Terrible Visual Migraines

ts_aly2000

What else can I do but write about it?

Almost several times a day for the last 2-weeks I've had the most horrendeous and painful visual migraines. When I wake up in the morning, in the afternoon, laying in bed at night. It's just sheer absolute agony.

Yesterday I went to Bury St. Edmunds for the afternoon, and, you guessed it; migraine. This was by far the most painful one yet. By 12pm the jagged flashy bits had came. By 1pm I could barely see in front of me. Having sat down for an hour the visuals passed, to be replaced by constant throbbing behind my right eye. Walking, each step, you could feel it. I bought a sandwich as a treat and the lady asked if I had a headache, my partner said you could just tell a mile off precisely what was wrong.

To show the desperation for it to stop, I actually paid £7.99 for two little migraine tablets from Lloyds chemists. I don't think they actually did anything. By 3pm I'd made it back to the car ready to drive home. The A14 wasn't too bad as it was all in one direction on a flat road, no visuals now.

I'm sleeping for about 2hours at a time throughout the day just to make it stop.

At the moment the pain is more above my right eye now, and if I really wanted to I am sure I could feel sick by thinking about it.

Why won't they stop? Why? I'm not taking anything silly, just hrt which I've had for about 4years. I eat well, lots of fruit and vegtables.

Are hormones anything to do with migraines? As I can regulate those to some extent. Just anyone, who knows first hand.

I have been under alot of stress lately, which partner thinks is the cause. There's no point seeing my GP about it as generally our relationship is totally A1, in that I only go and see him when I have a genuine need to see him, ie. patient helps themself. This I'll put up with for another 2weeks or more trying anything and everything, which is all he could do about it.

Just interested to hear of anyones experiences??

Aly x

trinnylilac

A few years ago I went through a stage of having migraines every other day.. Untill you have a migraine you just cannot describe how bad the pain is..
For me it started with my senses being really sensitive. I could smell strange smells and my eye sight seemed strained. It went on to getting flashing zig zag lights and then vomiting .. horrid...
The only thing that worked for me was using syndol. This is a pain relief tablet you can buy over the counter.. It made me sleep and upon waking I didn't feel right but the migraine had gone.
The real nightmare would be when I got the flashing lights while at work as I had about 35 mins before the headache came on full strength...I used to have to get a taxi home as quickly as possible ( I couldn't see to drive )

What you describe with all the visual disturbances is classic symtoms of a classic migraine.. When I saw my doctor with mine he said there was nothing wrong and said that migraines can start at any age and for no reason what
so ever although with some people there are triggers like coffee, chocolate dehydration etc.
When I asked about medication he said that he wouldn't put me on medication unless I was at my absolute worst as the medication is strong and not to be taken lightly.
Anyway thank goodness they stopped and I only get one now very rarely.

You should definatly see your doctor though just to make sure that it is migraines you are suffering from and what sort.There are cluster migraines also . They might be able to suggest what may be triggering yours and give you some solutions.. Even if he can perscribe some strong painkillers for you to keep hold of ready to take when you get your warning signs..

Good luck

ariba10

The only comfort you can take in migraines is that the Greeks called it the intellegent persons disease.

When I was in my thirties and forties I suffered with migraines that would laast two or three days, with vomiting. headaches and flashing zigzag lights.

Only twice or three times a year thankfully, but they finally faded away.

I now only get the flashing lights about once a month and can live with that.

If I felt an attack coming on I had about thirty mins to to get home or to get hold of someone to come and get me as omce it started I was bedbound in a darkened room to pray for relief or death.

point3

If these migraines are a new problem and are disabling, you should definitely see your GP. Treatment will be in 3 areas i.e. 1) identifying and controlling triggers, 2) excluding any other physical cause for the symptoms and 3) medication for symptom control if still persistent. There are some very effective medicines for preventing the onset of migraine aside from the usual pain-killers.

Good Luck

patchwork_cat

Hi
I do seem to go through phases of migraines. I also get an aura zigzag lines in one eye , a heightened sense of smell, then one sided headache and extreme nausea to the point of vomiting. Once the headach starts the aura goes, so in fact it is my early warning sign. If I take a migraleve at first symptoms I can stave off the worst. I will get dizziness associated too either before or after sometimes for quite a few days.

Seriously go and see your GP as he can prescribe injections that can help as can beta blockers or anti depressants ( they reduce the blood flow) migraines can be made worse by stress, hormones or food intolerance. I sometimes find that if I drive through bare branched trees in bright sunlight that will set of a migraine.There is also imigran which I haven't tried

Savvy_Sue

ts_aly2000 wrote:

Almost several times a day for the last 2-weeks I've had the most horrendeous and painful visual migraines.

ts_aly2000 wrote:

There's no point seeing my GP about it as generally our relationship is totally A1, in that I only go and see him when I have a genuine need to see him, ie. patient helps themself. This I'll put up with for another 2weeks or more trying anything and everything, which is all he could do about it.

I am struggling to reconcile these two statements.

You only go and see your GP when you have a genuine need to see him, but you're prepared to live with disabling migraines for a month because that's NOT a genuine need?

Take Trinny's advice. See your GP. If it is 'only' migraines you're no worse off, and you may be a lot better off if he can treat them.

ts_aly2000

Hi trinnylilac, ariba10, point3, patchwork cat, Savvy_Sue,

Thanks for your advice. I will go and see the GP eventually if these don't clear up, I'll give it another week tops. In some ways I come from the old school of village medicine where you see the Doctor when you're about to die. Aside from that you try to solve any problems yourself.

As from tomorrow morning I'm going to cut out coffee and move back to my almost watery barely brewed tea.

Also due back to the gym next week as it'll be 8-weeks after breast augmentation, so that may knock it on the head.

But definitely these last few weeks have been groggy escalating up to where I am now. Right now as I write this I almost most have partly closed eyes and if I gently shake my head it feels tender.

Mum used to have cluster migraines years ago which she mentioned the other day.

This is just something I've never really experienced before. But yesterday, that was just something else. I never knew just how fragile they could make you. A lady fell over on the other side of the street and it was like ages before I even realised, at any other time I'd have noticed instantly.

Oh the GP is brilliant, very busy surgery though. Generally I do my rough research and as long as my requests are sound he'll just tick the boxes and sign the scripts. So I won't go down the route of tying up his time with mysterious headaches if they're just a quick passing thing. This will pass I'm sure it will.

ta

furndire

I used to get a lot of 'migraine' headaches and then discovered that it was my sinuses which were getting blocked. I then discovered sudafed, without the pain killers, and found that they cleared my sinus, and no more head aches. My headaches really used to make my head pound.

ariba10

I even grew the plant called 'Feverfew' and ate the leaves of that.

The triggers as I was told was Chocolate, Cheese, Red wine and Coffee. But it made no difference to me.

There was also a theory that fasting or long distance travel triggerd it. ( I suppose you do tend to eat less often when you travel )

irishwench69

Hi ts_aly2000

Hmmmm, migraines. My specialist subect should I ever go on mastermind

I work in the Pharmaceutical Industry, so have lots of info on this.....

First of, about triggers......

Take a look at this link-lots of info on what causes them etc.

Interesting that you mention your mum, as there is a lot of evidence to support a hereditary / genetic link.....other things include diet (strong cheeses, caffeine, citrus fruits and alcohol, especially those with compounds called cogneurs in such as red wine and port), atmospheric pressure differences (the weather!), dehydration, stress, irregular eating and / or sleeping patterns and of course hormones.

There's a recently licenced treatment in the UK that has proven useful in treatment of hormonal related migraines - these are thought to occur in woman where the drop in hormones at the end / beginning of their menstrual cycle leads to migraines (I am one of these lucky people :rolleyes: ) See here.............

As for treatment, first.....drugs!

The first step is your basic painkillers - paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin etc. As you've found though, these are generally about as much use as smarties (and a whole lot pricier!)

Next comes a class of drugs called triptans (such as that mentioned in the BBC article for hormonal migraines). These are mainly supposed to be for preventative use, but can be useful in treatment if they are taken at the *VERY FIRST SIGNS OF AN ATTACK!!!*

Other drugs used in a preventative way (especially when having the number of attacks you are) include beta-blockers (drugs used to treat high blood pressure), an anti-depressant called amitriptylline and an anti-epileptic drug called topiramate.

There are also various non-drug options, including feverfew (a herb), homeopathy, accupuncture, reiki (indian head massage) and cranio-sacral therapy.

Anyway, I've probably rambled on enough - hope that gives you some food for thought, and some starting points to figure things out.

The last thing I want to say is to reiterate what the others have said - Migraine is a serious condition. It affects MANY people (80% of them women) and leads to increased risk of many serious conditions such as stroke.

Please don't be fobbed off by going to your GP - go and *demand* that they take you seriously. You can improve things!

Good luck hun - hope this has helped you / others!

IW x

skim

I had migraines & was lucky enough to have a doc that ran a full blood test which another doctor said I was lucky as he wouldn't have ran tests for thyroid..
Turned out I had severe thyroid problems - nothing to worry about but takes a while to treat.

Migraines can be due to all sorts of problems, so see your GP & get it sorted.