Migraines

[The Kizzy]

I get a migraine everyday. Please help.

[Martrae]

Cut out the caffeine.

[leah]

and chocolate

[Martrae]

psst....chocolate has caffeine.

[Tacks]

Without caffeine and chocolate I think she'd lose her mind.

[leah]

hehe oh yeah

at any rate, i haven't eaten chocolate in months and months and the only caffeine i get is about one cup of coffee a day; i rarely get migraines now.

when i was little i used to get them so bad i'd puke. true story.

[Aatrex]

I have never experienced a migraine. True story.

[leah]

lucky you, man. they suck.

[Shannan]

When I dont get much sleep, never fails I get migranes so bad they make me nauseous.

[Aatrex]

What's with women and chocolate? Isn't there some physiological reason they crave it more?

[Shannan]

Chocolate is supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Supposidly its got the same chemical (similar to amphetamine) released by the brain when people fall in love. Which produces a euphoric, dreamy feeling.

[Darcler]

I dont like chocolate =/

And I have never gotten a migrane.

I dont drink coffee.....connection?

I take that back. Im addicted to frappachinos....still no migrane though.

[Arlos]

Caffeine definitely contributes to migraines, if you get migraines, you MUST cut out caffeine, or you'll keep getting the migraines. Sorry, but it's that black and white. While quitting caffeine is a pain in the ass (trust me, I know, I had to do it a few years ago, cause I was getting heart disrhythmias), if it stops the migraines, I think you'd find it worth it. Dunno if you smoke cigarettes or not, but they're awful for migraines too.

I used to get migraines too, and frequent headaches. Now that I only have caffeine fairly seldom, I don't get 'em anywhere near as often. So, 'tis a decision you'll have to make for yourself: caffeine/cigarettes/etc, or no migraines.

Once you've quit them completely for a while, and your body has flushed all the residual effects out of your system, you might be able to get away with occasional cups of coffee or soda with caffeine, but we're talking like once every week, tops, and that after 2-3 months with 0.

-Arlos

[Darcler]

And I retake back my earlier statement. I think I had a migrane when I was pregnant. But I think I was just sick, had a headache and was in a bad mood. I dont know what it was. People say "When you have a migrane, you KNOW it"...but I dont know, so I dont know if it was or not.

[Ginzburgh]

I use to have a girlfriend who got such bad Migraines she'd have to lock herself in the bathroom, shut the shades and turn the lights off.

Well...at least she told me it was because of migraines...

[Darcler]

My cousin is this way. She uses icepacks as well, because she says it feels better.

[Trielelvan]

Doh I'm sorry Kizzy. My dad has been battling them all his life, and I seem to get them about 5-6 times a year really bad. Have yet to pass out from one though. My dad has passed out 4 times in his life. It's horrible to watch

One of the things you can do is to keep a daily journal of what you eat/drink, have done all day, etc, then mark down day and time of when you started to feel the migraine build up. The idea is to find out what triggers it.

Caffeine is used to treat migraines, but as stated already, does indeed cause them to happen. Other things like MSG and nitrites/nitrates (read your food labels - this is a big one) can spark attacks. My dad isn't allowed to eat ANY deli foods but once in a great while, and sure enough, when he's eaten a couple of cheap-meat sandwiches, he gets a headache.

This is a good list of what to look out for while jotting things down:
Prevention

Your best bet is to seek out a really good specialist and have them advise you about the different treatments now available if you are getting them everyday. A friend of mine, who used to get them about 3 times a week, got started on Imitrex, and now it is a rare thing that she gets them anymore.

There's lots of new medication to help stave off the flux of wild shooting of the neurons in your brain - some are antidepressants, not surprisingly, that they have found work wonders on migraines.

And Darc, not everyone gets migraines even if they ransack their systems with all the things that can cause them.

[Trielelvan]

If you get a migraine, you WILL know it. Imagine the worst normal headache you've ever had.
Now have someone hacking into your skull with a jackhammer.
Throw on top of that any source of light piercing your eyes like needles right to the back of your head.
Add a double dose of nausea.
Top it off with any noise, any sound, feeling like it's going to make your head crack in half.

They are unimaginably horrible (or at least they can be).

[leah]

Caffeine definitely contributes to migraines, if you get migraines, you MUST cut out caffeine, or you'll keep getting the migraines. Sorry, but it's that black and white. While quitting caffeine is a pain in the ass (trust me, I know, I had to do it a few years ago, cause I was getting heart disrhythmias), if it stops the migraines, I think you'd find it worth it. Dunno if you smoke cigarettes or not, but they're awful for migraines too.

I used to get migraines too, and frequent headaches. Now that I only have caffeine fairly seldom, I don't get 'em anywhere near as often. So, 'tis a decision you'll have to make for yourself: caffeine/cigarettes/etc, or no migraines.

Once you've quit them completely for a while, and your body has flushed all the residual effects out of your system, you might be able to get away with occasional cups of coffee or soda with caffeine, but we're talking like once every week, tops, and that after 2-3 months with 0.

-Arlos

story of my migraine life

[Ginzburgh]

Imagine the worst normal headache you've ever had.
Now have someone hacking into your skull with a jackhammer.
Throw on top of that any source of light piercing your eyes like needles right to the back of your head.
Add a double dose of nausea.
Top it off with any noise, any sound, feeling like it's going to make your head crack in half.

All you had to say was, "the worst thing imaginable". That sums it up I think.

[Tacks]

I've never had one I guess that's why I'm not as sympathetic towards those who get them as I should be. I've only ever had one horrible "headache" and that was when I was in 5th or 6th grade and my head felt like it was going to literally explode. I think it was just sinuses at the time though because I took a few hundred Sudafed and felt better.

[Trielelvan]

All you had to say was, "the worst thing imaginable". That sums it up I think.

No, natural childbirth is still a notch above

[The Kizzy]

The thing is, I have smoked for 16 years, and I have always drank caffiene, and I've only been getting these migraines for hte last month or so.

[Martrae]

You're getting older, Kizzy. Your body can't handle it as well as it used to.

[The Kizzy]

I AM NOT OLD