Migraine Triggers

What are the things that are causing you to have the migraines. Let us know and maybe we can figure out a way around or through the situation.

What kind of side effects did you have when you took Topamax?  When you take the Relpax, how long does it usually take for the headache to go away?

Thanks

birlley:  When I was on Topamax I was a crazy person, super moody and angry, my temper was HORRIBLE, my memory, esp. short term sucked, I could not eat....I lost 20lbs the first month, just because I could eat about 1/2 a small hamburger for a meal...and I had to force it....most people like this side effect, but I had NO appetite and would go like 12-14h without eating anything...just because I forgot to since I was never hungry.  All of this, plus my headaches were EXACTLY the same..not better at all.

Usually Relpax works for me in about 30 minutes, as long as I take it early in the headache.  I tend to get very nauseous and vomit if I let the headache get too strong, then I have nasal spray, disolvable Zofran, then once I am not vomiting, I take the relpax.  Every once in a while, I get a "rebound" headache the next day..not as strong...but a headache.  That sucks!

I suffered from chronic migraine (with aura) all through my teenage years.  It was so bad that I was in bed most of the day, and ended up leaving school at 15.  I have been rushed to hospital twice with very severe attacks.  The illness runs in my family, but it was mostly linked to hormones, food and stress and I tried many different treatments before finding anything that worked.

After a bad migraine I would feel really hungry and crave red meat, or acidic foods like citrus fruits, lemon and vinegar.

These days I get very few migraines.  I avoid most processed foods, fizzy drinks and sweets because of their additives.  I eat lots of fresh fruit and veg, chicken, fish and fresh spinach.  Things like cheese and chocolate are fine in small amounts.  Using calorie count I found that if I eat under 1100 (around 900-1000) calories a day I get a migraine, so it helps me to balance out meals each day rather than inadvertently eating too much one day and too little the next.

I take beta blockers (40mg daily), paramax when needed, and Imigran in injectible form if it's really bad.  These all work well for me, the migraines seemed to get better with age too.

Hope this will be of use to someone, I can sympathise how bad it gets for some people.

This thread is a cracking read!

I have suffered from chronic migraine, with auras and loss of feeling in limbs and face/mouth since puberty, and no one has ever given me advice.  No one I have spoken to can even sympathise with how it feels.

I am really glad I have read this and joined this group.  I will read this again and see if it rings any bells.  I don't know my triggers at all and I'd love to know, the only thing I do know is that 50% of the time I can feel it coming on before the aura strikes I feel 'strange'.

The last post about citrus fruit is also interesting as I am allergic to citrus fruit, maybe there is a link there as lots of foods contain citric acid these days.

What Techdog says is also interestingg, I can also feel storms coming and feel the tension before the lightning flash and it is excrutating (sp?) until the thunder rumbles!  Maybe we are just wired up differently!

Also interesting about bruxism too - I grind my teeth a lot..... maybe I am learning to understand myself better now! thanks lol

Have a great migraine free day all! xx

I have had headaches as long as I can remember-I am 49, and I bet you I have had them since I was 16.  They get worse the older I get.  I get 2 kinds of headaches..Migraines-there is no mistaken them, I have an aura--sometimes slivers of colored lights coming toward me, stomach upset, a dull achy feeling, sometimes "clammy" cant get out of bed, not good for anyone or anything, debilitating...I take one of my imitrexand I can actually feel how my brain or head reacts to them.  I feel "sensations" in my head...although I am not totally free of the pain, it does take away the majority of it.  My headaches usually last 2-3 days.  My triggers-the weather--big time, the degrees drop or rise, rain, season change....Biggest trigger-period.  Right before my periods, I get the worse Migraine.  The other headache I call a mini migraine-which I hurts me in the face and forehead and neck so I know it is sinus related.  I could feel the fluid draining down in the back of my throat...but the pain is severe for a sinus headache, but not equal to a Migraine.  To relieve the pain sometimes of either, I have someone dig down and circulate the top of my shoulders with their finger really hard.  When they lift up, it releases the pain but doesnt last...I figure it is circulating new blood in that area which why it feels good...people laugh when I make them do it.  I am not a small person, so I tell them to do as hard as they can.

I see others suffer around me also and it makes me feel good, not that they have it also, but that someone can relate to me.  NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE has no idea what they feel like in less you experience it yourself.  I have Osteo Arthritis and I would rather feel the pain in my joints than for my head to be out of commission.  It is so depressing when I get them...makes me weak all over from head to toe.

I am not asking for advice, I have been so many doctors that it is unbelievable...I just want to share what I go through so someone else knows they are not alone.

Help talk me down!  I need Advice!

I have suffered from migraines for 8 years.  They have been getting worse but I have been getting other symptoms as well.  I have fatigue, achy joints, and aura (visual, hearing, and smelling).  I have had MRI, CT, EEG and sleep study.  On July 18, I had an unusual tenderness in the back of my head as if it were bruised (the scalp tenderness wasn't unusual but where it was and how big it was, troubled me.) so I went to the ER.  They dismissed it as a usual symptom and sent me home.  Two days later, I had a left-sided migraine with dizziness.  I fell down and then had extremely blurry vision in my right eye.  I had a CT which stated:  Narrowing in the mid-brain.

Now the migraines have increased, I have balance problems, and the forgetfulness that I only had after a major migraine is frequent  and without migraine.  This morning I couldn't remember how to turn on the shower.!!!!!

I called the neurologist and they told me that was normal.  Normal???  I explained that I thought normal was forgetting how to make the number 9 and writing a 2 or forgetting to put the car in park before shutting it off.  But not knowing how to turn on the shower after living in the same house for years?!?

What do you all think?

Thanks in advance for any input.

PS: I am currently undergoing allergy testing to see if there are triggers that I am not realizing.  I now know that I have 15 inhalant allergies.  Food testing begins today. 

What do we all think?????????  You need to get a NEW DOCTOR.  If the migraines are effecting you that much, you need a second opinion.  I have them bad, but never to that extreme... I have many issues that keep me down, but never forgetfulness to what you described.  I may be wrong, but I would get another doctor.  I am anxious to see what others say, maybe this is normal.

I also get migraines from changes in the atmospheric pressure...it took me years to figure out that that's what the problem is!

I live in Singapore, (13 yrs. now), where the pressure can fluctuate quite rapidly, especially during Aug-Oct and Mar-May (like Spring/Fall, except we don't really have "seasons" here).

The only thing that I find really helps is to take an OTC sinus med that has pain reliever. This takes care of the pressure while also getting rid of the pain.  Sometimes, I might have to take up to 4 of these in a day to get relief.

My migraine triggers are:

-anything with grape artificial flavoring.  Its almost immediate

-skipping lunch

-walking into the Yankee Candle store or any sort of smell overload

-trying to read in a moving vehicle

-hormones! ugh, as if the cramps weren't bad enough...

-wine and aged cheese (at the same time, but not separately)

-visual distortions like magnifying glasses or warped sunglasses

-being directly in the sun for too long

-Rosepresses's bold text. lol just kidding...well sorta

Things that help:

-lavender aromatherapy (kinda helps but doesn't cure)

-take advil and go to sleep in a dark dark room (the only really effective thing)

Geez...I really wish I could have back all the hours of my life that were stolen by migraines.  All the special occassions or holidays that were ruined by migraines.  How many times I've let people down when they were counting on me and I couldn't come through because of a migraine.  Nearly everyone on my mother's side of the family gets them.  Apparently they get better after menopause for the women...so at least I have that look forward to.

wow, I never realized there could be so many different triggers.  I've had migraines four about 4 yrs now and sometimes ill go months without them but it seems like im getting them every week now for the past couple of months.

I dont know what my triggers are though.  Sometimes i think its stress but i dont actually know if it's that or food triggers.

How did you guys find out what your triggers are?

Anayesenia, I went to a new neurologist and he gave me a four page list of common triggers, suggested I eliminate all of them for about 6 weeks, then slowly one at a time add them back in.

I knew MSG for a long time...but the new ones were pretty obvious once I eliminated them from my diet.  I used to get a migraine 2-4x a month, now maybe one every 6-7 months...and easily controlled with rescue meds.  My meds did not work well when I was still eating the triggers.

Mine are: MSG, chocolate, nuts, annetto(yellow dye) and aspartamine.

The atmospheric pressure used to bother me too, but now that I avoid these triggers, it doesn't anymore.  I also wear the Ortho-Evra patch all the time to keep my estrogen stable so no more hormonal headaches.

Good luck at finding yours :)