NWR: Migraines and headaches..ugh

My sister and I both have migraines, although hers are definitely much worse. She got the piercing because she figured she had nothing to lose by trying. It may be a total coincidence, but she has only had one or two since she got the piercing a few months ago.

Botox injections have given me my life back! Totally worth those 40 injections - some hurt and some don't, and it's over in about 10 minutes...for 3 months of feeling like a (relatively) normal person...

I used to get them a lot from birth control...as soon as I stopped taking the BC, I rarely got them anymore.

I agree with PP: figure out what the cause is first.

@LelaD do you do to the same doctor to get all of these prescriptions together? Generally, Tramadol, Zofran, and Imitrex and not taken together due to the additive risk of serotonin syndrome. However, your doctor may feel the benefit outweighs the risk. Have you considered starting a daily medication to try and avoid migraines? There are a lot of options you can discuss with your doctor to try and prevent them before they even happen. Good luck, that must be so hard for you

@Lela - I do really recommend a doctor that specialises in migraine. You need a treatment programme that works for you. The problem with asking on a forum such as this is that you are going to get a hundred different answers because a hundred different things work for a hundred different people. Take for instance me: I cannot take triptans (imitrix and the like, they a) do not work and b) raise my heart rate significantly) Botox didn't touch my migraine pain, and most of the pain medications don't work for me. I don't get hormonal migraines, mine are caused by barometric pressure. Medication affects me in a specific way so I'm on a below therapeutic level of an anti-seizure medication and a couple of other treatments which I won't mention because it's tightly monitored by my doctor and not recommended for everyone.

You need to see a proper doctor.

I was getting at least 15 migraines per month. For about 8 years now. Most of them were 3 days long. I've been on a preventative drug that I take every day which does not do anything at all. The only thing that helped? Migraine calendar. I had been seeing a neurologist but decided to try a migraine specialist. Their first homework assignment was a migraine calendar. Best decision I ever made. It allowed me to figure out what was triggering my migraines. Another helper? Although caffeine does help migraines, it can also hurt migraines. I had been drinking at least 1 cup of coffee every day for the last 12 years. My migraine specialist suggested giving up caffeine. I slowly stopped drinking caffeine. Since then? My migraines have gone from 15 per month to 2-3 per month. If you are addicted to coffee, I'd suggest stop drinking it and see if you notice a difference. I know a few people it made a huge difference for. I also have the triptans but they make my face, neck and shoulders completely numb for a few hours so it freaks me out and I don't take them.

I found sumatriptan to be garbage. I could have taken a Pez for the same relief.

Have you seen a neuro? That's what it finally came to for me. Now I take Propranolol everyday to help prevent them and rizatriptan (Maxalt) if I get one. I've never been able to find a cause for mine. So sometimes the best you can do is try to prevent them and find a treatment that actually works for you.

This regimen has worked for about a year for me. But just recently I've started having headaches again...So if it becomes a problem, it's back to the neuro for Botox shots.

Good luck.

I was finally referred to a neurologist. So hopefully they will have a better solution for me! I will be seeing them on the 27th of this month! Thanks for all the advice!

My migraines are triggered by my period and alcohol (lame...) I recently stopped the pill and I'm hoping that will lessen the pain of the migraine. It's too soon to tell, though.

I've thought about the piercing, but I also heard, if done wrong, it can paralyze one side of your face...? I haven't done enough research into it to see if there's any validity to that claim, though.

My doctor advised that I keep a journal to find out my triggers. That's helped!

ETA: prior to my diagnosis, I was a OOT pill-popper. I took anything and everything I could think of to try to lessen the pain. I was then prescribed Treximet. Huge relief!

Are you on birth control? If so, try stopping it for a month. I had migraines for years and took tons of prescriptions that never did anything. My neurologist told me there was no way it was the birth control causing my migraines because it was such a low estrogen pill. After a 5 day migraine and a trip to the ER, I had enough and finally went off the pill against his judgment and bam. That was it. My migraines stopped immediately. He was baffled. Wish I'd done it sooner. I tell everybody I can that suffers with migraines this because they never think it can be BC that's causing them.

Acupuncture & chiropractor! I have had migraines pretty badly, especially over the last 4 years. Also, I have had seizures (nobody has been able to confirm whether or not they are related to each other, but i believe there is some sort of correlation.) I started doing acupuncture along with chiropractic care a little over a year ago and I am happy to say that the last 4-6 months have been exceptionally great with not having either migraines or seizures. I definitely think it is worth looking into. Goodluck and feel better!

@ Kate, yes I am on the pill.. FH and I have discussed going off of it. I have had so many people tell me the pill has a lot to do with it. so depending on what this neurologist says, I will be considering it. I will also mention it to him about being on the pill.

Someone that my fiance used to work with told him to eat a banana a day. It helped for awhile. Then he started drinking water (at least half bodyweight) we eat healthy meals 90 % of time. He lost a lot of weight & when he gets them now they are much more manageable.

I get a lot of migraines as well. I've learned that drinking more water helps. Try stretching as well to keep muscles loose. I've also noticed that if I skip coffee then I get a caffeine withdrawal headache.

I get hemiplegic migraines and found out mine are triggered both neurologically and hormonally. It's not necessarily birth control that exacerbates the migraines, it's estrogen in the birth control.

Now that I'm on a progestin-only pill, I get about four migraines a year.

I always know when my migraines are coming because the pain is always in the same spot. It starts beside my right eye and the pain intensifies to were it hurts to see out of my eye. When I start to feel this pain coming - I try to get ahead of the pain by taking Tylenol Extra Strength and moving to a quite location and a dark room.

I also talked with my doctor about how frequently I would get migraines and they put me on a suppressant I take nightly. I believe its call topiramate.

I find drinking more water and getting extra sleep helps to get rid of my migraines too. I hope you find something that works for you - I know how much they stink!