Migraines

[El Matador]

If anyone who gets migraines is also diabetic, there may be a different way of getting rid of them.  It might not be migraines for the same reason that everyone else gets them.  I'm not sure how it works, but some diabetics have problems with neuropathy.  It's basically pain that occurs in a place in the body, and usually the same place every time.  Some get it in their feet.  Some get it in their elbows.  It doesn't make sense where it appears.  My mother gets it in the form of a migraine and takes a first generation antidepressant, amitryptline, which has been very effective at preventing them.  The antidepressant doesn't work well for what it was designed to do, since its effects are short and one of the side effects is drowsiness, but she takes one before bed.  It puts her to sleep, all the mood altering effects happen while she's sleeping, and she no longer gets migraines.  Just be careful if you do take it.  Overdose, even if fairly minor, is usually fatal, and there is no treatment for it. 

Damn... I think i'd rather have the headache...

[DucMouse the Mighty]

a chiroprator guys!!!

but that depends on what is causing ur migrains..
sometimes it can be a mechanical issues, like if ur atlas(C1) is out of alignment that could cause ur muscles/nerves to be pulled out of wack....

i have friends that swear by that, and say a special chiro for ur atlas and being cracked a bit has helped more then u can image!!

[Kaveh]

thanks for all the suggestions   I'm back on planet earth now!!!

[ducpainter]

thanks for all the suggestions   I'm back on planet earth now!!!

...but why are you awake at 4 am?

[Kaveh]

me reason you are...just got done playing ps3

[Monsterlover]

a chiroprator guys!!!

but that depends on what is causing ur migrains..
sometimes it can be a mechanical issues, like if ur atlas(C1) is out of alignment that could cause ur muscles/nerves to be pulled out of wack....

i have friends that swear by that, and say a special chiro for ur atlas and being cracked a bit has helped more then u can image!!

I was wondering if someone would mention this.  My father in law is a chiropractor (and a good one) and he says most times he can help with migrains.

[Speedbag]

Could it be an outside stimulus of some sort causing them?

I ask because I used to get the occasional migraine while working for a previous employer. Five or six times throughout the course of a year or so, and they were brutal (the first time I was terrified that something was seriously wrong with me). The job was fairly cushy (so they weren't stress-related), but some of the equipment that ran outside my cubicle used xylene as a cleaning/purge solvent in some labeling units; I could never smell any fumes, but my cube was probably full of them. I never proved it but I think that was a primary factor, and if I had a Mountain Dew and a little vending machine bag of M&Ms together in the AM hours a migraine was virtually guaranteed.

I haven't had a migraine since I left the place.

[MTKLI]

I probably get them once or twice a month...
The cure for me is:
3 Excedrin, and some sleep in a dark, cool room.
If I need to keep functioning:
four Excedrin and a pepsi...

[Got Duc]

Like above.

Sleep to reboot the system.

I get the light show for about twenty minutes then headache.

take advil for the headache part.

[mstevens]

Overdose, even if fairly minor, is usually fatal, and there is no treatment for it. 

Not really. I've seen some very major overdoses with tricyclics (several weeks' supply taken all at once) that did not prove fatal. I'm not aware of any reports of fatalities in non-cardiac patients with ingestions smaller than 500mg. There's a pretty good chance your mother is taking 10mg to 25mg for headache, so a fatal dose might be more than she would ever have on-hand. There is most certainly treatment for TCA overdose, which is rarely fatal if treated in the intensive or cardiac care unit.

Incidentally, tricyclics are commonly used for classic migraine in non-diabetic patients, too. Sometimes they work great. Usually they don't.

For the guys here in particular, "cluster headache" is more common in men than in women and is often confused with migraine even by physicians. The reason this matters is that migraine treatments such as triptans, TCA's, anticonvulsants, etc. don't work well for clusters and there are two treatments that are often effective for cluster headache that don't work for migraine. Those are oxygen inhalation (not usually easily accessible for most of us) and applying an ice pack to the head (usually under the eye and next to the nose).

Sleep and sex are widely reported to be highly effective for many migraineurs. I'm not sure there's any evidence of a serotonin mechanism for the latter since there's a surge of oxytocin during orgasm but not serotonin.

[darylbowden]

For the guys here in particular, "cluster headache" is more common in men than in women and is often confused with migraine even by physicians. The reason this matters is that migraine treatments such as triptans, TCA's, anticonvulsants, etc. don't work well for clusters and there are two treatments that are often effective for cluster headache that don't work for migraine. Those are oxygen inhalation (not usually easily accessible for most of us) and applying an ice pack to the head (usually under the eye and next to the nose).

Also, cluster headaches can lead to a migraine.  Kinda ironic how a migraine trigger can be a diff headache.

Sleep is what kills all migraines for me, but it's getting there that's the pregnant dog.  If you're having (what I consider) a bad migraine, sleep is not something the pain will let you do.  The triptans (Imitrex in my case) lowers the pain level enough to let me sleep *if* I take it in time.  After that, it's some vicodin and hope for the best.

Also, I don't know how that works for you guys, but advil, excedrin, etc are all completely useless when i have a migraine - a regular headache yes, a migraine - hell no.

[ducatiz]

If you get migraines, please read closely. (BUT CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR)

There are two pharms you want to investigate.  Neither are habit forming nor narcotic -- but again, talk to your doctor.

KETOROLAC

and

METOCHLORPRAMIDE

Get yourself a prescription for both.  Ketorolac is the generic name for TORADOL, but Toradol is no longer made so you get it under the gen name. 

You have to use an IM (intramuscular) injection, so it's a big needle.  Right into the thigh or arm muscle.

When I get a migraine "halo" I give myself a shot of Ketorolac, and in about 30 minutes, the halos are gone.

The Metochlorpramide is for non-halo migraines.  If you get a whammy, a quick-onset, then give yourself BOTH drugs together. 

WHen I started, I need 1 ml of Ketorolac but now do as little as 0.3 ml depending on how severe the halos are.

Ketorolac is an NSAID.  but it should be called "Nuclear NSAID" because it works so friggin' well. 

Listen to me and you will thank me.

[mags]

I get one every other month or so.  I can feel it coming, but have found nothing to stop it from turning into a full blown nightmare.  The only thing that works for me is a combination of caffeine, a lot of water, a few advil (but i have a low tolerance for medicine) and about 10-12 hours sleep in a cold, dark, QUIET room.

[mstevens]

If you get migraines, please read closely.

Wow. I've actually been to medical school, and I don't feel competent to give specific medical recommendations to strangers on the internet.

Different things work for and are tolerated by different people. Both ketorolac and metoclopramide have potential irreversible side effects (such as tardive dyskinesia with metoclopramide) that make them poor choices for some people.

The "thing" about vascular headaches (classical and atypical migraines, cluster headaches, etc.) is their protean nature and the great unpredictability of what will work for which sufferers.

Metoclopramide, incidentally, is sold under the brand name of Reglan in the US.

[ducatiz]

Wow. I've actually been to medical school, and I don't feel competent to give specific medical recommendations to strangers on the internet.

Thanks for the caution, I should have said Check With Your Doctor. 

I've recommended Ketorolac to 2 friends (who did check with their doctors) and both are much better off.

I'll edit my post