Thread: Headaches/ Migraines

Just to bring to members attention.
I suffer from episodic Cluster Headaches.
Been free for a few years but they returned on a trip to Thailand.
Went to the pharmacy and was told my usual medication was not available in Thailand but was given ‘Cafergot’ (Ergotamine) I tried it and found it super effective, much relief.
I found myself needing to take more than the recommended dosage but was soon returning to the U.K.
Saw my neurologist who insisted I take the drugs from Thailand to a pharmacy for destruction. Apparently they have long been withdrawn from use in the U.K. as they carry a very high risk of heart disease....

Suffered from them for years as a teenager, but get them very occasionally now and not remotely close to being as severe as they once were.

I used to take Feverfew for them when I was a kid. It didn't really do much in terms of pain, but the tablets made them less frequent; I'd get them every 3 or 4 months or so with Feverfew compared to every couple of months without. Might be worth a try for anyone reading this?

http://www.migrainetrust.org/living-...ents/feverfew/

Now I just lose my vision, get the headache and throw up, so I use over the counter stuff for these. Touch wood, I won't have to suffer the agonising attacks of my teenage years ever again.

I rarely suffer from migraines and headaches these days because I watch what I eat.

No more added sugar and cut down on dairy products.

And when I do get them I soak my feet in really hot water for 5 minutes.

Hair of the dog helps also

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

I rarely suffer from migraines and headaches these days because I watch what I eat.

Strange that you believe you get migraines because of your diet. My migraines are definitely caused by Photophobia.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Strange that you believe you get migraines because of your diet.

Sugar, chocolate & some cheese sets me off. Affects my vision as well.

M.S.G in Thai street food also brings on the headaches.

If I keep clear of the above mentioned food I never get a headache.

Red wine, Stella Artois and Thai wives.

Avoid them and you'll be headache free!

Originally Posted by Bower

Been free for a few years but they returned on a trip to Thailand.

There is a major clue here. What is put in Thai food all the time, but not so much in the West ? ...MSG.

Originally Posted by Latindancer

There is a major clue here. What is put in Thai food all the time, but not so much in the West ?

Every fast food chain uses it. It'd taste like cardboard without it. Its in all processed foods and occurs naturally in..

potatoes, peas, tomatoes and tomato juice, mushrooms, grapes, grape juice and other fruit juices, as well as cheeses such as Parmesan and Rocquefort

Perhaps not in such quantities though. Hence some people getting bad reactions from it....myself included. And I do not react to any of those foods listed...

Originally Posted by Dillinger

tomatoes and tomato juice,

Fried tomatoes.

Within 10 minutes my heads pounding.

Originally Posted by Bower

Just to bring to members attention.
I suffer from episodic Cluster Headaches.
Been free for a few years but they returned on a trip to Thailand.
Went to the pharmacy and was told my usual medication was not available in Thailand but was given ‘Cafergot’ (Ergotamine) I tried it and found it super effective, much relief.
I found myself needing to take more than the recommended dosage but was soon returning to the U.K.
Saw my neurologist who insisted I take the drugs from Thailand to a pharmacy for destruction. Apparently they have long been withdrawn from use in the U.K. as they carry a very high risk of heart disease....

Hi Bower, can you clarify a bit more about what you have?

Cluster headaches are very different from migraines. Cluster headaches are also known as "alarm clock headaches" and sometimes "suicide headaches". They are one of the more debilitating types of headache (I can attest to this personally, as I have had them for 40 years).

Thing is, caffergot is pretty good for classic episodic migraines, but not so good for cluster headaches. Cluster headaches are characterized by 4 to 10 attacks a day, for a period of a few weeks to a few months, after which they disappear, often recurring at the same time the following year. Each attack is very short (15 to 45 mins), and they often occur at the same time each day. They will also wake the sufferer up from sleep (hence the alarm clock headache name). The pain is intense, on one side of the head. For me, the nearest I can say is that it is if someone has stuck a knitting needle in the back of my head, and out through my eye. For most people, almost nothing works to alleviate the pain. 100% oxygen is supposed to be good, but never tried it myself.

Classic migraines are a doddle in comparison. Very responsive to medication. Any cluster headache sufferer who has something that worked to reduce the pain would not give a flying eff about side effects. They are that bad.

Originally Posted by hallelujah

Suffered from them for years as a teenager, but get them very occasionally now and not remotely close to being as severe as they once were.

Ditto. My triggers were always caffeine and chocolate.

I also suffer from wanting to beat people who frequently tell me that they have a migraine around the head repeatedly whilst exclaiming: 'It's just a fucking headache!' . Because one thing is for sure if you had an actual migraine you wouldn't be standing there talking about it.

If there's one thing for which I'm grateful, it's never to have had a non self-inflicted headache. I feel for all those that do. Any time I have a headache, it's a gallon of water, lights out and sleep until it's gone.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

I also suffer from wanting to beat people who frequently tell me that they have a migraine around the head repeatedly whilst exclaiming: 'It's just a fucking headache!' . Because one thing is for sure if you had an actual migraine you wouldn't be standing there talking about it.

Nail-Head. Which is a fair analogy because when I use to get them it felt like a 8 inch nail was hammered 6 inches into the top of my skull that then went thru my right eye and into my right upper teeth. The slightest noise or light would trigger the feeling that some cvnt was wiggling the protruding 2 inchs of nail around, tears would stream from that eye and I've never experienced pain anything like that

Cafergot and Migral and a highly illegal substance from Northern Thailand (if need be) would ease the pain but since getting my Blood Pressure and weight under control, haven't had an attack since *touches wood*. Anyone who gets Migraines has my total sympathy, they suck.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Anyone who gets Migraines has my total sympathy, they suck.

They indeed do. I still remember the panic that would hit when the vision in my right eye would go signalling the onset. From there it was a rush to find a darkened room to curl up in a ball and try to ride it out.

These days I still lose the vision from time to time but it has become a temporary and annoying inconvenience now. Maybe an accompanying headache and vague sense of nausea but nothing anywhere near as bad as an actual migraine.

^Ah yes the nausea, had forgotten about that as another side effect.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Ditto. My triggers were always caffeine and chocolate.

I also suffer from wanting to beat people who frequently tell me that they have a migraine around the head repeatedly whilst exclaiming: 'It's just a fucking headache!' . Because one thing is for sure if you had an actual migraine you wouldn't be standing there talking about it.

It wasn't food with me, but after a period of working hard and then relaxing (e.g. finishing exams and going on holiday) that's when they were most likely to happen. One time being half way up a fucking mountain in Greece.

The "just a headache" line used to make me wish them upon whoever was saying it at the time. Mine would start with lost vision, the ridiculous headache, pins and needles down one side of my body and then the vomiting. I was in bed for 3 or 4 days with the first one.

Try that for "just a headache," you twat.

Originally Posted by hallelujah

Mine would start with lost vision, the ridiculous headache, pins and needles down one side of my body and then the vomiting

Bloody hell!

Originally Posted by Bower

Cafergot’ (Ergotamine) I tried it and found it super effective, much relief.

Originally Posted by Bower

they carry a very high risk of heart disease....

Screw the risk I'll be having the drug that gets rid of the headache.

Originally Posted by hallelujah

Mine would start with lost vision, the ridiculous headache, pins and needles down one side of my body and then the vomiting.

I think your migraine was an 'Hemiplegic Migraine'. Somewhat similar symptoms of having a stroke. Fooking scary that must have been.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Quite. Yours actually sound a good bit more worse than mine.

Lost vision and headache yes but usually just nausea (no vomiting) and no pins and needles.

Migraines run in the family, but I'm the only one to have had the pins and needles. They world start in my hand and work their way up my arm, down my throat and then into my stomach. When they did that, that meant I was about to throw up, which would signal the worst part of the headache was over.

My sister had a spell for about a year when she was getting a migraine every week and the docs couldn't work out why. Her life was in bits, as you can imagine.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

I think your migraine was an 'Hemiplegic Migraine'. Somewhat similar symptoms of having a stroke. Fooking scary that must have been.

The first one scared the life out of me, but after that I got used to it. Well, as best you can. Horrible, horrible things.

Originally Posted by Latindancer

...MSG

they should go back to using marijuana leaf like their great grandmonsters

The "Triggers" for Migraines, Cluster headaches can be from a myriad of things. I used to get these terrible headaches. Had all the symptoms of a migraine; Light sensitive, light headed, and needed to find a room to get it to settle down. I got prescribed all the Migraine meds and they seemed to have minimal impact on making them go away. I started logging info down when a headache set in. After a few years I narrowed it down to muscular. I would get wound up from something usually from work and I would started sub consciously gritting my teeth and then my neck muscles would tighten up and BAM the brutal headaches.

Since then I have had a few but I know what triggers them and now I just go relax, a good massage helps and it breaks the cycle.

^ like i said, migraines and cluster headaches are very, very different.