I had grand plans about posting every day in November. However, yesterday another migraine reared its head and I have felt off every since. I am 100% sure it was triggered by a busy work day and less than stellar sleep post-Halloween. I just don’t entirely understand why I get migraines from these things now when they are just . . not new aspects of my life. I am having imaging done later this month, so hopefully (very hopefully) I can check some of the more scary things off the list.
On the plus side, I am very happy I now have a rescue medication I can take (it did work! And I got a coupon from the manufacturer, so it isn’t $$$$ until the coupon runs out).
On the minus side, I hate taking meds in general, and thus did not take it until said headache woke me up at 3 am (mistake).
Also on the minus side, I have been super tired today and did not do any of my usual morning routine and hence have felt extra-blah all day.
But, this counts as a post! Right?
11 Comments
I’m really sorry to hear about your migraine, but glad tests are being done and medication to help! I’m going through similar – migraines 3-4 days out of each 7, started about a year ago after no previous history with them. I’ve found that not skipping meals helps, taking aspirin as soon as I notice an early sign (visual disturbance and ear ache in one ear), and limiting screen time. But it is very frustrating. I was up at 4am today with one again… CT scan has come back clear (thankfully!!). Neurologist thinks it is a build up of stress, which is fine but I can’t just opt out of my life, so how to resolve?! I’m going to try a chiropractor this month too.
Not sure if any of that will help, but I really hope you get it sorted because I appreciate how frustrating it can be!
it could just be we are getting old. I notice that nowadays a crapy night of sleep affects me 10 times more than before. So do everything possible to ensure a decent night of sleep.
Migraines are the worst and the timing always sucks! Unfortunately for me, migraines seem to be a hereditary trait in my family. Both my mom and grandma have found relief from regularly taking feverfew. After a ton of symptom tracking, I’ve found my #1 trigger is not drinking enough water. If I drink less than roughly 90 oz a day I’m guaranteed a migraine the next day. Since I’ve started making sure I drink enough, my number have migraine days have dropped from about 3 times a week to maybe once a month.
I think most of the time it’s just figuring out the triggers but the imaging will definitely help with the piece of mind! Hoping you get some answers or find some relief ASAP! It’s super frustrating to deal with…especially when also trying to deal with kids, work and life in general.
I experienced migraines in my early to mid 40s, never before or after. Though not diagnosed, I attribute them to peri menopause. You have my sympathy – they’re the worst!
Migraines are debilitating and waking up to one in the middle of the night is just adding insult to injury.
I had a string of them in my mid-20’s. They would hit randomly and leave me in so much pain I thought I would vomit; I couldn’t eat, became light sensitive. I never did figure out a trigger – they would just blindside me (the first time I got I thought I might be dying. I could not tolerate the tiniest sliver of light).
I eventually got relief by going to the chiropractor, but admittedly must have had a very easy case since they were significantly improvements after just a few adjustments. Hope @Lawandcreative gets some relief going this route. I’ve also had some osteopathy work done as well, for maintenance.
Hope the imaging goes smoothly and you have peace of mind and can move forward with measures to help offset the misery. Glad the medication is helping and like another listener suggested, could this be hormonally triggered? Maybe a symptom of peri-menopause?
Totally could be but I am on hormonal birth control so . . . not sure!
(The migraines started over a year after I started the hormonal OCP, so I can’t necessarily blame it. Plus they seem to be a total necessity for me to prevent PMDD . . .)
Very sorry to know about the migraines Sarah 😞 good to know that you have scheduled the imaging scans to rule out other stuff. Here’s hoping that it goes smoothly and gives you peace of mind, to then handle the migraines with medicines or alternate treatments. Sending you lots of best wishes and love ❤ take care.
I’ve started getting migraines in my 30’s, imaging came clear, but over the years I’ve learnt to identify some triggers.
One trigger for me is hot and dry weather (which I guess is no issue in Florida….). I also have a tendency like you not to take meds until I absolutely can’t stand it, though experience showed me it’s more efficient to take them at the first sign of a migraine. I found a tracker online that may help you identify some triggers:
https://cdn.pickuplimes.com/resource/files/2021/02/16/Headache_Tracker.pdf
Also “Yoga with Adriene” has a video for migraine relief that at least gives me some sense of control and some pain relief.
Suffered from horrible migraines since puberty. Amivog injector completely changed my life. I am no longer in bed losing time and life.
Also have migraines (there was a stretch of a few years in my 20s with 8-15 migraine days a month). I ended up trying a lot of things, and having a Neuro really helped me.
The biggest changes:
1. I learned it’s possible to give yourself medication rebound migraines (follow the ~6/month max abortive recommendation!). This was addressed to taking the medication early, but one with a much lower half life (Frovatriptan vs others that kick in faster). Also for me, if it’s a question of definitely kicking it off with triggers, abortives “punt it forward” instead of getting rid of it.
2. Most of my triggers work on combination, and thus were hard to identify. My Neuro taught me the “pebbles in a jar” idea – the more pebbles (stress, dehydration, lack of sleep, red wine) the easier it is to trigger. My approach is “no sudden movements” (ie. try to live consistently – less sleeping in on weekends, always the same amount of caffeine at around the same time), 90 day birth control to keep hormones steady (and accept a period+migraines week of suck since otherwise I get breakthrough bleeding).
3. I am on a monthly preventative antibody injection, which is really really fantastic for me.
4. Honestly, work from home is a great improvement on quality of life if I do have migraine (no kids yet, might change). I can sleep an hour after taking the abortive, keep the light and sound low, wear sunglasses, work from the couch.
I would try to see if your increased migraines coincide with hormonal placebo weeks, try to keep track of a few common triggers to see if they’re working alone or together, use abortives early in the migraine but watching frequency.
Some CBT to find coping/soothing mechanisms (day 3 in a row often made me cry, and we developed a mantra of “this is not forever”).
As a lifetime migraine sufferer, I’m so sorry to hear that you have them now. I have heard that some women do start getting them in their 30’s or 40’s all of a sudden, but that they usually taper off with menopause. I HIGHLY suggest reading the book The Migraine Brain by Carolyn Bernstein, MD. I was shocked at how helpful it was in understanding my triggers and the best way to treat my headaches, even after so many years and doctors. Have they offered you one of the new monthly injections? Also, the rescue medication I take is a generic form of Imitrex so it is cheap. A lot of times they want to give you the new fancy option but the older generic ones work just as well.