To all the Migraine Sufferers on DU...

[youthere]

I want you to know that you have my utmost sympathy and respect for functioning day in and out with this kind of chronic pain.
I had a migraine last night...I've had a total of maybe five in my lifetime...and I can't imagine what it must be like to have to deal with this debillitating condition on a regular basis.

[skygazer]

1. You have my sympathy

I wouldn't wish a migraine on my worst enemy. They're just impossible to describe and I hate it when you tell people you have a migraine and they brush it off with, "Oh, I get bad headaches, too."

A migraine is one of the few things that will cause me to call in sick to work.

[youthere]

2. I've had MAYBE five in my lifetime..

including the one last night...and it turned me into a blubbering mess. I cannot imagine suffering like that on a regular basis. That is a SERIOUS condition and NO ONE should minimize it.

[skygazer]

3. I've had times when I had five in a week

Other times I've had one for an entire week. That time I really considered shooting myself. I take regular meds to prevent them and I have prescription meds to use when I get them - even so, every now and then I have to go to the Emergency Room to get a shot because nothing is working.

It's really wrong that they're called headaches because they're so much more than that. Anyway, I'm glad you feel better and I hope you never have another one. :hug:

[youthere]

9. I'm so sorry you have to deal with them..

and you're right..they are so much more than just a headache...and I hope you never have another one too.:hug:

[sammythecat]

4. "Oh, I get bad headaches, too."

Makes you want to slap 'em huh?

The word "migraine" is way, way, overused.

I'm thankful I don't get them, but I know some who do and I know it truly is debilitating.

I don't know if your aware of this, but several years ago in a Super Bowl the star running back for the winning team had to sit out the first half of the game because of a migraine. There he was, at the pinnacle of everything he'd been working toward in his career and he was stopped cold by a migraine.

[skygazer]

I'm not surprised

I've worked through bronchitis and pneumonia, went back to work within a week of breaking my back, worked all day the day I had my oldest daughter but a migraine will knock me flat. I'm one of the toughest people you'll ever meet (if you ever meet me) but just feeling one coming on will turn me to jelly.

[eyepaddle]

5. I've had a couple where I saw flashing lights

Oooff--that was pretty much a waste of a day.

However, I'm with you in the "five or less" category; and it seems that alcohol was my trigger. Since I quit drinking I haven't had one.

[undeterred]

6. I have had them 3-4 times a month for 25 years

and I take daily meds.

And when you have no insurance, the only injections that work to stop them (imitrex) are now $160 for two, and have been under patent for 13 years so that Glaxo Wellcome can keep getting filthy rich at our expense.

[youthere]

11. That's criminal!

Yet another illustration why Health care reform MUST happen.

[undeterred]

18. I used to work in the healthcare field and I went to a conference

in Boston. There were 10,000 gastronenterologists from all over the world gathered for "Digestive Disease Week". And this same company threw a party at the Boston Trade Center with free dinner and drinks for all those doctors- with their brand name and the name of the gastro drugs they make printed all over everything. So when they talk about how they need to mark up the drugs for research I always think of that expensive party with free drinks for the doctors- that's where my money went.

[Maineiac]

7. My future ex-wife struggled with them since her late teens

A few years ago she discovered Imitrex. Thanks to Imitrex and our pending divorce B-) she now has relief when they do occur.

[youthere]

22. Which gave her more relief?

;)

[Lil Missy]

8. I've had only ONE, and it was about 25 years ago.

It competely incapacited me. It came on me very suddenly and I had to lay down else I would puke if I were sitting up, and the sunlight in my room made me nauseous so I had to lay beside the bed so no direct light would hit my eyes. Then, after a couple hours, it left as suddenly as it came. It was HORRIBLE!

My SO gets them too, but she has Immetrix (sp?), that seems to ward them off if she takes it in time. In the 2 years we have been together she has been incapacitated twice, and was so sick I wanted to take her to ER both times. It's not pretty.

[youthere]

17. I'm so sorry...

That has to be horrible, never knowing when one is going to hit, or even if you take the meds if they will work. :hug: for you and your partner.

[AlCzervik]

10. i get one or 2 a month and yes they really are debilitating. I get them from changes in

barometric pressure and sometimes when i'm premenstrual. I go to my bedroom, close the shutters and get the bucket.

[youthere]

14. I think that (combined with stress) is what gave me mine last night..

we had a strong storm system move through last and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm so sorry you have to deal with them. :hug:

[AlCzervik]

20. thanks and you too, really terrible. I agree with the labor thing as well

the only other worse pain that i've had other than a migraine was a gallbladder attack and that hurt way more than labor and i had no drugs when i had my daughter--oh sure i supposed to get some and then they said "Oh you're too far along now" "WTF???" "What am i in the dark ages, how about you send me out into the corn fields and i'll just drop the old fashioned way?!!"

[skygazer]

16. Barometric pressure is my main trigger

I found when I moved to California that the number of migraines I got instantly lessened. Humid summers in Vermont just killed me.

My other trigger is a sudden change in my sleep cycle. I found when I tried to work graveyard shifts that I just couldn't do it. I was getting migraines every few days.

[youthere]

21. It's good that you know what your triggers are...

and hooray for dry climates!

[Lobster Martini]

12. The meds are worse than the migraines

I was given Axert. It may work for somebody else, but for me, it was like having a headache and then being hit with a nine-pound hammer. If anyone has a better solution, let me know.

And yes, my doctor was less than sympathetic. He didn't believe that my migraines were triggered by caffeine. Guess what happened when I stopped drinking tea.

[youthere]

13. I think if (like me) you aren't a chronic sufferer...

you just don't understand. Seriously...I've had three kids, two with extended back labor, and it was less painful. I would do the labor over again rather than suffer through a migraine.

[emmajane67]

15. I have had some shockers.

Been to emergency more times than you can imagine.

I finally got some injections to give myself at home and after a while of doing that they have gone completely.

Migraine free for a couple of years now!

And I hope it stays that way.

[youthere]

19. That's great!

So happy for your recovery!

[emmajane67]

23. I hope it lasts.

I was getting them more than once a week.

I have some classic stories such as the time I had been awake all night puking and crying in pain and decided at 6am to take myself to hospital. I had to clutch each lamp-post all the way there and stop to throw up each time, while walking along the edge of a main road until I reached the Emergency centre.

For a while I had a very cool doctor with an older nurse. He would charge me $5 for the injection then the nurse would put me to bed in the spare room to 'sleep it off'. She would bring me water and Paramax (anti-nauseant) and mother me until I was well enough to go home, normally at least an hour or two later.

[ganeshji]

24. Sorry to hear that.

I have suffered from migraines for years. I've had limited success with different treatments that I have tried. The old fashioned herbal remedy does help a bit, as far as easing the upset stomach, but usually it just takes three days in my cold dark bedroom to let it pass. My grandmother used to refer to it as the curse and I know just what she means. Sorry you had to go through it.