified. And, of course, light seems way too bright,too.Thanks to all of you who replied to my post.It is always interesting to see how others are affected by migraines and what they take for relief. And, the side effects of things they take.My doc gave me cafergot (sp?) back when I first started getting the migraines and IT made me feel worse than the migraine! I've found that if I eat too much salt( only a little cause I avoid salt),I can count on a migraine. Magnesium seems to keep me from having so many. I take it every day.


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## dunroven (Dec 6, 2004)

I get them with changing weather. I do use peppermint oil, except I apply it to the skin. I just touch the top of the bottle to my forehead and temples and tip up the bottle and then right back down. My bottle has a little tip on it, so its just a tiny touch. I also put it at the base of my skull. Then I take a kleenex and wipe away any that might be there in drop form. It can burn.

Then I take a pan of hot water and either drop some vicks or my new remedy of homemade vicks into it and put a towel over my head and the pan and breathe it up through my nose and out through my mouth. I find this moisturizes my sinuses and begins the relieving process.

I do also have Fioricet that the doctor gave me but I have found it really doesn't work at all. I can do better with either Advil Migraine or Excedrin Migraine and I do take them, especially when I'm trying to work, but the above remedy works best of all for me.


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

I also get them, and when we lived in Alberta, they were terrible. The arches there were unreal, and the pressure changes always brought on a headache. I also get them when I'm feeling "blue" (although I'm not convinced that the lowered spirits come first and aren't actually a "first symptom" of the developing headache), and when I'm under stress or feeling anxiety.

I find that a day or so before a "biggie" (the kind that has you lying in a darkened room, wishing you could die), I feel "thick". Sounds, smells, etc., feel like they're insulated or "spongy" -- I don't know how else to describe it. It's like I'm experiencing everything through a layer of foam. If I can get a warm herb bag on my neck (a long, muslin bag filled with lavender and hops, warmed in the microwave for a minute), and sit quietly, I can SOMETIMES reduce what they become to just a "normal" headache.

They appear to have a genetic component for me, as three of my siblings, and my dad all suffer from them. Our mom did, too, when she was alive, but not to the extent that my sister and I have them. My sister's are worse than mine, debilitating for DAYS sometimes. She's otherwise an incredibly healthy, active woman. 

Mine got a LOT better when I cut out all processed foods and super-refined carbohydrates. Imitrex helped for a while, but doesn't work for me any longer. I find that the best treatment is catching them early and trying to head them off with my lavender bag and herbal teas -- or if that isn't working, taking some heavy-duty pain meds and sitting quietly. Lying down often makes them worse for me, actually.


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## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

Tracy, that "blue" feeling is now considered part of the prodrome by the experts. People may also notice that they get mean before hand - like PMS - and crave salt, carbs or sweets.

I empathize w/ your sister. When mine last longer than a week I name them - you know, like hurricanes.

The weather is an annoying trigger because I can't do ANYTHING about it.

Btw, I belive Advile and Excedrin Migraine just add caffiene to the mix. I do that sometimes myself. As a matter of fact we went on a "caffiene" run last night. I don't drink coffee, tea or coke. So, I keep Dr. Pepper for my migraines (Sunkist and Mountain Dew have the same amt of caffiene). Over the holidays all the kids in and out drank all of my DP. Nothing was working so I wanted to add caffiene to the next cocktail I took.

I'm happy for all of you that can use mint and other scents. Just the thought has my stomach rolling. That is part of why I started making soap - totally scent free!


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## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

I forgot - do a google search for cayenne and migraine. A couple of members at a migraine forum I belong to swear by it. 

I tried it as a preventative but couldn't handle what it did it my digestive tract.


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## Jeff54321 (Jan 26, 2005)

I would take a long hard look at MSG as the very possible cause of your headaches. MSG is an excitotoxin that acts directly and immediately on the brain. Disturbed vision is one of the common first symptoms of MSG poisoning.
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"Widely used as a flavor enhancer, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is actually a proven neurotransmitter that over-stimulates brain activity. This response can lead to migraine headaches, upset stomachs, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, panic attacks, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, mood swings, lethargy, insomnia, and more."

http://www.helium.com/items/179975-monosodium-glutamate-msg-effects-on-health


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## Tirzah (May 19, 2006)

I always get Pressure Change Headaches (Migraines). For me they start on one side usually behind the eye and travel down to my ear, jaw and sometimes neck. At times my face goes numb.

As soon as I feel one coming on I down lots of water and then take 3 Excedrin and a nice cold Pepsi. Probably not the answer you are looking for but it works 

I do hope that everyone can get some relief from theirs.

~Sharon


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

I am just getting over a migraine. They steal days out of my life when they do happen. For the most part I get PMS migraines. I take a B-Complex and a Progesterone Cream for the last half of my cycle. That heads them off. I did have one this month though but at the end of my menstruation days, not the few days before, which was weird. But I slept really lightly for two days and was feeling out of sorts, then the migraine. It's finally gone. 

I am going to have to go in and get something from my doctor. I only get them a few times a year if I stay on top of my hormones so I never manage to have any medicine on hand (have tried all natural remedies and nothing has worked). I take one Tylenol, one Advil, and one Aspirin. Then I lay down with a heat pad. I also sit in the hottest water I can stand with my feet only and lay a cold ice pack around my neck while I brush my hair, that helps. 

My migraines are always on the right side of my head, same place every time. If they are bad and I don't head them off my right eye turns bright red, my right nostril will drip, and my teeth on my right side will feel pressure (top right teeth). I don't vomit. I am lucky to get rid of them in two days or so. They suck. 

I have passed on my migraines to my oldest daughter. That was actually how I was diagnosed with migraines, I just thought I got really bad headaches once a month, until she started to have problems when she was 6. She takes an SSRI and that keeps them at bay. Without them she'll have 4-5 a month. Her neurologist told her to avoid caffeine, nitrates, MSG, and artificial flavorings/additives. Vicoden also is a trigger for her. He also told her that she gets tension headaches and then that throws her into a migraine and the biggest thing for her was stopping the vicious cycle of pain.


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## Laverne (May 25, 2008)

When I feel a migraine coming on. Before it developes I take EXCEDRIN MIGRAINE FORMULA. Or a generic. It's aspirin, caffiene, acetominophen. It's the only thing that give me a chance to abort a migraine. It some times helps anyway, after it starts. Keeps the circulation going.


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## Caitedid (Jun 2, 2004)

I recently found out that my vision problems are migraine without the headache. I do also get the headaches, and have noticed the heightened sense of smell as well. I find that the best thing I can do when I start getting them is to avoid anything where there actually _are_ flashing lights and strong smells, eat some whole-grain toast for the nausea, and down a Coke or Dr. Pepper and some regular Excedrin. I noticed too that keeping my stress levels under control makes a HUGE difference.


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## tiffnzacsmom (Jan 26, 2006)

Excederin migraine IF I can catch it in time, some of mine come on quick. Some of my triggers are scents, cream filling from snack cakes and the like and some sauces flashing lights, especially at night will give them to me instantly. Any type of police check point makes me want to die and of course than I look like I've been up to something. Ohhhh and black powder will do it if I'm around a lot of shooting, that time was the scariest time in my life, I lost all peripherial vision, what sight I did have went gray and I could barely walk or talk.


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

I used to get migraines frequently - as often as once a week or so. But apparently they were connected to hormones. Once menopause got a good foothold, they went down to about 1 a year. Triggers were bright sunlight, perfumes, alcohol, and the worst - nothing apparent. They were always on one side & got worse over the years. Because I never had the auras & didn't have nausea until years later, all the doctors told me they were just tension headaches. Right. 

Since no OTC worked, I finally found a doctor who prescribed Maxalt. Pricey, but it worked. Worth every penny. It was way better than 3 days in bed!


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