Migraines, anyone?

[dalebert]

In particular, do any of you have the kind that are almost always preceded by a distortion of your vision roughly an hour before the migraine kicks in? It makes a spot, sometimes a rather large one, that is distorted like your looking through a many-faceted crystal or even just more like a blind spot in your field of view.

When this distortion in my vision has happened in the past, I could predict with 100% certainty that a horrible migraine (but that's probably redundant) was coming an hour or two later. Yesterday, this happened for the first time and wasn't followed immediately by a migraine. FWIW, I took two ibuprofen immediately, hoping to kind of head it off, but I certainly didn't expect them to do much more than put a little dent in the migraine.

Well, I've got a pretty stiff headache now. I wonder if it's related. Just trying to tap into your vast anecdotal experience and layman's knowledge. I will disclaim right now that I'm aware this is not a place for doctor's advice. It's not like they have a cure for migraines anyway so I don't feel like there'd be much point.

[Nero]

Hi Dalebert,

I can't recall having one that caused vision distortion. But I did have ones I could feel coming on. Have you asked a doctor? I'd be kind of worried there's something else going on.

I believe Sarah7 suffers from chronic migraines. Maybe she'll know.

[Devlyn]

I get a bright oblong shape like a kidney bean that I can't see through, sometimes one on each side. I usually either go to sleep or eat something to try and head it off. Thankfully, it's rare now.

[Edge]

I get migraines. Haven't really had any since starting T which is odd because I remember female hormones used to make me have horrible ones.
If I got a sign one was coming, I'd take tylenol right away (ibuprofen, advil, and aspirin stopped working for me. Tylenol doesn't really either, but it's worth a shot), drink a lot of water, and take it easy. Someone suggested I eat a banana (something about potassium) and that helped once. If I could lie down, I would. I also have a wheat bag I can warm up and wrap around my head that helps sometimes.

[dalebert]

Thanks for the thoughts, folks. Today did seem to be a migraine day so it just seems like the time period between the precursor (vision distortion) and the migraine was longer than usual. It's mostly gone now. I bombarded it with caffeine and drugs. That's not as bad as it sounds. I found any pressure caused the pain to flare like sinus pressure and coughing, so some cough medicine and some sinus medicine helped a lot. The caffeine just seems to help with pinched off blood flow.

[suzifrommd]

I've recently started getting visual auras. Mine are of the variety called "scintillating scotoma" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillating_scotoma). I've never got a migraine afterward, but the last time it happened, I did get a rotten headache. I hope this isn't the shape of things to come.

[CalmRage]

I've had a few where shortly before they started my vision got blurred but only for a few seconds, like brief flashes that come and go. Sometimes my perspective would look like someone messed just a bit with the FOV of a video game, but only for a second.

[skin]

I've gotten migraines pretty similar to what you've described.  Once my eye starts feeling funny which for me indicates a migraine is incoming, I take a 10mg Maxalt.  It is a prescription migraine medication and I guess I have had a positive experience with it.  Taking it does avoid the "omg I want to just curl up and die" level of pain, but I still get a bit of pain and the overall sick/off feeling that I would get as the migraine goes away.

[SunKat]

I found any pressure caused the pain to flare like sinus pressure and coughing, so some cough medicine and some sinus medicine helped a lot.

I used to suffer from really bad headaches that I thought were migraines.  The pain was so bad that I'd break out in a cold sweat and vomit.  They were 'roll up in a ball', 'wish you were dead', drug yourself to the gills and sleep for the next 16 hrs sort of hours sort of headaches.  I went through a couple of doctors who prescribed drugs for migraines but I didn't have any luck in relieving them until I tried nasal irrigation.

It turns out that they were really severe sinus headaches.  I'd had every indication of a migraine from the visual distortion to having them occur on just one side of the head, but they just wouldn't respond to any 'standard' migraine treatment.  What did work, or at least worked well enough to take the edge off so I could try to sleep it off without damning my misbegotten existence,  was to fill my nose with saline solution, lean my head back and let it soak for 15 minutes.   I don't know whether this worked by opening up and releasing pressure from my clogged sinuses or by causing the blood vessels to contract, but it is the only thing that has worked for me.

The other thing that has helped is knowing what my triggers are.  In order they are...

Changes in the weather or sudden barometric pressure changes.
Second Hand Smoke, wood fires and chemical smells.
Missing Sleep or missing Meals.
Red Wine or any wine with sulfites.
Excessively Bright Lights or loud music.

I can manage the last three but the first two are a little harder to work around.  I eventually had to move to a place with cleaner air and nicer weather to get this under control.