Sunday, January 25, 2009

About my headaches & migraines

I have always gotten bad headaches. When I was in high school they were consist. All types of test were run with no results. The doctor put me on a prescription for headaches. It worked wonders. I finally had relief. Then a trip to the doctor changed that. They had to take me off that medicine because, I found out later, supposedly kill people. I learned to manage the headaches and as I got older, the less frequently I got them. Until a couple of years ago.



I remember my first one. It was summer time and I was sitting on the deck talking to my friend on the phone. I had rubbed my eyes and saw flashes of light. Didn't really faze me. I had rubbed my eyes before and saw flashes of light. I felt funny in the head, but pawned it off as me being hot. Later I went to my friends house and was sitting by the pool. That night was brutal, but I figured I sat in the sun to long.



The next one happened in work. I was working on the computer when I started to see flashes of light and then what I call the light show (aura). It was zig-zag flashes of light. This scared the shit out of me and I called the eye doctor. She took me right away and did a thorough eye exam. She said that she believes it was an ocular migraine and made me promise that the next time it happened, I would go to the doctor. She also believed that it was brought on by my period. Hormonal she said.



I went after I had the second one. He ordered an MRI just to be sure and prescribed migraine medicine. Well the medicine does shit and I don't take it anymore. He also believed that they were brought on by my period. So I kept a log. Sure enough a couple days before, I'd get a migraine.



Then they stopped for the longest time and changed their pattern. I started waking up with them. For awhile now, I have been getting more and more. They are becoming more painful and debilitating. In the winter when I get them, I become very cold. It is like a reverse hot flash. Anyone who has had a hot flash can feel it start in their core and work it's way out. Well the cold is the same. My hands become ice and I cannot get warm. My cat loves it because I turn the heat up. Funny thing is in the summer, I don't get the cold flash. I wish I would though.



I have noticed that when I do get them during the day, I start to feel funny a couple hours before it hits. Hard to explain, but I feel dog tired, limbs feel heavy and it is hard to concentrate. Then my vision gets funny. It takes a couple of seconds for my eyes to focus. Then the flashes of light. I didn't get the flashes yesterday though. It just went into a full blown light show. After the light show, I become somewhat confused and I lose some coordination and I drop things. And of course there's the headache, chills and queasy stomach.



Before I would be fine the next day. Not so anymore. I still have a headache, the weird feeling is there and the vision is still funny. I push myself and maybe this isn't the right thing to do. But things need to be done. And I am not one to sit in the house. There are sights to see and pictures to take.



It feels like every time I have a migraine it takes a little bit of me. Like losing some memory and the confusion. It's weird.



Today I was thinking about this and I can't help but wonder if this has something to due with not getting my period for a couple of months. And then starting back up again. If I'm starting to go through the change and the hormones are all wacky, is this triggering all the migraines?



I don't know, but I guess I will start another log to keep track of symptoms and duration.

5 comments:

bobbie said...

I hope you do keep that log faithfully, and then - GO TO ANOTHER DOCTOR! I know you hate them, but you really should try to get relief from this.

Marla said...

You should probably see another doctor, maybe some kind of specialist? I hope you start to feel better and take care of yourself.

MmeBenaut said...

Lisa, definitely go to a doctor and ask for some
MAXOLON to take when you get the first symptoms. It is for nausea (queasy stomach) and it will make you feel much better. You don't take it every day, just when you feel a migraine coming on.

I also had hormonal migraine for 40 years. Nothing could stop those - an effective pain medication I take is called MERSYNDOL FORTE. It has panadol, codeine and a muscle relaxant called Doxylamine in it. It will make you a bit sleepy. Take 2 tablets and lie down in a dark room - DON'T watch movies or go out into the sunlight or watch the computer screen either. All those things will make you feel worse.

I also suffer from food allergy migraines - since I'm post-menopausal, these are the only ones I get these days. Some of my trigger foods are:

Cheese (except Fetta, Cream Cheese & Parmesan).
Mushrooms
Dark Chocolate
Red or White wine
Anything with sulphur dioxide added (often as a colouring agent on meats and also in most wines)
Most alcohol, especially beer
Most preservatives - much better to eat only fresh food, cooked at home.

For migraines resulting from food allergies, I take an antihistamine called PROMETHAZINE (PHENERGAN). However, if the migraine is well advanced, this must be administered by injection because tablets won't work as the stomach stops absorbing anything. If you are vomiting, you also can't keep the tablets down. I have tablets to take, together with the MAXOLON at the first sign of headache. You need to have a reliable doctor who is accessible to you when you are sick, to give you the injection. Maxolon can also be injected. Once the migraine is under control, you will still have the pain but you can take your painkillers once you are feeling a bit better. This injection will make you sleepy so it's best not to "soldier on" but to go to bed.

Other triggers can be excessive concentration on computers, driving, etc.

The "hot and cold" sensations and also PHOTOSENSITIVITY or dislike of bright light are symptoms of the COMMON MIGRAINE which I believe you have.

If you google "migraine" and look up Common Migraine which usually results in pain on only one side of your head, behind the eye is worst but the entire half side of your body is affected (hence the dropping things), you will find out a lot more about these awful headaches and you will be able to discuss the problem thoroughly with your doctor.

Good Luck Lisa! I do feel for you; you are in the "Perimenopausal" period. Look that up on the net too and it will describe what you are going through with your periods, etc.

As for a log, definitely do this but mostly for food triggers.

Gretchen said...

You don't have to say a word other than "migraine" and I know exactly what are you going through. Doctors pretend to know what they are doing, but ... I've been to dozens and dozens of docs, including the world-famous Cleveland Clinic and nobody can help me. :( Just stay strong.

This Yahoo group might give you a few ideas:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Migraine_Suffers/?yguid=3054237

Cliff said...

Sorry to hear this Lisa. I hope you can find the right Dr. to deal with this.
Are you sure you're not pregnant.
Okay, someone had to say it.
I AM happy that after reading this post and then the next to see that you don't own a gun. Your taxpayers are safer because of that. Or at least the ones who need shot are safer.