Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    Are you taking birth control pills?  I had migraines and was taken off
    the pill and the headaches have completely stopped...
    
    But, now I'm pregnant with twins!!!
    
    Virginia

    No, I've never used the pill.  
    
    I have had migraines in the past, but never like this.
    
    --bonnie

    Please see also:
    
    Womannotes-V1
    131 - PMS - how we cope
    
    Medical
    73 - Migraine headaches
    74 - Seasonal migraines
    
    Holistic 
    207 - Migraines
    
    -Jody
    

Bonnie, I know my migraines were connected to my periods. In my case on the 
first day usually. The doctor told me this was a common thing. I'm finally off
taking amitryptilin every day and just taking Naprosyn during my period. It's
an anti-inflamatory drug that somehow helps. Something to do with prostoglandins.
If I actually get a migraine I take Caffergot which seems to work. 

As an aside, my GP told me to get off my butt and file for my divorce and he bet
it would make a difference. It did. I still get migrianes but the incidence is
way down and controllable. liesl

    Bonnie,
    
    If I try to control my intake of caffiene and sugars at this time it
    helps control the headaches. 
    
    Kim
    

    Ironically, Oliver Sacks, migraine expert par excellance, suggests
    that people take caffeine when they have a migraine. Just tea or
    coffee, not megadoses. I have his book on migraines, Bonnie. I'll
    bring it to the next bookclub meeting. He has millions of case
    histories that all seem to demonstrate that migraines are a
    whole-life issue; for example, there are "situational" migraines
    that occur every time a person is in a particular situation. Sacks
    says the worst thing for migraines is to try to ignore them. He
    says a darkened room, some caffeine, and quiet are best, and 
    in my experience he's right.
    
    Eileen

    re: .6
    
    I got a headache this morning as soon as I got well into my first
    cup of coffee, so I think you may be onto something there.
    
    But that makes me wonder -- I haven't had to take cafergot this
    time.  It didn't help at all last time. Cafergot is some kind of
    ergot chemical compounded with caffeine.  
    
    Does that mean it could actually make a PMS-related migraine
    WORSE???
    
    --bonnie

    Bonnie,
    
    On the bright side (so it shouldn't be a total loss) you get the
    headache at your most likely fertile time, it may be just a form
    of birth control.  :^)
    
    Seriously, caffeine does play a role. But timing has a lot to do
    with it.  Caffergot is useless at the wrong time, mostly you have
    to experiment when to take it and catch the migraine cycle correctly.
    For me, it was always when the visual stuff was at its most
    interesting. (Hey, the little swimming things are turning neon and
    slding down the tunnel vision! Time to take the tab, before the
    pain hits.)
    
    Some have found that cold compresses applied to the temples and
    back of the neck work to shrink whatever it is that swells and causes
    the headaches.
    
    At the headache clinic (in NYC, unfortunately) there were folks who
    found relief by taking a scalding shower followed by a cold shower. 
    
    It's my understanding that caffergot is both a shrinker and an expander
    that acts to stabalize the headache cycle. (Migraines usually progress
    in a distinctive order as they come on, hit, heighten, and subside.) 
                                                                   
    It could simply be that this pregnancy tilted your chemistry enough
    that the headaches are more frequent and severe. Women get them
    far more often than men and there is a hormonal component in the
    frequency and severity of attack.  This is not too downplay the
    pain of a situational migraine.
    
    Me, I feel like tearing my head off when a big one hits.    

    I believe my migraines are definitely related to hormonal changes.
    Several of the women in my mother's side of the family have started
    getting migraines when they reached puberty (me included). I would get
    them all the time. I started taking the Pill when I was 18 and now only
    get a migraine the week I'm OFF the Pills. The only thing that seems to
    help me is taking Excedrin (it contains caffein). I don't normally
    ingest anything with caffein (except chocolate) so just one tablet of
    Excedrin does the trick for me. My maternal aunt has spent most of her
    life trying to figure out why she gets migraines, including going on
    the Pill, but the only thing that has done  anything towards lessening
    them is a complete hysterectomy. A fairly radical approach, but it did
    help her. 
    
    I'd follow up on the hormone theory, especially since yours are
    probably a little whacked out from the pregnancy.
    
    Debbie
    

    
    I get migraines real bad around cycle time.  Cause:  low-blood
    pressure.  I normally have low pressure.
      
    When I start, my blood pressure is lowered even more
    and a migraine ensues....
    
    

    Sometimes 500 milligrams of Niacin take just as you notice you are
    getting a migraine help. Niacin is a fast vaso-dilator and you will get
    a wicked flushed head and your ears will itch like crazy for about
    15-30 minutes, but sometimes this can stop one for me.
    
    Tamzen

    My mother (42), myself (22), my sister (18) and my brother (11)
    all suffer Migraine.
    
    My Mother has been suffering since the age of 4 and has numerous
    treatments and brain scans still to no avail.  She has been on daily
    medication for about the last 10 years and this only controls the
    pain level.  If she did not take this daily she would suffer
    continuously.
    
    My earliest memory of migraine was when I was 9-10 years old and
    thankfully now have grown out of it, I may suffer 2-3 times a year.
    
    Lisa my sister is like my mother and is on daily medication, although
    she is starting to grow out of it.
    
    And so thankfully is Jamie, he has sufferd since he was 4-5 years
    old but does not get them as often as he used to, thank goodness
    as it was terrible to see someone so little in so much pain.
    
    We do know that this happens to be hereditory and my uncle and his
    daughters suffer also.
    
    To me it is the worst pain I have ever suffered and would never
    wish it on anyone.
    
    
    Regards
    Tracy

	Migraines are definately hereditary.  If one parent had them you have 
50% chance of having them.  If both parents did, you have a 75%  chance.

	I get migraines too.  Most often they are on the day before or the 
first day of my period although, I do get the occasional mid cycle one.  (The 
last and worst one I've had in a while was midcycle.)

	What works:  Caffeine (not lots, just drinking a Pepsi), dark, rest,
relaxation exercises (I had a course of biofeedback sessions a few years ago
that taught me exactly what works to relax the temples, neck, and so on),
hot showers. and bland filling food (helps the nausea).  If I do all these 
things, I don't very often head the migraine off, but I can keep the intensity
down to the point that it'll only take one round of drugs (percoset) to "kill"
it.  (By the way, the relaxation exercises don't help the migraine per se, they
just keep me from getting a secondary tension headache on top of it and they 
help control the nausea.)

	What doesn't work:  Toughing it out.  If I give in the headache and 
treat it right away, I'll generally (at least 90% of the time) kill it within
5-6 hours.  If I try to tough it out for whatever reason, I'll be dealing with 
it for 2-3 days.	

	BTW, there are two kinds of migraines.  In the common migraine, you 
"just" get the one-sided debilitating pain, sensitivity to light and nausea.
In the classic migraine, you get the really neat visual (and sometimes 
olefactory) effects that someone mentioned earlier.   I've had both.  I have a 
perscription for a vasoconstrictor (whose name I, of course, can't remember).  
If I get a classic migraine, I get enough warning that this drug will head 
of the migraine.  Once I start feeling the pain of common migraine, it's too 
late for prevention and we go to "damage control". :-)

Tracey

    Thanks, it helps to know that other people have the same problem.
    
    I have the "classic" ones -- in fact, sometimes I'll get the
    visual disturbances and never get the headache.  This is in ways
    worse than the pain because it leaves reality distorted for a
    couple of days.
    
    --bonnie

    
    G'day,
     FWIW, my youngest has been getting the odd migraine... and since he
    has stopped eating dark chocolate, they appear to have gone away....
    
    derek
    

    I talked to someone a few months ago (and darned if I can remember
    who) Anyway, she was a migraine sufferer, and said she was watching
    a TV program on migraine one day. They said that migraine is triggered
    in some folks by some types black-and-white patterns . They showed a
    piece of paper with one of the patterns on it. This person looked it
    over, thought "That's interesting" and BANG! withing 15 minutes, she
    had a migraine.
    
    It's quite a condition/disease/syndrome/whatever. Lots are
    stress-triggered, some chemical, some by visual means, and heaven only
    knows what else...
    
    --DE
    

Under the possible heading of "there's always a silver lining", I've had
migraines since at least teenage - and they probably kept me out of Viet Nam. 
They were good enough for a IV-F rating (after a while; long story), which was 
just as well since my lottery number was 16.

I'd never have known they were migraines, probably, were it not for the visual
effect (scotomata(?)), which I recognized after reading an article about
migraines. Here I thought I just had a lot of headaches, and my vision went
blooey occasionally. When you're young, things like that don't worry you...

>Here I thought I just had a lot of headaches, and my vision went
>blooey occasionally. When you're young, things like that don't worry you...
    
    I dunno -- I got kind of worried when the windows started melting
    down the walls. 
    
    It was like being stuck inside a Dali painting!  I'd have thought
    I was having a flashback, except I never dropped acid in the first
    place to have a flashback from later.
    
    --bonnie

I expect the degree of the effect varies. For me, it starts with a squiggly
circle (like light refracting through a rivulet of water) at the focal point.
Over the course of an hour or so it expands out as a circle (with the center
more-or-less clear again), until it goes beyond my peripheral vision. Sometimes 
the cycle repeats, but for me usually it's one shot. It never really gets 
Dali-esque for me (no clocks draped over bannisters).

As for worry ... since it started happening to me when I was about 12 (and not
thinking about it much), it got to be a sort of normal occasional occurence.

Driving while this is going on is ill-advised, but I've been known to do it, 
which should give some indication of how impairing it is. What I mainly can't 
do is read while it's in progress.

Likewise, the headache portions of migraines vary in degree. I've know people
who have been hospitalized for three days with a migraine. I'm occasionally
stopped, but usually I just slow down.

    I know when I am about to have a migraine when i get different
    colour,sizes of spots boefore my eyes.  And I know when it is going
    to be a real stormer of a migraine when i get very fuzzy tunnel
    vision - it's scary.
    
    I have seen my Mum in bed pulling her hair out when she has had
    a bad one, I hate to see this it's very frightening and upsetting
    - these are times when the doctor will call and give her
    a shot of morphine (sometimes even two shots don't work).  They
    have tried sending her to hospital at the start of one but by the
    time she has reached the hospital all the side effects have subsided
    and they send her home
    
    Regards
    Tracy

    re: .21
    
    Has your mother ever tried biofeedback, Tracy?  
    
    It didn't work for me, but I've known a couple of sufferers of
    severe migraine who were able to greatly reduce the severity of
    their attacks by learning biofeedback techniques.  And it sounds
    a little like her headaches might react to the association of
    "hospital" and "relief from pain" since they stop if she goes to
    the hospital.  So maybe a professional trained in biofeedback
    techniques for controlling pain could help.
    
    --bonnie

    .17> Lots are stress-triggered, some chemical, some by visual means, and
    .17> heaven only knows what else...
    
    Mine have always been triggered by a release of stress.  I went through
    a period of several months where they were triggered by sex.  It got to
    the point where I was afraid to have sex.  Fortunately the headaches
    haven't happened again for a couple years now.
    
    And I'm much happier :-)
    
    Mary

    Yeah, I an relate to this... Post Marital Syndrome.... Couples suffer
    this after 3 or more years of marriage.

    REK

    OH, you mean the medical version.... never mind...

    Bonnie,
    
    Where would I get info on biofeedback (sorry if that's a stupid
    question).
    
    Thanks 
    Tracy

	Well I'm not Bonnie, but... :-)

	When I did it (around 1985 I guess).  I was referred to a pschychiatric 
group by my General Practitioner.  At that time John Hancock would pay for
biofeedback training only if it was done under the auspices of a medical doctor.
(I don't know if they have changed since then or not.)

	I went for 4 or 5 sessions at $50 each (of which, JH paid $40.)  The 
therapist said that most people would take longer.  I was a prime candidate
because I wass familiar with the concept and believed it would, I also had 
accepted the fact that I was "doing it to myself", that my physical symptoms
were indeed caused by my stress, not some dread disease. :-)  He said that
they frequently have to have several sessions before the patient is at that 
point.

	I've found the training invaluable.  I can use it to settle my stomach,
derail a tension headache, and reduce the pain of a migraine (although I can't 
seem to completely get rid of migraine.)  Plus just generally relax when I'm
keyed up or having trouble sleeping.

Tracey 

    re: biofeedback....
    
    see also:
    
    Psychology
    150 - biofeedback and higher states
    
    Dejavu
    1343 - Biofeedback - myth or fact
    
    Holistic
    104 - alpha feedback
    
    
    -Jody
    
    

    Well, I did mine as part of a research project -- the biology
    department and psych department were recruiting victims -- er,
    volunteers -- while I was finishing college.  I learned to do the
    blood-pressure bit but it doesn't have much effect on my
    migraines. 
    
    But one of my friends was referred to her biofeedback training
    through a pain clinic at a medical center -- U Chicago Medical
    Center, I think, though I'm not positive about that. 
    
    So your best bet would probably be to ask your mother's doctor for
    a referral to a pain clinic, or to call a teaching hospital for a
    referral.  I would think that the same sort of options would be
    available in the UK and other countries as well???  
    
    --bonnie

    (Better late than never?) This is largely anecdotal, so take it
    as you think appropriate.
    
    Migraines are definitely on the list of PMS symptoms.  Many women
    report increased intensity of PMS symptoms following pregnancy.
    
    There are many patterns of symptoms as related to menstrual cycle.
    One very common pattern is for the symptoms to peak around day 23,
    counting onset of menstrual flow as day 1.  This closely coincides
    with your migraine pattern.
    
    Many women have cravings for sugar, chocolate, or alcohol that vary
    with the rhythm of their cycles.  Others crave salt and fat -- still
    others crave all of the above!  Indulging the cravings provides
    short-term comfort but tends to intensify the symptoms in the long run. 
    I know of one woman who had wicked migraines every month from day 18-25
    until she stopped indulging her cravings for chocolate ice cream.  Now
    she rarely gets migraines -- but she can reliably induce one by eating
    her old-habit quantities of ice cream.
    
    Beth

    re: .29
    
    >Many women report increased intensity of PMS symptoms following
    >pregnancy. 
    > There are many patterns of symptoms as related to
    >menstrual cycle. One very common pattern is for the symptoms to
    >peak around day 23, counting onset of menstrual flow as day 1. 
    >Many . . . Others crave salt and fat
    
    Beth, thank you for entering this.  I have several pamphlets and
    books about PMS and none of them mentions any of these factors. 
    In fact, the most authorotative sounding book says the determining
    factor in deciding whether you've got PMS is whether symptoms
    start in midcycle and end when your period starts.  It flatly
    states that other cycles of symptoms are something other than PMS.
    What, it doesn't say.  I had about decided I had something else.  
    
    The migraines do seem to be going away now that it's a few more
    months after pregnancy, and some of the other symptoms have
    subsided as well.  Adding fiber to my diet (which reduced the fat
    and salt intake as a side effect) also seems to be helping.
    
    --bonnie