So a quick update. My sister (nurse practitioner at a pulmonary clinic) pulled a couple of strings and now I have an appointment on Thursday. I'm too cynical to say that they'll get it resolved immediately, but I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it.

The neurologist put me on a high dose Prednisone taper, starting at 40mg and tapering 10mg every 3 days. I finally started feeling somewhat normal Wednesday, but I'm still carrying earplugs and sunglasses like a toddler with a teddy bear.

A friend suffered with migraines and was treated for them for roughly 25 years.
The only relief for him was to take two goodies powders and chug a beer.

And the happy ending...
They found he was allergic to chocolate. No more chocolate, no more headaches.

Ugggh I had one last night, woke up at 0444. Extreme pain in the area of where my stroke occurred. So I was really worried about another one had occurred. Due to the stroke I can’t take the zomig I used to(it increases BP) so now I just get Tylenol and Diclofenac....I took two Benadryl and knocked myself out.

My triggers are lack of sleep, stress, and lately a drop in barometer....usually they are on the right side of my head and I can pinpoint the pain inside my head, sometimes it will start there and expand to cover a wide band on that side of my head.
Nausea
Bright lights or lights get blurry
Sometimes I get floaters in my vision

I went to my brain doc last week and she has written me a new script for some drug but it’s in holding pattern at my pharmacy (prolly really expensive and gotta get insurance approval)

I wish I could take the zomig. It really worked for me. Feel one coming on. Take it, 15 minutes later, a whole new me.

For those of you who get them I hope you can find ways to control your triggers and find a medicine that works for you.

I charted mine and I feel lucky I get one or two a month...it could always be worse

I used to get them about once or twice a month. They always started with a visual halo (bright blue and white triangles arranged in a semicircle) and a blind spot dead ahead. Then the pain would hit later.

I tried an app from the Apple App Store called mySymptoms. I tracked absolutely everything that went into my mouth and every symptom from halos to pain to just not feeling well. Turns out that onions were the trigger. I cut onions out of my diet and it really helped. I would only get a migraine not even every 3 months or so. Of course there are onions in just about everything. Now that I cut them out if I get even a little bit it can trigger a migraine.

A couple years back, the wife and I started the keto diet and it lessened the migraines even more and there's rarely any pain involved. I do still sometimes get the halos but a tylenol + aspirin knocks it right out.

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I got them for around a year when I figured out it might because of the A/C where I worked so I switched jobs and never got one again.

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Originally posted by vulrath:
Right now the weather's been going back and forth between warm and cold like a ping pong ball with parkinson's, so that's what I think set it off.

Are you guys certain what you had/have were/are migraines?

I suffered for years with what I'd thought were migraine headaches. The symptoms were all classic migraine. Then, one day, when one hit again: I had laid down on the couch and had crossed my right arm over my eyes. I started feeling relief. Eh? Then noticed my upper arm, when crossed over my eyes like that, was warming that area. Hmmm... So I went and got the rice bag thingy you heat up in the microwave, heated it up, and laid it across my upper-cheekbones and forehead. Next thing I know: Headache gone!

It turned out they were sinus headaches all along.

Thing was: I never experienced perceptible stuffiness or any other symptoms of sinus issues.

As soon as I figured out my "migraines" were really sinus headaches life became much easier

Every description of migraine symptoms I've seen describes fairly well what happens when I let myself get dehydrated. I get a decent number of headaches - caffeine shortage, sleep deprivation, sinus (very low humidity still gets me), dehydration, even just excess muscle tension is some areas can lead to bad ones... and they all have a different 'feel' and respond to different 'fixes'.

Of course there are some that don't neatly fit into any of those categories, or respond to that type's established fix. Those suck. What's distinctly different about a migraine?

I had terrible Migraines too but it went away when i took a vacation. When to Maldives for a month to relax. eat natural food and forget about all my problems. got back home and they never came back...I would get a headache every now and then but no migraines

quote:

So a quick update. My sister (nurse practitioner at a pulmonary clinic) pulled a couple of strings and now I have an appointment on Thursday. I'm too cynical to say that they'll get it resolved immediately, but I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it.

The neurologist put me on a high dose Prednisone taper, starting at 40mg and tapering 10mg every 3 days. I finally started feeling somewhat normal Wednesday, but I'm still carrying earplugs and sunglasses like a toddler with a teddy bear.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Update??? I have a good friend in Jackson, Ms. who specializes in migraines.

Ah, yes. I knew I forgot something.

The NP wants an xray of my neck. They also got all of my records from all of my other doctors. They're trying to rule out a slipped disc in my neck. At the right spot, it could cause or contribute significantly to the symptoms I have been complaining of.

When I inquired and pointed out that it's been quite a while since anyone did any kind of scan of my head, she responded that she's trying to decide if she needs a MRI of my brain or my brain and neck.

My xray appointment is Monday evening, and my followup appointment is Wednesday. I hope to have some more direction then.

The ordeal we have endured over the last 9 months compels me to urge you to pressure her to order brain and neck at the same time. Although if your situation was as dire as my bride’s was (glioblastoma multiforme), you’d possibly already have died.

That is definitely a concern I have. The last time I had a headache like that it turned out I had an extranumery wisdom tooth in a cyst in my upper jaw.

The brain was always going to be on the scan, she said she wanted to know if there is anything going on immediately south of it as well.

As much as I want them to go away I think migraines are and are going to be just another thing I have to deal with. My stated goal was symptom control. If we can figure out the root cause I can get behind fixing it, but reducing my down time is#1.

Like many, I had headaches on and off for several years, some tolerable and others were miserable. I finally went in to the ER when I had a real bad one and they ran hours of tests. I was exhausted after 6hrs and it was past midnight so I told them I'd return the next day. The next procedure they wanted to preform was a spinal tap and I just wanted to go home at that point and return the next day for that.

The next morning I woke up to an awful headache and lost all mobility, like being frozen inside of my body. I had an aneurysm in the left vertebral artery that ruptured and airlifted for surgery. They did a coil embolization to stop the bleed, but unfortunately I stroked during the surgery.

Never ever expected the headaches were leading to an aneurysm. Thank's to the doctors who saved my life. I wish you well vulrath, a will send a prayer your way

Update: Saw the NP yesterday, and she said my x rays looked fantastic, so the thought of this being referred or perpetuated by my neck is frustratingly off the table.

We discussed my options as of now, and she ordered a MRI with and without contrast to get a general idea of the overall state of my noggin, and to look for scar tissue from a nasty head injury I got as a kid. (I've noticed that most of my headaches seem to start or stay in that general area.)

quote:

Update: Saw the NP yesterday, and she said my x rays looked fantastic, so the thought of this being referred or perpetuated by my neck is frustratingly off the table.

Interesting that you mentioned the neck. When I was in the ER originally after being transported, the paramedics needed to have their gurney back to leave. So they seated me in a chair next to another patient. The very last thing before going unconscious was an awful pain that quickly surged up the back of my neck into my brain and I blacked out. God that was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced.

Good to hear that you're being thorough, lots of good advice from the folks here. Good luck and Godspeed vulrath.

The Mrs. has had them for years. Nothing has worked. Medicine, yoga, nothing.

I just take her to the E.R. They give her a coma cocktail and I carry her home.

Want to experience the worst migraine ever...

take two nitro glycerine tablets.. I thought I was gonna die..... well actually I was... that's why they gave them to me....

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Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Want to experience the worst migraine ever...

take two nitro glycerine tablets.. I thought I was gonna die..... well actually I was... that's why they gave them to me....

This is no joke!! I went to the ER having chest pains and they gave me two pills of nitro, I thought my head was going to EXPLODE!!! No heart issues but took 3 days and multiple tordol shots to get over the migraine!

No thanks. I've briefly experienced that opening a jug of IMR 4895. Luckily it dissipates as soon as I go get some air.

Have you tried daily supplementation of Magnesium Riboflavin, and CoQ10?

I've had two this week., Sunday night and Monday during lunch. Today is the first day, since Monday, that my head hasn't felt like exploding everytime I cough or sneeze. I have had some success with acupressure but not this time.