Had about the scariest morning I can remember.
I was getting ready to head out the door and saw a tiny little distortion on my computer screen, just like you’d get if you spit a tiny droplet. I actually tried to wipe it off and realized it was me not the screen. Then I closed each eye and it didn’t move…NOT a good sign. I have a history of migraines, went to a clinic for them for years and got them so regularly that I was in a bunch of trials and even on a TV show years ago. Well, the spot grew and grew until I could barely see, really starting to freak out now. I was trying to Google a friend I haven’t seen in years that’s a very big time neurologist and kept seeing references to my symptoms as signs of a stroke, which I had already thought of. At this point I could barely see the screen or anything else and was really getting terrified. Then I saw a mention of “ocular migraine”, which I had never heard of before. They described my symptoms perfectly, even had a drawing, and said I could expect the spot to grow until it pretty much filled my view, and last about half an hour.
Longest half an hour of my life, but as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Things still look a tiny bit odd, but basically OK and I have a dull headache. Apparently these are quite common and are generally harmless but man… talk about terrifying. Hope I don’t make a habit of these, especially while driving.
Hope your mornings were better 😉
Replies
Paul-
Very interesting that you should mention this phenomenon, I have experienced the same thing.
I first had this happen in '98, about 2 years after an MTB accident took out my right eye (another story). Like you, I really totally freaked out about it, especially since here I was with only one eye, and afraid I would be going completely blind.
Very weird, a watery, shimmering band growing on my periphery of vision. Usually lasting 1/2 to 1 hour.
I went to the eye physicians and upon examination found a hole in my retina. I received laser treatment to repair the hole and all was good.
The last two years I have experienced the same thing once every 3 or 4 months, kinda blew it off. Stupid/foolish, I know.
I went in this last Tuesday for my regular exam/refraction (I wear trifocals!), mentioned these symptoms to my Optometrist. His exam of the back of the eye revealed nothing amiss. But he did tell me about ocular migraines. I have no history of, nor have I experienced migraines, altho he said this CAN happen even without the accompanying/related migraine.
The Doc DID suggest that I go to a macula/retina specialist for a closer/more thorough look at the eye. With only one eye, how could I not agree that this was a prudent course of action. My appointment for that closer look is in 1 1/2 weeks. I certainly hope they find nothing.
Hope all goes well for you. Perhaps a closer exam by a specialist for you, too?
Welcome to the club. I've had ocular migraines for 30 years or so. They're quite harmless except for their temporary interference with clarity of your sight. For me, they occur once every few months, sometimes two on successive days but usually months apart.
You may notice a vaguely strange feeling a minute of so before an attack begins, giving you plenty of time to shut off the chain saw with which you were mitering that door casing. You'll notice that although detailed vision is impaired, general vision is not, so you can safely pull off the road while driving or shut off power tools. I guess you could keep on driving if absolutely necessary, but I certainly wouldn't do so in city traffic (or a NASCAR race) where you have to accurately judge clearance from other vehicles.
so you thought you may be having a stroke and your first thought was Google?
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Uhhh no, my first thought was calling a friend that's a prominent neurologist and Google was the fastest way I could track him down ;)PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Same thing happened to me two month ago and I was on google within seconds! At the same time, I was dialing the phone to get to an ophthalmologist ASAP, but while I was calling I was googling like crazy, and quickly figured out optical migraine was what it was. Still went to the doctor anyway. Vision it too important to mess with.I didn't think it was a stroke, but as a diabetic I was scared it was a retina problem.
I'll tell you one thing--if you see what looks like a lipstick smudge in your field of vision, call an ophthalmologist right away! My wife is diabetic and she told me she had a floater again, but this one looked like when you blot lipstick on a Kleenex. I told her to call the eye doctor right now. She did and found out she had several broken capillaries in her retina. Took 1500 laser zaps over three courses of treatment several months apart to clear it up.
Good info to have, thank you. How's her vision now?
My history with migrain ran thru several phases. Started at 50 yrs old with painless aura every couple months. Eventually moved to the extreme and became quite debilitating. Now at 57 control them successfully with 500 mg depakote, have been free for 1 1/2 years now. good luck to all of you who have to deal with it.
Paul
Thanks for your concern--she is doing fine now. For a while was getting checked every month or so and last time the doctor said everything was looking good and apparently the treatments destroy little blood vessels that try to form as a response to xs blood sugar. By destroying those, he sort of "hardened" the retina against more forming and more trouble. She has her blood sugar under better control now too (on insulin "pen" which I can highly recommend--next best thing to the pump).
She is checking her sugar more often too, and thank the Lord, she hardly ever has those nights of waking up in la-la land where I have to either force juice on her or shoot her with glucagon (not to mention the time she got lost in our small town and called me on her cell phone and I found her way the heck out of the city!)
Her other eye which had no treatments is still okay, but it could act up. From what the doc said, the laser zaps are actually helpful and will prevent retinopathy (I guess axctually the bleeding is "retinopathy")which leads to blindness, fairly common as a diabetic gets older.
One more thing--maybe someone can tell you for sure, but if you think tou are having a stroke, I have heard the best thing to do is make a strong Irish coffee (of course that takes time--I guess I'd just wash a tablespoon of coffer grounds down with a shot or two of whiskey. The caffein and the alcohol help (I asssume though, that this only works on ischemic (clotting) strokes and not the bleeding (forgot technical name) strokes. I suppose the med people here will tell you to get yourself to the stroke place the guy mentioned, or an ER, or call an ambulance--when my Dad had his stroke there was no way on earth he should have been driving!
Had many a migranie over the years. felt like a hot steel rod going through my eye and to the back of my neck. Took firinol and it helped a bit. but over time they have sort of gone away, and now are a rare occurance.
For the record if you have that curtian like vision problem it may me a TIA (mini stroke) get to stroke centre NOW. around here the EMT's will by pass the local hospital and take you to a stroke centre. This protocol has had good success with better outcomes.
Last spring I got some sawdust from that new ACQ wood treatment in my right eye, burnt the cornea, and did scare the #### out of me. The first thing they did in ER was rule out a stroke then worried about the eye. it cleared up in a couple days. So I avoid PT lumber if possible and wear safety goggles when forced to use it.
Trying to confirm how much influence your self-doctoring threads have had?;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
there are times I firmly believe in dialing 911!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
We have a local variant called the "Langford Migraine" that occurs mainly on long weekends. It is mainly diagnosed by tow truck drivers who notice the head-shaped bulge in broken windshields. 911 is usually involved.
I know, but you left your chain dangling there, so I had to pull it for you
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah, that must be scary if you've never had it before. What you experienced is called a "scintillating scotoma." You can Google that or look on sites that discuss eye problems. You're lucky that it was just the visual thing and no migraine headache following it! I get the what is also known as "the aura" ahead of time, starts out as you said, with a blind spot that turns into a glowing ring that gradually expands to fill vision. When it expands so it is no longer in sight, I get a whopping headache, unless, as I have learned to do, I take Fiorinol as soon as I see the aura. I have found that 450 mg. of magnesium a day seem to keep them away--may be worth your trying, as I don't think there is any evidence of such a dose of magnesium being dangerous.
I used to feel weird and depressed and detached sometimes a day before the migraine, (but now I feel like that most of the time) and sometimes just before the blind spot formed, my hands felt big and little at the same time, or that they were not part of my body. Interesting, but not experiences I'd welcome if I could avoid them!
Yeah freaky it was... As I said, I had migraines for many years and have had the aura and the prodromal symptoms but have to say this was about the scariest thing I've experienced in many years. I just hope that it is a one time thing. I used to take Fiorinal when I had frequent migraines, although now I've found that if I take 4 or so Advil as soon as I think one's coming I can stop it 99% of the time, might give that a try if you haven't already. The big/small phenomena has a name that I can't think of, I used to get it as a very young kid but without headaches, interestingly enough. Anyway, I'm relieved it seems to be gone(ish).PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Me too, scared me almost senseless. I was lucky and didn't get the headache afterwards, and it's the only time I've every had the symptom.Had one true migraine headache when I was 16, and it never repeated.
Paul, I also have ocular migraines. They usually only last about 15 minutes and I have no headache. My Optho said to not worry about them. If you have an episode and it looks like a curtain dropping down, get thee to the doctor immediately. Sign of a detached retina.
There is a regular poster here on BT who specializes in this. Does anyone remember who?
I'm an Emergency Physician and a member of the National Headache Foundation [ which infers no special knowledge because any doc can join, but it does indicate some interest and hopefully along with that some additional study ]. Anyway, I'm also a migraineur. I've got common migraine but once in awhile I will get one of the ocular migraines. You should distinguish between an aura/classic migraine and the sometimes painless ocular migraine.Most of the posters have correctly given advice based on their long term experience, but I have two cautions.1. Fiorinal and Fioricet are generally bad medicines. They were designed and used for the so called "tension" aspect of headaches which is mostly a bogus concept. Migraines indeed cause the sensation of neck tension, but it is migraine and not actual muscle tension. The neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine need to be addressed. That is why normal pain meds that fill narcotic receptors in the long run are a disaster. It has been my experience in 30 years of EM that the people with the most resistant headaches and CDH ( chronic daily headache) are the ones on Vicodin, etc and Fiorinal.2.Don't waste time on Google. If you think you have a stroke go to a designated stroke center. Find out NOW, not at the time, where the closest one to you is. Don't call your doctor or go get your BP checked. It's of no consequence. GO TO THE STROKE CENTER.If you overreact to a 6 month old rash and go to the ED then we will mock you, but not with stroke symptoms. Time is brain. Maybe lawyers can spare large parts of their brains, like where the conscience resides, but the rest of us need all our tiny little gray cells.I used to be with Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and they have an excellent stroke center. They can usually have a Neurologist waiting for you in the ED when you come in by Rescue. Although other hospitals can get Stroke Center designation, I would choose a teaching hospital that is more likely to have someone there 24/7 to makae the dx, direct the thrombolytic therapy if indicated.
My doctor(s) agree that Fiorinol (...cet) is bad. I know it is bad for liver, but the new drugs like Imitrex and there was another (Midrin?) I tried, made my heart pound, my throat feel like it was going to burst, and made me feel like I was on Mars (really out of it) but on Mars with a pounding headache! So....I used to take Axotol and they no longer make it, but I think it was pretty much the same as Fiorinol.
When people get their first dose of a triptan drug I always forwarn them and usually stay by them. That tight chest/throat feeling is frightnening if you are not expecting it. Although it mimics angina, it is not dangerous and soon passes. It is not an allergy and it is not a contraindication to further treatment with one of the drugs from that class e.g. Imitrex, Amerge, Zomig, Relpax, Maxalt, etc. You may experience increased throbbing to start with but I get the Palovian response that I know I'm about to get relief and so I don't mind.
That's good to know. My daughter went through the migraine pain clinic at Cleveland Clinic and is on several drugs, including Zomig. These headaches are horrible, as you know.
I grew up with migraines.
Luckily the medicines worked, as an adult I get one, maybe twice a year ... and they're "normal migraines" as I call them ... not the 2 to 3 day affairs I'd get at least twice a month as a kid.
Each year thru grade school I had to get a Dr's letter to the school officials pleading my case as I was absent so much ... pretty sure they faked the official record if the state required one at that time. Otherwise I'da been left back each year.
The ones I get now are absolutely nothing compared to what I suffered thru as a child. They're bad and still put me down ... but nothing like the good old days!
I remember laying on the couch ... between passing out from pain/nausea and looking to hit the bucket ... and begging my Mom to drill a hole in my head. She caught me once starting to pick at my temple ... I'd got off the couch and got an ice pick from the kitchen ... and I was trying to pick and decide exactly where I was gonna sink it into my skull. Those times I figured I'd die ... and that would be a relief from the pain.
I give the Mom's out there a ton of credit for comforting their kids. Can't be easy to sit there and have your kid ask you to drill a hole in their head, or simple kill them as it hurts too much.
I was on some pretty heavy medication ... we ran thru it all ... phenobarbatolwas one I remember being on for a coupla week till my Mom took me off it as I was an 8 yr old drugged out zombi.
The one that worked was dilantin. I believe it's an anti seizure medicine. We found an old time pediatric dr out in the country that was willing to try something new he'd just read about. I started at around 9 yrs old ... taking something like 4 pills a day. A year later it was 3 pills a day ... then two ... and so on. Got slowly down to the point where it was one pill once a week for about a year ... then once a month.
I remember him saying we'd come this far, no sense trying to rush things now!
My last "dose" was in 11th grade. 17 yrs old ... so that's 8 years of medication.
They still come ... but I don't even complain now. I just thank god and everyone else that it's nothing compared to what it was, then I close the drapes and go lie down.
I can mostly sleep thru them now. Like most suffers ... I can feel them comming on and prepare. I remember being in school and asking to go to the nurse. I'd walk in and tell her "I'm gonna be real sick in about half an hour".
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Sounds like what my daughter went through and still goes through. She is on 4 medications, including an anti-seizure one. I remember her calling and crying that she wanted to shoot herself the pain was so bad. That's when I suggested her doctor send her to Cleveland Clinic. My grandson(14) gets them also, but not as frequently as he used to. He stopped wrestling on doctor's orders. I have never had them.
Jeff, that's the description of the ONE migraine I had at 16. I can definitely understand you wanting a hole drilled in your head. Except, that would have required talking, and I remember not being able to stand a whisper! Sorry you went through that over and over and over again!
mo Mom got, and still gets migraines.
My little boy complains of headaches in his temples and his forehead every now and then. So far ... doesn't seem to be too serious.
But man do I hope he doesn't get them.
On the plus side of things ... growing up with them greatly increases your tolerence to pain. I walked on a broken foot for a week when I was in HS. The Dr's were amazed ... I was still fairly close to the weekly headache years ... I told them it just didn't feel all that bad.
I realized later in life ... so far not much compares.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Dang, I thought about saying at the end of my post, "Jeff, I hope your kids don't inherit the tendency" then I thought to myself, don't say that, no one wants to think that. Well, so I'll say it now, I hope your little ones don't end up with migraines!No, nothing compares to one.Only trigger I ever could guess for mine, was gluten, which I'd read could trigger them. Right then, I had just discovered home breadbaking, and I had made five different bread recipes and had them rising around the house. Who knows, but since then, I never make more than one batch of bread a day.
"I give the Mom's out there a ton of credit for comforting their kids."No kidding! I did have one vicious bad headache about ten years ago that had me on the couch crying "Mommy" "Mommy" about every three minutes. (She'd been gone a good five years at that point. Finally went to the ER and found it was some kind of virus.(Frankly, my ex wasn't impressive in his degree of support right then. Should have realized at the time that if someone gets impatient with you when you admit you are dying in pain and need to go to the hospital, that probably, they don't really care a whole lot about you anymore.)
Hi Dr,
Thanks for the info.....I too, have suffered migraines most of my life. I find this thread invaluable as I have a 40 y/o daughter who also has them and will forward copies of these conversations. Just FYIs for her so she can better discuss/describe with her Dr.
May I ask a question of strokes?
I am mid 60's, quad by-pass, slightly overweight but otherwise OK. I have lost 2 grandparents to strokes and that has always worried me.
The question is: We live in a small remote community, good Medic 1 type coverage but over 120 miles to nearest major city (Portland, Or). We have airlift insurance.
What can one do to minimize effects of stroke in such a location? Is there, realistically, anything that can or should be done?
I know you can't get into specifics but certainly this would describe the circumstances of many across this nation.
Thanks for any input.
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
Good question.Keep in mind there are two categories of stroke. One is when a blood vessel breaks open. This is a hemorrhagic stroke. Usually these are more devastating and the treatment is different from that which you go to a stroke center to receive. The other type is ischemic stroke in which the blood supply to the brain is interrupted by a clot lodged in a narrow part of a blood vessel. This second type is what the stroke centers are designated to treat. [ this doesn't mean they aren't prepared for the first type.. more on that later ]You may want to go directly to your local hospital to get the CT first which is very good at distinguishing the two types. Blood is easily seen on a plain, non contrast cerebral CT. Then if appropriate they can expedite your transfer to a stroke center for thrombolysis i.e. dissolving the clot. You can imagine what a disaster it is if they give a powerful "blood thinner" to a person who had a hemorrhagic stroke.Also keep in mind there are some strong counter opinions that the risk/benefit ratio of TPA [dissolving the clot] is not convincing. I was at Mayo in Jacksonville and saw very gratifying results, but I cannot give your the exact numbers of adverse outcomes either. Confounding this is the tendency of some "strokes" getting better on their own, otherwise known as TIA's, and it is attributed to the TPA. Stroke centers will also have Neurosurgery back up for cases of hemorrhagic stroke when clot evacuation or ventriculostomy are indicated or when the treatment goes bad and a ischemic stroke bleeds from the very medicine intended to make it better.Your specific question: NO there isn't anything to do immediately until you find out which kind of stroke you have. Aspirin would help the majority of strokes which are the ischemic type but be contraindicated for the hemorrhagic type
My maternal grandfather had the hemorrhagic and my paternal grandmother had the ischemic type.
I now have more reading to do.
Thanks for input and your time.
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
What can you tell me about Cluster Headaches. I've had them for over 25 yrs and after many unsuccessful drug regimens have now relied on Oxygen as the pain stopper. Anything new in the treatment for these mutha's?
thanks.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Probably not much help for someone in the building trades, but my suspicion is that cluster headaches, unlike other migraines are triggered by stress or low energy.
I had debilitating cluster headaches in college and for years practicing architecture. They disappeared when I gave it up, moved west and stopped doing things I didn't like.
My sympathy goes out to anyone trying to find some way of coping with bad headaches. They ruin your life.
I don't know about stress as a trigger-the trigger for me is a beer. When in the "cluster" phase all it takes is a beer to guarantee the max pain headache in about 45 minutes. Been two months w/o libation now and boy does the thought of a cold one loom big on a Friday.
Used to blame the start of these things on our new frig. We were out in the parking lot of the appliance store when I got my first one. A bunch of yrs later when that frig went on the blink and we bought a new one remarkably I didn't have a cluster for two yrs. That idea quickly faded as I started into another session.
This oxy pain med came about because unlike the mid evening usual time period for the headache, I now was getting them around 2am. Too late I'd wake up and try to swallow a couple codeines-full blown headache as they don't work soon enough. Now, 10 mins of sucking "air" and the pain subsides. Still ruin's a good nites sleep waking up a couple times to do that. And after 2 months it's getting real old.
Haven't met anyone else that is in the same situation yet, tho I know there's many.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Funny you should say that about the beer. That was the other change I made around the time I stopped getting the headaches. I wondered a bit about the trigger being relative acid or alkalinity of the diet - sort of the yin-yang thing that macrobiotics concerns itself with, but once the headaches stopped I didn't think much more about it, I was just grateful.
As it was explained to me, alcohol causes the blood vessels to expand-wanting to get more oxygen to the brain-that quick opening of the blood vessels constrict around the nerves-causing the pain.
I'm sure you got to know the "feeling" that you get when one is on the way. Nice that they give you a warning so if there is something that works to knock it out you can have at it.
They have similarities in people that get them. Men, smoking, alcohol, cheese, chocolate............a few others I'm sure.
Nuns and monks used to get them ages ago-believed to be caused by them eating moldy bread.
I don't even know what a normal headache is anymore.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
They have similarities in people that get them. Men, smoking, alcohol
So, uh, what are you going to cut out? Alcohol, smoking or men?
Just a little levity there. Hope you get that sorted out. Doesn't sound like much fun at all.
In a non sequitur I happened to be browsing the QT threads and ran across that playhouse you built for the CASA charity. What a fine show that was. Hope you don't mind if I borrow that idea in the near future. Bet you brought some kids great joy with your artistry.
And now back to our regularly scheduled program.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
View Image
Thanks Fat. The headaches, no good.
That Playhouse project, a good time. Working with the boys from the trade class and watching the kids tour the home was indeed rewarding. That the org. made some funds to help kids in bogus situations all the more worthwhile.
You can use anything you find anytime. A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I must be strange, but what else is new <G>.I had never heard of ocular migraines until about 2 months ago for a routine eye exam.I only have then maybe every 3 to 6 months and then for 10-20 minutes and only then when on the computer and most of the time I work through them. I would have not even remembered then except she ask me to verify my address and the like and on the back was check list and that got me to thinking.Anyway I get the arc, but it is not colors, just moving gray squares of different shades. I liken it to the posterization that they sometimes use on TV to hide a face.And it ever increases, just fade away after a while..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Thank you for that info.
We've certainly uncovered a lot of posters with migraines. An unfortunate brotherhood/sisterhood. Fact is migraine is very common. The total lifetime incidence approaches 90%. It's a matter of threshold rather than an either/or situation.I like to tell people that if I take someone who has never had a migraine but I sleep deprive them for 24 hours, don't feed you, play loud obnoxious music, leave the lights on [fluorescent particularly] and make you drink a glass of red wine and then douse you with an obnoxious cologne, then I can induce a migraine in > 90% of people.
Hmmm...maybe a new interrogation technique? I'd tell 'em anything. "Yes, it was I who kidnapped the Lindbergh baby!"
Maybe lawyers can spare large parts of their brains, like where the conscience resides,
Is that near where the golf part of MDs brain is?
:-)
Welcome to the club. What you experienced is also called Scintillating Scotoma. I have had these off and on for 20 years. Think of them as a mild epileptic seizure in the back of the brain where the vision centers are. If you search for the term, you will find more information. It is not life threatening and there is little you can do to prevent them or cure the problem.
I did not have sufficient time this morning to explain Scintillating Scotomata. When I was in school a long time ago, we were told that the left eye is processed by the back of the right hemisphere of the brain and the right eye processed by the left.
Now they say that is not true. The left hemispheres of both eyes are processed by the back of the right hemisphere of the brain and vice versa.
Scintillating Scotomata starts as a small dot composed of sparkling multicolored spots. It slowly expands into a typical C-shape still sparkling and then fades to the periphery of the vision. It is always on one side of the hemisphere or the other but never crosses over into the other side.
However, I--like others--have experienced on occasion occurrences of one side followed closely by the other side. The frequency may vary from several times a week to several times a year. Sometimes they simply cease while others, like myself, live with them for years. The "attacks" as I call them last typically for 20-to-40 minutes. There is occasionally a migraine headache following.
A search of the web for the term Scintillating Scotomata will find several group discussion with many who are experiencing the phenomena for the first time having near panic reactions. The medical community plays on this fear even though they have no knowledge of the true cause nor of any means of remediation once the symptom begins.
I have learned to simply stop what I am doing and wait for the symptoms to fade. This is especially true when driving and my wife now knows that, when I pull to the side of the road for no apparent reason, it is her turn to drive for awhile. By the way, I did not know that my Mother also had experienced this until I described it to her. It does run in families about 50% of the time.
May the Lord give you patience and longsuffering (Galatians 5:22),
Terry
Hi PaulBinCT,
Longest half an hour of my life, but as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Things still look a tiny bit odd, but basically OK and I have a dull headache. Apparently these are quite common and are generally harmless but man... talk about terrifying.
I'm so sorry to hear you had this and that you weren't prepared......I wouldn't be prepared either if you hadn't brought it to my attention. I along with family confirmed back to my great great grandmother have dealt with migraines through adolescents which then goes away completely until 50 thru 60.....then gone again forever....I've got my second round coming in a few more years.....hoping for better drugs than I had as a teen....best thing I had then was a cold rag with about 50 lbs. of pressure applied to the upper eye sockets.....yeah optometrists cringe at that but who cares when you're going through these things.
Most sincere prayers sent your way and thanks again for the info.
Pedro the Mule - If my eyes pop out again like that, please put them back
The cold rag and almost "puttin' yer eye out". Yeah, been there, done it.
There was normally only one way I could get any sleep and that was to do so much deep breathing that I would almost hyperventilate.
Occassionally, when I was very young (5-8 y/o, IIRC), the act of vomiting would bring and end to the episodes. Non-induced. It would just happen.
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
Hi oldbeachbum,
Occassionally, when I was very young (5-8 y/o, IIRC), the act of vomiting would bring and end to the episodes. Non-induced. It would just happen.
Only thrown up twice in my teens but I did learn after the first migraine that you don't wash your hair under the bath faucet the very next day.....experienced a brain disappearing head rush and fell in....had that same type of painless misery the next day every time.....no bending over.....whew and yuck!
With my family history, I figure these things must somehow be hormone related....every one of us different 1st episode ages but always during puberty and consistently between the ages of 50-60 regardless the age we were at puberty. Both male and female every generation but not every member. It's from the German blood line of the family for whatever that's worth.....and even with all the drinkin' in high school and college.....never had a hangover....could drink a fifth of jack, a six pack of michelob late at night and simply have a little dry mouth the next morning.....couple of glasses of water took care of that.
Pedro the Mule - Day after migraine effects, head felt like a paper bag, bending over felt like a deflated paper bag
My father always vomitted at the end of his migraines--he even said that medical books say, "Termination through emesis" and he almost looked forward to the vomiting for that reason--it meant the end of the headache. I never got nauseated with mine. Someone else mentioned one beer as a trigger. With me it had been light glaring in my eyes that most often triggered them, but now I find that often if I have even one drink of anything alcoholic, I will get a "regular" (I thought) headache--maybe they have been small migraines--very difficult to get rid of and always mainly in rt side of the back of my head/neck.
one of my biggest triggers was hotdogs.
there's a preservative common in hotdogs and lunchmeats I had to avoid.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Nitrates?
could be ... sounds familiar.
all I knew was I had to start eating burgers at cookouts!
nitrates does sound familiar.
I also had to cut back on milk. I used to chug gallons and gallons.
the same Dr that started the antiseisure medicines also had to try to isolate any food allergies that may have been triggers.
Hey ... side note ... a while ago I posted a link my buddy John had about his wife Kim ... and her inoperable brain tumor. Well ... she's heading up to the Cleveland Clinic next week for an operation!
I don't have many details ... but do know that the permanant dark tunnel now has a small light at the end of it! Hopefully their little boy will grow up with his Mom.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Here's good wishes for her speedy and successful recovery. Keep us posted.
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
Daughter had to cut out all nitrates. If the Cleveland Clinic cannot do it, no one can.
personally ... they woulda been my very first "next phone call".
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
The best of luck to your friend's wife. Cleveland Clinic is a little city within itself. I watched the documentary about Farah Fawcett last night. She was diagnosed with anal cancer and it has spread to the liver. It was brutal watching the treatments she has gone through. I thought of the oncology department at CC. They are always rated among the top 3 every year along with The Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins. That's where I want to go if anything happens like that.
Hi JeffBuck,
one of my biggest triggers was hotdogs.
there's a preservative common in hotdogs and lunchmeats I had to avoid.
Betcha' country ham is a killer then...."Nitrites" are tough on osteoarthritis too. Could hardly walk 9 yrs ago due to knee pain.......let's see......country ham & hot dogs are the highest levels of it.....guess what I was eating every morning and afternoon.....cut it all out and was back to walking and even pain free running within 6 weeks. I've had country ham twice since then and probably 6 hotdogs a year....no problems with that.
Pedro the Mule - how many knees I got?
Yessir, that always seemed to end them........the beer thing is strange for me.......a single beer will give me a headache now, on a 50/50 basis...don't know why.....wine is a staple at dinner for me (6oz. each evening with dinner, red mostly) and no ill effects.....
If I have a beer in the afternoon after cutting the lawn or some such, will not bother me. If I forego the wine at dinner and have a beer later I will usually get the headache.
Also, what Jeff said about the hotdogs. I have not had one in years but as a kid, all the time. Yeah, maybe the nitrates....
Hard to figure with so many variables.......sorry that my oldest daughter seems to have inherited them. My mother, her father had migraines as well......just lay you out for 2-3 days. Toughed them out in later years. Had to be at work, regardless.
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
any and all beers?
for years Bud has given me a headache. I don't mind the taste at all ... but if I drink 3 ... I feel like I drank a case of anything else.
A buddy told this to their Brewmaster on a factory tour ... he's a Bud fan ... and the brewmaster said it's not uncommon. Some are allergic to the beechwood itself ... guess they age it / store it in beechwood barrels ... and they also has a particular hops that's not used by other brewers ... and he said I could also be allergic to that particular hops.
so ... since HS ... if I go to a keg party ... I gotta ask what's in the barrel. If it's Bud ... it's water and pop for me.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
You can also get speech interruptions called "aphasia". For me, those last for about two hours, without pain. I much prefer those migraines to the ones where i stab my eye out with a Phillips screwdiver.