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I've been having a few migraines a year for years now. Last spring I had a 3 day migraine. This week it's happened again. I wake up at five in the morning with one, and by dinnertime it's gone. Right in the back of my head. Today was the first day without it in 3 days. The back of my head is really sore though,like a bruise. Has anyone had any experience in dealing with them? I've been given zoloft, but haven't used it yet.
I only have had 2-3 migraines, and they happen a couple of years apart. I have basilar migraines, which are in the back of my head. The first time it happened I was at the store and I literally felt like the back of my head was hit by a sledgehammer. After the intial pain, it didn't hurt anymore, just felt like the back of my head was pressurized. I had visual disturbances and everything sounded like my ears were stopped up for a day.
The 2 I have had since then didn't give me headaches, per se, just that insane feeling of pressure in the back of my head. I tell people it fells like I am getting ready to have a stroke.
I worked for a neurology office for 20 years, and they said that there wasn't really anything special to take, that my best bet would be to take over the counter Excedrin migraine.
Have you been to a neurologist? They can help you pinpoint the type you have and the best med for you (ie Imitrex can't be taken for every type), and maybe help determine if something triggers them (ie a certain food, hormones, smells).
Good luck!
I am a long time sufferer of migraines (along with my mom, my ex husband and my ex mother in law...I'm hoping it'll skip my son!)....The only way I can describe how I feel when a migraine is coming on is it feels like someone has a balloon inside of my head and they start to blow that balloon up and I can actually feel my brain running out of room from that balloon as it expands. I see stars behind my eyes (not always tho). I also get the dry mouth. My mother gets deathly ill (throwing up) when one of hers hits (I usually don't..tho sorry if this sounds gross but sometimes I make myself throw up and it relieves some of the pressure..sorry for TMI). All 4 of us have to have NO lights or sounds...I want complete darkness with a cold washcloth on my eyes...cold room, cold sheets and no clothes touching my body. I have had to go to the hospital to get shots when they wouldn't go away. That's usually the only way my ex husband could get rid of his migraines. I take Imitrex (pill form) and that helps me. I've recently had a full hysterectomy and haven't had a migraine yet (knock on wood!) so we'll see how I do when another one pops up. Mine didn't always show up at certain times of the month..there never really was a pattern to when I would get one. I have been feeling absolutely fine before and be driving home from work and suddenly see the stars behind my eyes and my vision would become blurred and I would be praying the entire time to please let me get home safely because I would cover one eye with my hand for awhile while I'd drive and then switch the hand and cover the other eye because I couldn't completely focus with both eyes!
I have had neurology tests run along with going to a sleep deprivation clinic to test my headaches. Doctors have told me that some of the trigger foods which can bring on migraines are: green beans, hot dogs or processed meat, certain cheeses, red wine. I eat all of those and don't see a correlation to them but my ex husband cannot eat hot dogs or proceesed food because he gets excruiating migraines from them. I live off of green beans and I haven't seen a problem with that.
I completely sympathize with anyone with migraines. They are a severe pain in the a**..........
I know all about the no-light thing! And I'm a big big fan of the cold facecloth. Even used it during labour. I've had two migraine-free days now. Yee-ha! And you're right, Marleybone, this is the last thing I need right now.
As for the neurologist: I live in Canada and gp's have to refer you to a specialist and most gp's would rather cut off their right arm than refer you to a specialist. They much prefer to have you come in a zillion times and then possibly refer you. More money for them that way. Anyhoo, I don't think it's terminal, so I think I just need to manage it. Take the pills, see if they work. I said to Evil Husband that it was such a relief to have the pain gone, I felt all light and fluffy. It does make you appreciate your good health, once the migraine's gone.
giz: I've never had a migraine in my life so you might want to ask just "why" I'd respond to this thread. But, I've had decades of experience with working with herbs and essential oils and have done healing on myself and those I love with 100% success. Obviously, if something's broken or a very severe reaction, I'll head to the doctor and combine what they say and herbal healing, but for common problems, I head to my herbology first.Originally Posted by giz
First, with essential oils. Marjoram essential oil is the only one listed for migraines.
Here's marjorams properties: "Therapeutic properties
The therapeutic properties of marjoram oil are analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anaphrodisiac, antiseptic, antiviral, bactericidal, carminative, cephalic, cordial, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, fungicidal, hypotensive, laxative, nervine, sedative, stomachic, vasodilator and vulnerary."
And here's how to use it: "Uses
Marjoram oil has a warming action and calms emotions, relieves anxiety as well as stress and helps to calms hyperactive people. It has good muscle relaxant properties and the pain killing properties are useful for rheumatic pains as well as sprains, strains and spasms, as well as swollen joints and painful muscles.
It soothes the digestive system and helps with cramps, indigestion, constipation and flatulence and has a beneficial action on colds, sinusitis, bronchitis and asthma.
As a general relaxant, marjoram oil is used for headaches, migraines and insomnia and although it can diminish sexual desire, it is great for treating delayed, painful or scanty monthly periods as well as menstrual cramps."
For most essential oils, the ratio of dilution is 20 drops of essential oil to 1 ounce of inert oil, like common Sweet Almond Oil that you can get at any super market. The price for marjoram essential oil should be around $3.00 for 1/8th an ounce (75 drops) to $10.00 an ounce (600 drops). Just make sure you are buying an actual ESSENTIAL OIL vs. a "fragrance oil" which is artificial and has NO health benefits.
Now, as to herbs. This is about FEVERFEW: "In England a study was conducted with 300 migraine sufferers using Feverfew as a treatment. Some of the patients noted that the herb acted quickly but most of them said that it took several weeks to obtain optimum effect, which certainly goes along with the knowledge gained that herbs are slower to work but much more effective in the long run than medications.
Seventy percent said that their migraine headaches were less frequent, less painful or both. One third experienced no further headaches after commencing Feverfew while one third said Feverfew had made no difference. These results are astounding when it is considered that the majority of the 300 patients found no relief to any orthodox medicine. (Herbal Migraine Relief-Feverfew, by David Potterton, N.D., in Bestways magazine February 1985.)
Feverfew like other herbs contains many elements that work synergistically to regulate the function of the body, it contains a more gradual but gentler action and depends primarily on allowing the body to heal itself by a slow natural process. Herbal plant food strengthens the body to become stronger while modern pharmaceuticals have a powerful and quick action that give only temporary relief. Drugs only help the warning signals that your body is telling you something is wrong. Herbs work in a natural nourishing way. Research on the elements of Feverfew show that its chemical structure has the ability to block migraine attacks.
Herbalists believe that Feverfew needs to be taken daily as a preventative for migraine headaches, instead of taking it only when they felt a headache coming on.
Feverfew is used for pain relief, migraine headaches, chills, fevers, colds and inflammation from arthritis. Researchers speculate that substances in the Feverfew plant appear to make smooth muscle cells less responsive to body chemicals that trigger migraine muscle spasms. "
giz: the reason why you have to have feverfew stored up inside of your body, is that the fat cells actually have to have it stored, in reserve, and then it acts like a "sprinkler system", putting out migraine fires before they happen and are just 'smoke'.
I had a bad work accident in October that sprained a ligament in my left leg and wrenched out my shoulder so badly, I couldn't physically lift a dinner plate up; my arm would buckle and shake from the 1 pound plate. I was in the city, away from my herbology texts, so all I could do was pound down Advils and lose work.
As soon as I was able to drive, I got home to my texts and looked up "sprains". Only one oil was listed...vetiver...which I had on hand in my Emergency Kit of Essential Oils. I made a soothing lotion of vetiver and almond oil & beeswax and spread my leg and shoulder with the lotion a couple of times per day. Within 7 days, I went from NOT being able to pick up a plate and taking 6 Advil per day and a leg so swollen I couldn't wear a shoe, to sitting cross legged and being able to shovel show with the bad shoulder!!!! That's SEVEN days and it cost me about .03 cents of vetiver oil to heal myself. A doctor would have cost me close to $100 + x-rays and the inevitable prescription.
There's a time and a place for Western Medicine, but what we have to remember is all the tens of thousands of years our ancestors got migraines, cramps and pulled muscles and went to the great outdoors for their pharmacy.
I hope some of this helps you. My friend, Misie, had migraines and she's been taking feverfew pills the past 3 years and hasn't had one since then, even though she's been to 2 funerals of family members in the past two years.
If none of this helps, you're only out a couple of bucks for the oil and maybe $10.00 for the feverfew tablets.
Good luck!Lambi
Giz, I'm sorry to hear about your migraines. They are so painful and so hard to get any relief.
Do you suffer from any back or neck pain? This might not be of any help whatsoever, but I used to get headaches very frequently, along with the occasional migraine. I started seeing a chiropractor for my neck pain and it has really reduced my headaches and I haven't had a migraine in over a year. I'm pretty sure my headaches were a symptom of my neck pain, but my chiropractor did wonders.
I hope you find something that helps.
GREAT CATCH, queenb!!! I don't know what any of those TV ads are for: Zoloft...the little Purple Pill....
I hear them and just tune them out so I'm glad that you knew what Zoloft was for!
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