General Medical Question - Non Urgent - Mirgraines
Kay, so I've been having migraines for a long time(Like...For seven years) and get them when I'm stressed out. I used to take Asprin, Motrin, Etc. to take care of them but they don't seem to work anymore. I'm going to the doctors later this week to check out if I can do anything about them because I can never focus in school when I get them. I was wondering if anyone else has had experence with this and can tell me what to expect because I'm kind of antsy...Any awnsers would be of help. Thanks.
"Hate can't drive out hate. Only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King Jr.-
The Dr should ask you how frequent they are, the symptoms you experience during the attack, how long the attack lasts, what; if any, triggers you notice and what treatments you have tried before. If you are on any medications they may review them as some can make migraines worse or shouldn't be taken with severe migraines.
If you get sick [nausea or vomiting] they may prescribe anti sickness medications. There are some specific migraine medications you can take as soon as an attack begins that are not painkillers but are designed to halt a migraine or reduce its severity. There are some medications that are designed to be taken every day to try and prevent migraine attacks. Then of course there is painkillers to tackle the pain during an attack.
Your GP would probably talk about what treatment to try.
I would make a diary of your migraine attacks [when, what you were doing/eating in the day/hours beforehand, what symptoms you had, how long it lasted and what medications if any you took at the time] and it may be that there are some triggers you don't yet know of or could avoid. There are so many triggers possible, some people have many of them, some people only have one, they are individual to every migraine sufferer though and learning what they are is part-way to avoiding them. Caffeine for some people is a trigger and reducing intake can help for example.
I hope the appointment proves helpful, let us know how it goes.
Hiya,
Yup they should explore your history of migraines, ask what you do when you get one, what you have tried in terms of treatment and how effective it was and how much they disrupt your life. They will then discuss possible options with you.
1) ways to avoid triggering factors
2) simple painkillers when you get one + advice e.g. if you feel like lying down in a dark room then do, 'pushing through' doesn't help.
3) Slightly more targeted approaches to pain relief when you get a migraine.
4) some 'preventative' medications you can try.
Obviously what is right for one person isn't for another so basically the doctor should explore what has been happening and what can be tried.
Hope they help
Always seem to get things just that little bit wrong.
"don't wish, don't start, wishing only wounds the heart"
I found that taking preventative medication daily for my migraines the most helpful. My GP sent me to a neurologist first to double check that it was migraines I was suffering from. Never just assume what it is! Although the likelihood of it being anything 'sinister' is very remote.
Apart from that I can't think of anything to add that hasen't already been said.
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
You also have to be careful and take pain relief only when you REALLY REALLY need it or else you will end up becoming desensitised to the drug and it will stop working for you.
On the other hand you need to balance that with ''catching'' your migraine in time and taking your medications before the migraine takes hold.
It takes a bit of time to work out what is the best course of action for you but persevere with it. You could also start working out what triggers your migraines and try to avoid them (I think that may have already been said...)
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
It may be connected with eyesight and you may need glasses. This was the case for me. When they persisted I had to have tinted lenses. They didn't go away completely but they reduced in number.
This may be completely off track for you personally, just sharing my experience :)
Alright, so I got it checked out...They put me on Sumatriptan, and are going to keep me on it until summer gets out...If it's not helping, they're going to put me into a session to try and control them...And they said they might put me on a daily regiment if the one I'm taking now doesn't work.
"Hate can't drive out hate. Only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King Jr.-
I hope it helps, my dad is on that. I think it takes a bit of trial and error to learn when to take it to give it the best chance of halting a migraine so be patient with it.
You could also ask to try amitriptyline, which is a kind of anti-depressant that can prevent migraines. Between that and sumatriptan, my boyfriend who suffered migraines for over a decade was able to finally stop having migraines quite so badly or frequently. But, as others have said, it's different for everyone.
Hey, thats a coincidence..I'm on Gabapentin daily for my migraines and take Rizatriptan when I have a migraine but they haven't been very well controlled recently and last week I was put on amitriptyline and it seems to be helping. Nothing will ever get rid of them (the migraines) and I happen to have a stinker of a sore head now but through trial and error they can be 'managed'.
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
Alright, thanks :) I've had to use the medication once and I don't know if this will be a frequent side effect but I became very drowsy when I used it. Of course, I'll have to see if it happens again when I have another migrain, but I was wondering that if this does not work, is there any type of Medication (Daily or when needed) that doesn't make you drowsy? Just out of curiousity, mainly, because I don't know if this is really a side effect yet...
"Hate can't drive out hate. Only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King Jr.-
Really, it depends on you and how you react to the medicines. There are a lot of kinds of medicines out there that can help, usually either they regulate serotonin or another neurotransmitter or they prevent/stop vasoconstriction which is thought to cause migraines. Most of the ones which regulate neurotransmitters have drowsiness as a possible side effect, and just because you have it while taking one, does not mean you'll experience it if you switch to another.
I get migraines a lot and one thing a doctor told me was to make sure that I had enough caffeine in my diet. One cup of coffee a day seems to work well for me.
Sumatriptan can cause drowsiness, it varies person to person how much but once my dad has taken his he cannot drive for the rest of the day. He has other conditions that make him sleepy however so its probably a combined effect for him.
There are many treatments for migraines however so don't panic, if this one turns out to not be the right one for you, there are more! I hope the drowsiness reduces, but in a way, its good for migraine recovery to sleep it off. I find unless I sleep I don't fully recover and can develop a second migraine sooner.
When i have a migraine i want to be drowsy because im in so much pain that drowsiness takes a bit away. maybe its a good side effect?
saying that, if youre working and need to be alert and at work i guess you need a drug that will not make you drowsy. when i have a migraine im good for nothing anyway
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
