Talk to me about migraines

ball.and.chain · June 2014

Do you or your SO get them?

My wife does and they are increasing in frequency. In the past 5 years she has gone from almost never having them, to being able to manage them with Excedrin Migraine, to getting a prescription to treat them (Sumatriptan). We have figured out a few things that seem to trigger them (wine, lack of caffeine) but some are unavoidable (lack of sleep, stress). In addition to the pain, she also gets nauseous and throws up, so she is really out of commission once they come on. The Sumatriptan works, but it makes her almost so groggy that it's only useful if she can take it at night before bed and sleep it off. It also seems to be more or less effective depending on how she times it in relation to the migraine starting -- overall it can be tricky to get it just right.

I haven't been keeping close track of the frequency, but she has one today and she had one on Friday, and that's more frequent than they've been in the past for sure. She had one the day of our childbirth class and was miserable all day. She went to class with me but I felt terrible for her. All I could think of was, what if she has a migraine when I am in labor? Her answer was, "I'll suck it up," and she would -- she has a history of jobs she can't easily take time off from and is no stranger to working sick, with migraines or viruses. But she wouldn't be able to give me 100% and I think it would make a difference. I worry about her getting a migraine on the day that she is taking care of our son, because we only signed up for 4 days of childcare. I worry that the lack of sleep when he's a newborn will make them come on even more often. I hate seeing her in pain, but I have to admit I am also starting to worry about the impact they are having on me and will potentially have on our son.

Has anyone seen a specialist for migraines or had any luck with any particular kind of treatment? I feel like there has to be a better way to manage this.

Mystjava · June 2014

Start keeping a journal of the migraines .. you might see a pattern as to how/why they are occurring. For some folks it could be allergies that are making the migraines worst. Sometimes I have to take both pain relief and antihistamine to battle my headaches. (Any chance her cycle might be a trigger as well?)

ball.and.chain · June 2014

Mystjava said:

Start keeping a journal of the migraines .. you might see a pattern as to how/why they are occurring. For some folks it could be allergies that are making the migraines worst. Sometimes I have to take both pain relief and antihistamine to battle my headaches. (Any chance her cycle might be a trigger as well?)

I think a journal is a good idea...I suspect there are triggers we haven't caught on to yet. Unfortunately, she does have a lot of allergies and those do make them worse. Now that you mention it, I think one of the reasons why I am noticing the frequency right now, is that it's high pollen season and so she's just generally worse than usual. She's allergic to dust as well so there's definitely a year-round allergy issue, but spring is always the worst time.

We haven't noticed a definite trend as far as her cycle, but we haven't tracked it that carefully either. Her PCP did mention that high estrogen can trigger migraines, fat stores estrogen, and so losing weight (she is overweight) would also help. But of course losing weight helps a lot of things and that doesn't always motivate one to do it!

valeriegp · June 2014

It has been a long time and mine were never this bad, so I'm not sure how much my input will help, but ...

When I was a kid, from about age 10 until late high school, I had recurring migraines. They were treated with prescription Tylenol with codeine. I know some people can't take codeine and function, but it wires me so I was basically okay with it.

About 15 years ago I moved to a state with totally different vegetation than I was used to and started having mild migraines again (after about 6-8 years without one). The doctor told me it was allergies triggering the migraines, and getting a handle on the allergies helped the migraines.

If you keep a journal, I would also keep a food journal. There might be patterns with what she eats, aside from wine.

Good luck! Migraines suck.

shelly2314 · June 2014

My migraines come on a lot more when allergy season is out of control or when there is a huge change in barometric pressure (big storms coming in, drastic changes in temperature, etc). Same other factors as well---stress, sleep deprivation, etc could start it, but the major underlying factor was allergies or weather.

I had to modify my allergy medication and was on a prescription for a bit. Now I just make sure my sinuses are clear. I haven't had one in 7 months (fingers crossed)

redrockmama · June 2014

I've had chronic migraines since I was about 13 years old, they were really bad in high school and then again the last 2 years. I have no idea why they got so bad recently. They have completely gone away during pregnancy though so that is nice.

FIrst, I do know the Sumatriptan really needs to be taken as soon as possible or it doesn't work as well. I have a hard time with it because I hate taking medication. So she really does need to take it as soon as she knows she is getting one for it to work to its full effect. There are also preventative meds she can try if she hasn't yet.

I would recommend meeting with a specialist. There are a lot of fixable causes of migraines. The first thing they will probably ask for is a journal-including sleep and food.

Acupuncture was helpful for me, chiropractic care can help as well. My acupuncturist also had me do a juice fast for two weeks. A lot of migraines are caused by liver function and toxin build up. It certainly doesn't hurt to try those things. Like I said though there are some things than can be done to help remedy them. Like this hole in heart https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20090216/closing-a-heart-hole-may-help-migraines

Hopefully your wife can figure out a better treatment plan or other triggers. They really are quite miserable and taking care of someone else when you have one is really really hard in my experience.

Also, other common triggers I know of are chocolate, aspartame and sucralose, and hormone changes. There are a lot more though.

ball.and.chain · June 2014

Thanks everyone! All of this is good to know. I've never had one so I'm not super informed about them. We'll have to see how things go when the pollen count drops a bit...but I'm definitely keeping a close eye on this!

Esquette · June 2014

I take a daily pill to reduce the frequency and intensity of mine. It took some tinkering to find the right one. Turns out, I take exactly what my mom takes, so maybe see if anyone else in the family's takes something. I take nortriptalin. I've also taken beta blockers. Have your partner see a doctor!

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