Stress Center Peer Support

Hi I am new on here. Just wondering if anyone gets chronic migraine headaches? I am wondering if there being caused from my anxiety. I went to see a neurologist and he gave me a sample of topomax to try. I haven't tried it yet because I was researching all the side affects and they scared me. I have had blood work done and waiting on the results before I consider taking this. It is suppose to be a prevention medicine but I am wondering if anyone has used this for migraines. My migraines last 3 days usually and are very painful in my left eye and I get nauseus. I was so looking forward to starting my program tomorrow once the kids are off to school except my 4 yr. old. I hope and pray this migraine I have now only last today I just had one for 3 days a week ago. I want these to be under control and anyone who experience them I know can relate. Well I hope to get some advice. Thanks.

ali,
ive had migranes for years,, and my son inherited them from me, he takes topamax
and it does prevent them.. Every med has side effects, but not everyone has the side effects.
so if your doctor thinks it will help, try it. If you have side effects that bother you real bad, let your doctor know. There are other prevenatives out there.
Lots of things cause them,, anxiety, depression, change of weather drastically, even your monthly cycle...

Hi Ali.

I wrote this to someone on another post but I hope that it will help you. It helps me a lot. You may not need prescription medication.

The only symptom that have remaining is migraines. I get them once a month unless I catch them right away.

Migraines from anxiety is brought on by stress. Sometimes if you hurry and figure out what's causing it, you can fix it by changing your thoughts of the stressor. Sometimes when I have to do something that I don't want to do or go some place that I don't want to go, or if i'm allowing something someone did or said to bother me, That's when the migraines tend to hit me. Migraines tend to run from 4 to 72 hours.

At the first sign of the migraine I take advil(Ibuprofen),and it's very important that you take it at the FIRST sign of the headache or it may have to run it's course and it's so painful and annoying.

If you don't catch it at the first sign, then take the advil every 4 to 6 hours and put a Ice pack on your head and eyes (my eyes always hurt when I have migraines). I put ice in a towel and then I dampen the towel; it's colder that way. This tends to shorten my migraine headaches a lot. Once when I did this, the headache went right away.

I hope this helps.
Take care. DeeDee.

Wow. Thanks so much Mello Nello and Dee Dee for the Great advice. I have been dealing with these for quite awhile and before I start taking the topomax I will try treating them with the advil that you suggested dee dee. You are so right that if you don't catch it at the onset then it has to run it's course. I tried the ice pack and it did take the edge off so thanks. Mello Nello has your son taken the topomax very long? I know when my migraines get really intense then I just tell myself I am going to have to try topomax I just worry because it says it makes some people dopey and you can go blind in some cases. I am happy to say after taking excedrin for migraines the ice pack and going to sleep for awhile my migraine did go away. Thank goodness so thanks so much and I look forward to starting the program and getting on a routine with it.

I too have suffered with horrible migraines.
I have a few more tips to add.
Drink some caffeine...........believe it or not my neurologist told me that. The caffeine will help open the capillaries and release some of the tension. Also massage and a visit to a chiropractor. I remember having the worst migraine, I was so nauseous I could barely drive. I went and saw my chiropractor and the difference was amazing!!!!

I am 45 and notice that I tend to get hormonal headaches. I use a small amount of progesterone cream and this seems to help as well. There is a wonderful website, <A HREF="http://www.womentowomen.com" TARGET=_blank>www.womentowomen.com</A> and you can read about migraines there. The website was created by Dr. Christian Northrop, Oprahs OBGYN She is so very wise and has a few great books out.

Hope you feel better soon!!!

Coco

I have suffered from severe migraines since I was 11. Over the last couple of years my doctor helped me figure out the main causes/triggers that bring mine on. Making the modifications I have has cut my migraines down from frequent migraines about 1 a year, if even that.

Aspartame - the sweetner in most diet sodas and in Equal. It is a trigger for many many people, or basically an allergic reaction to it, so I stopped consuming anything with that ingredient on the list. Check your labels on everything, you'd be really surprised how many items, especially sugarfree that have it.

Floresent Lighting - Any that are too bright or directly in my line of vision can trigger a migraine so I had to rearrange furniture to have the light to the back of my head instead of facing my face.

Old style computer monitors and televisions that use CRT - cathode ray tubes in them. I have had to switch to LCD monitors for computer use and LCD or Plasma tv sets. My eyes were picking up on the flash/refresh rate of the tube which brought on migraines.

I tried topomax but couldn't tolerate it at all. If you have true migraines not stress headaches, advil may not help you so I would talk to your doctor about other medication options available to you. Not all meds work for everyone, so it can be learning by trial. So what I use now if I have a migraine is Zomig with an Aleve as a booster to the Zomig, it works most of the time if you take the pills as you feel the migraine coming on (this means you have to carry them with you everywhere when you aren't at home), but when it doesn't I have to wait until the next day and then use Midrin instead. In very rare cases I have had lidocaine injections to the base of my skull were the nerves that were causing the migriane are at (the pressure points on the back of the head) the injections numb the nerve temporarily and just long enough to relieve the headache. Hope this helps you.

Hello sleepless.

I do have "true migraines" but I haven't had any lately because of the actions I take to keep them away. I never had to take those "hard core" drugs for it and I think we should always try gentler remedies first. Most of the time that is all we really need anyway.

By all means, I think you should take the prescription medication if the gentler stuff doesn't work for you.

Sleepless, I'm a Certified Pharmacy Technician so I know what i'm talking about, and Ibuprofen does help for most people, if you take it at the first sign of the migraine. (I have to say "most" because nothing works the same for everyone).

DeeDee