Migraines?

[Ruth]

Hi tam bam,

When I first started getting severe migraines, my neurologist put me on Neurontin. He told me that it is for headaches. He also told me, "if you want a headache take an aspirin."

I still took asprin for years. Then I quit taking it, it was giving me ulcers. Guess what, my headaches did quit.

I still have migraines but what I do is lie down and make the room as dark as I can. Then I put a damp cloth on my forehead and wait for it to go away. I usually fall asleep for awhile. These are other suggestions.

[RobinN]

You might try ionic magnesium. I would put it under my tongue. It is easily absorbed directly into the cells. When you take a tablet or capsule, it has to be digested and absorbed, and sometimes is eliminated before it has done any good.

Liver issues can be a huge reason for brain issues. Are you doing anything natural to help your liver detox?

Liver Health

[tam bam]

One neurologist wanted me to try Keppra for my migraines at one point (before being diagnosed with E) but I never did try it. I just threw away the script. I didn't like this doc and decided not to see him anymore. He was a patient factory (meaning he took on wayyy too many patients at once and didn't care for them and just liked the money). That is why I never filled the script. I look back on it now and it probably would have helped for my E. but what good would it have been for me if there were no doc to keep an eye on me while I was taking it. Ya know.

The food and magnesium supplement treament I have heard of but my migraines seem to come on when my E is acting up and not just some random migraine. I don't always get them around my major seizures but some seizures. Especially the ones that hit in the front, right side of my forehead. I was having a migraine the same day of my 2nd EEG with some really bad seizures that day and that is when my neurologist said he found the epilepsy in the frontal lobe.

tam bam

[Eve]

I have had migraines for 15 years, almost as long as I have had nocturnal seizures. They always ruim my day when I have them.

I am presently taking Maxalt MLT . It is expensive. But it is the only thing that works.

Certain things start my migraines up. Chocolate, MSG, Luncheon Meats and artificial sweeteners. Also , Certain smells start my migraines.......perfumes or household cleaners.

My doctor believes my migraines and seizures are related.

The last migraine I had lasted 4 days and I was all out of my Maxalt pills. It always hurts on the left side of my head.

So far I find the best thing to work is an ice pack on my head AND the back of my neck. And a dark Quiet room. And sometimes Tiger Balm rubbed on my forehead.


And yes I do take Magnesium. I notice when I forget to take it I seem to get more migraines.

I am taking Keppra for my seizures along with a Vitamin B complex.

[Ruth]

Hi Eve, where do you buy Tiger Balm? Is Maxalt MLT over the counter or prescription?

When my doctor first put me on Keppra, the first thing he told me, was to take a Vitamin B Complex.

[RobinN]

Ruth I have purchased Tiger Balm at a local CVS store.
Maxalt is a prescription drug. It was the final medication I took for my migraines. It was great because it melted under my tongue, and I could take it at any time during the migraine. Unfortunately as with many medications it can lose its effectiveness. This happened to me. I was counseled on the possibility of taking a drug daily. That was the last straw, I knew I needed to figure out why I was getting these migraines.

A doctor suggested magnesium and that was the last migraine I ever had. Well... not the last. I played with not taking the mineral and came down with a doozie of a migraine. Sick to my stomach and the 4 days in a fetal position. Not fun.

[Crystal11]

My 3rd migraine, that I had recently was 4 days long and I should have gone to the E.R. but I told myself to wait as long as possible. I didn't want to go to E.R. unless it was absolutely necessary. It did end at the fourth day but it was making me real sick.
I will listen to myself better next time!

I will be looking into meds I'm sure soon with my neurologist.
I definitly don't want to be having migraines that are not controlled because it can ruin your day.
I almost would rather deal with a seizure than a migraine- except the migrains that follow a seizure. Those feel worse- but I often fall asleep afterwards which helps.

[Eve]

Yes that's right you can get the tiger balm ointment at CVS or Walgreens.
Sometimes the smell is overwhelming a little. A while ago I was at the beauty salon and some of the ladies there with migraines said they use the Aveeno Blue Oil
http://www.aveda.com/templates/produ...CT_ID=PROD5911

I find the smell of this to to be a bit more pleasant than the tiger balm. I rub it on my temples and on the left side of my head, you just have to be careful not to get it in your eyes. I did once and it burned my eye but it was fine the next day.

The othere thing that sometimes work. If you feel a migraine coming on'''''''''''''''''''''''take a 1000 mg oif Vitamin C AND sometimes it will abort the migraine but you have to do this within an half hour after you feel the migraine coming on. It was a neurosurgeon that told me to try this and sometimes it works.

Robin I hope the Maxalt continues to work but I know like with everything else it may work for a while and then stop working. I used to take alot of asprin and then I got those horrific rebound headaches.

[lisafaz]

Of course, almost every food I like is on the list.

[celesteam]

I found a wonderful book for dealing with migraines, "Heal Your Headache The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain" by David Buchholz Sending you hopes that soon your migraines can be a thing of the past... or at least a less frequent occurrence.

[Ruth]

Yes that's right you can get the tiger balm ointment at CVS or Walgreens.

Robin I hope the Maxalt continues to work but I know like with everything else it may work for a while and then stop working. I used to take alot of asprin and then I got those horrific rebound headaches.

Hi Robin and Eve, thank you for telling me about where to get Tiger Balm. I also thank you for telling me about Maxalt.

Eve, aspirin can cause headaches. I use to take a lot of aspirin and I got a lot of headaches.

My neurologist told me that if you want a headache take an aspirin. I quit taking aspirin and my headaches went away.

[Crystal11]

I found out that I am allergic to Excedrin even though it helps with the pain- then I found out that I'm allergic to Phenergan shot they gave me in the ER for my migraine! The reaction I had scared my sis and friend who live with me- i was basically catatonic and now able to breath or swallow or stand up..
So- none of that for me. Now taking Butalbitol for pain for a migraine/dizziness. No fun to go to ambulance ride at 2am. I was so so sick and hiding in the closet and had had a seizure earlier in the day- no good.
I havent had a migraine in a few days now- which is good..
Hope it stays that way.

When you guys were talking about food- it made me remember when I would go to Sams club for groceries- I would get a hotdog there which are good- but it was making me dizzy and then I would get a headache like crazy.. I realized after not having one the next time I went that it wasn't the lighting..
Staying away from those things.

Everyone take care
Crystal

[celesteam]

I missed what Tiger Balm does... what does it do to help?

[epileric]

I missed what Tiger Balm does... what does it do to help?

I rub it on my temples when I have a headache.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Balm

[Ruth]

Where do you buy it at?

[epileric]

Where do you buy it at?

Some drug stores have it but most places in Chinatown do too.

[Ruth]

Thank you,

I will look at the drug stores. The closest Chinatown is a 9 mile drive to San Francisco, CA.That is a one-way drive.

[wichitarick]

Hi First post .
Have you folks seen these?
If I messed the link up it is "migraine auras" on utube. very informative.
I have real lucky even with a lot of head injuries and concussions my headaches have been limited. I have several now from 2 days of gmals and a concussion from the floor lol but that is different. I did not understand the link until a while back while researching "auras" and colors, then the link to auras and migraines was a natural one.
My sister has lupus and BAD migraines and I was trying to see a link in several probs that her my bro. and me have even though they are not common and it has led to "auras" I have always been a trippy kind of guy so much of this info. help establish it . thanks Rick
oops can,y post links. use migraine auras on utube

[Inaara]

Random assocaited question probably more for Robin (but anyone feel free to answer ):

I'm on topamax (leveling up tthe dose & currently on 250 mg a day), the docs put me on that hoping to give me both migraine and seizure control because og the brain injury and epilepsy caused by it. And I've made a lot of diet chages over the past couple months, eating mainly oraganic/whole foods and gluten-free and taking an ionic magnesium supplement - which the diet changes have helped a LOT.

but today has been hoorible (maybe having to do with that neuropsych thing for almost 8 hours yesterday? although I slept really good last night and for a long time, which I almsot never do). I've been having tons of vision problems and them a wicked migraine came on which nothing has gotten rid of (living with a near constant migraine since 2007, they're not as debilitating for me as they are for most people and I can sort of fucnction - to a point- with onem ostly out of necessaity). Then I ave had the other stuff which I'm coming to understand are provbabley simple partial seizures, but when those happen, the migraine goes away while they're happeneing, but once they stop, wow, does it come back with a wicked engeance.

anyway...I mention all of that to ask this: yesterday after the test from hell, my brother and sister in law took me to eat and I had carne asada (usually a pretty safe bet most places), but ate one of the tortillas they gave me on the side. Since the meat and beans and vegetables have never messed with me before like this, I was wondering if maybe you kbnow if it's a good idea to stay clear of totrtillas?

[RobinN]

Inaara - I appreciate the question directed at me, but I can only offer you what I have researched and learned. I want to make it clear that I am not a medical doctor.

If you are sensitive to any foods, you could be sensitive to meat that is marinated, or beef that has been raised with grains that you might react to. Tortillas if made from flour are going to have gluten in them. If they are corn, there are many people that are sensitive to corn. It is one of the four allergy producing foods that Dogtor J warns us about. I have learned that when we go out to eat, we never know how the food has been prepared. Rebecca and I have been to a particular Chinese Restaurant owned by one of my friends a few times. While the most recent visit, she and I both had a terrible reaction to the food. Who is to know if it we have cleared our systems of chemicals enough that this hit us particularly hard, or if the restaurant used more ? that day. I don't want to feel like that again.

Your symptoms might be a combination of a few triggers. The food you ate, being tired, not enough water, your normal schedule being off, hormones, weather... ?

Keep moving forward. It sounds like you have found some positive results from taking control of your therapy. Make notes of what has occurred in your journal or on your calendar. If it occurs again , you might see some similarities that help you to draw a conclusion to figure out why this is happening.