Migraines-Tips/Tricks?

[Aislin]

There was a program on NPR that said a new study linked migraines to a gene associated with sleep disorders and that interrupted sleep is a common trigger.

[Sapphire Silk]

There was a program on NPR that said a new study linked migraines to a gene associated with sleep disorders and that interrupted sleep is a common trigger.

Well, that makes sense to me. I do have a mild sleep apnea (probably due to my weight) that doesn't require CPAP. Sometimes I will wake with a headache.

[Blue Ginger]

As everyone else has pretty much said, different people have different triggers and tricks to ease them may work for some and do nothing for others.

One of my triggers is being around smokers. Clean tobacco is fine. But my poor body can't cope with a number of things that are added to tobacco. (I was doing the happy dance when smoking was banned in pubs and clubs.)
Other triggers are industrial cleaners, glues and paints. (So I will never have a brand new car. )
Some of my triggers are food allergies, mainly artificial colours and preservatives. Most of these have been banned or removed over the years, but it's always fun when a company changes something in a favourite food.
I can't have anything with caffeine or guaruna (sp?) in it.

Keep a diary, but list the brand of the food you eat as well. Different brands use different additives. For example, I can eat Allen's lollies until I explode but I can't eat the Natural Confectionery Company lollies without getting whacked with a migraine. List if you are feeling a little stressed, a lot stressed or not stressed.
Basically list everything.

The drugs to ease them will be trial and error for the most part. It took years for me to find a few that work for me. I take different ones for different levels of pain and different triggers. I do suggest that you don't go straight for the most powerful drugs first. Sometimes coming down from those are worse than the original migraine.

And remember just because X causes migraines in one person, doesn't mean it is the same for you.

[Lyse]

I do take meds, but if I catch it early enough I've found that about half the time just naproxen and coffee (usually mocha) will take care of it. As for preventing them, feverfew has been mentioned, but I know that both my cousin and I didn't have any luck with it. She has however had some great success with a supplement called Migra-Eeze (from Amazon).

[Seshat]

With regard to supplements and 'herbal medicines' - please run those past your doctor or pharmacist. The ones that are effective can interact with other medications. The ones that aren't are a waste of your money. And some can be poisonous to people with certain conditions!

Please, please always remember that hemlock and arsenic are both 'all natural'.

[corwin02]

Aside from the advice to see a doctor and get properly diagnosed I have the following to share
I've had migraines since age 17 (47 now) usually the onset was stress (exam related , later work related) and lack of sleep.

What worked for me was 1000 mg (1 gram yes) of aspirine (real acetylsalicylic acid not tylenol or something) a cup of espresso and a cigarette (in that order) and then try to fall asleep in a dark cold room. If I couldn't fall asleep I would be in for 48hrs of pain.

What worked for me is to limit the amount of stress in my life (not always possible) and take breaks whenever I felt my body signalling that it was at the end of its rope.

[wolfie]

I can't have anything with caffeine or guaruna (sp?) in it.

Be careful - just because you know one food item is safe doesn't mean a VERY close equivalent is. Couple of soft drink examples:

Mug root beer is caffeine-free. Barq's has caffeine.
In Canada, Mountain Dew is caffeine-free. In the U.S., it's the most heavily caffeinated soda available.
In Canada, orange soda is caffeine-free. In the U.S., some brands are caffeine-free, others are caffeinated.

[blas]

Theraputic massage, as my migraines are triggered by very severe muscle tension in my neck.

[42_42_42]

I've suffered from migraines my entire life, one of those "lucky" few who have childhood migraines.

My only food trigger is aspartame so I avoid anything with that in it. I also tend to get one every month around my period. I'm already on BC for hormone replacement therapy and my doctor and I have tried to find one that prevents that monthly migraine, but no luck so far.

Sometimes I get them out of the blue, too.

I take Aleve, Excedrin, Tylenol in rotation but the thing that helps me the most is for my husband to give me a deep tissue massage of the shoulders, neck, and back using Icy Hot instead of massage oil and then a nice long sleep. Alternating hot and cold packs at the base of my skull also help.

[Blue Ginger]

I've suffered from migraines my entire life, one of those "lucky" few who have childhood migraines.

And I thought I was the only one. They sucked big time, didn't they? Especially when you are too young to fully know what's going on and you start freaking out because it feels like your head is going to explode.

With lots of trial and error, we found the best thing to do, for me, was take 1 soluble panadol, go to bed, then take a second on 1 hour later. The second one would make me throw up, which allowed me to sleep for 8 to 10 hours. Now depending on the cause, I still have to throw up, but now I use really strong cordial. And take good drugs that help me sleep for between 8 to 14 hours.

Yep, Wolfie, I am a pain in the arse to travel with. I have to triple check everything. That's easy in an English-speaking country, not so easy everywhere else. Mostly I stick to bottles of water or bottles of orange juice instead of fizzy drinks and try to eat the most basic food. I also travel with a large supply of healthy snack food.

[redsox33413]

Thanks everyone for your input so far!
I have noticed that if I've gone longer than two days without coffee, I get that "tinge" that signals the onset of one. I have slowly tried taking alot of things out of my diet, gave up all brown soda,as it doesn't sit in the tummy well, anyway... Never touched the diet soda at all (it always had a weird aftertaste to me, so I figured just switching to water was easier than tasting a soapy aftertaste in my mouth...LOL!)
I am definitely starting a food and exercise diary, I just joined a crossfit gym yesterday, and I want to document everything!
Also is a physiotherapist kind of like a chiropractor? (Sorry if I spelled that incorrectly!)
As usual, you are all so awesome and helpful!
Bacon, Love, Hugs, Cookies and Frosty Adult Beverages to you all!

[Rock Lobster]

Migraines for Dummies is a good resource. See if the library has it! There is also a book called 'A Guided Trip Through Hell' which is harder to find but it gives first hand accounts of migraine sufferers. Many famous people suffered from migraines.

Thomas Jefferson
Julius Caesar
Napoleon
Ulysses S. Grant
Robert E. Lee
Mary Todd Lincoln
Claude Monet
Virginia Woolfe
Cervantes: Author of Don Quixote.
Lewis Carroll
Sigmund Freud
Friedrich Nietzsche
Van Gogh
Elvis Presley
Elizabeth Taylor
Lisa Kudrow
Elle MacPherson
Carly Simon
Whoopi Goldberg
Marcia Cross
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Scottie Pippen
Terrell Davis

[Seshat]

A physiotherapist is a specialist in body movement. Their most common task involves rehabilitation work: helping someone re-learn how to walk, or how to adapt to a wheelchair, or recover after knee surgery, or some such. But physiotherapy is a huge, huge field, and there are many sub-specialties of physiotherapy. I've actually seen a continence physiotherapist! She specialises in the muscles of the lower abdomen.

Anyway: a physiotherapist will be able to teach you how to manage the muscles of your skull, and the muscles that tend to cause tension in your skull muscles.

[Rock Lobster]

Be careful - just because you know one food item is safe doesn't mean a VERY close equivalent is. Couple of soft drink examples:

Mug root beer is caffeine-free. Barq's has caffeine.
In Canada, Mountain Dew is caffeine-free. In the U.S., it's the most heavily caffeinated soda available.
In Canada, orange soda is caffeine-free. In the U.S., some brands are caffeine-free, others are caffeinated.

It has been my experience that those with migraines should avoid orange pop as well as cherry and grape. Sorry thought I would add that little tidbit.

[mathnerd]

I'm going to jump on the diary bandwagon. It's a pain, but write down everything you eat and do, as well as environmental observations. Maybe your trigger is the fragrance that somebody around you wears, or a mold/mildew in a specific building you visit from time to time. You never know what detail is going to be important, so the more information you have, the better your chance of identifying what's causing them.