Migraines are like anxiety and depression....

[MC Paul Barman]

In the sense that they seem to leave the medical profession clueless as to 1) what's actually the cause, 2) how do you treat it, and 3) what is all related to it and impacted by it.


As a past sufferer from depression I was always interested to hear how far off one P-doc was from another in both their explanation of how it came about and how they proposed to fix it.
See 5 different P-docs and you'll get 5 very different 'depression origin stories' and 5 wildly different treatment methods.

As with migraines. One difference is that they all do seem to have a very general explanation of what's happening. But, that general explanation tends to be disconnected from what actual people experience. It's only by shoehorning their own experiences into that 'sacred doc wisdom' that they might feel some peace in thinking that someone knows how to help.

My migraines seem pretty closely related to my diet. If I'm eating a lot of carbs and then I come off of that.... it's almost a given that a day or two later I"ll feel like crap.... migraine crap.

My migraines used to be one of those things at it's peak it settled on one side of the head behind an eye and throbbed as I exerted myself.

But now they're more like a tightness on the front part of my brain (both sides) that corresponds to a lack of appetite, a mood funk that is more like a general sense of despair, with waves of a nausea (at their worst I'm actually vomiting). And the nausea comes in a very real sense of a wave: as it recedes the 'mood funk/despair' also seems to abate.

One other odd thing I've noticed is that if I pander to the migraine: take it easy, try to listen to relaxing things, stay home from work and rest... the intensity of the migraine seems to increase. But, if I don't pander to it, go to work, do what I typically do.... though while it hurts it doesn't seem to crescendo with pain as much.

With tension headaches I still very much have an appetite. Same with sinus headaches....
but migraines? That's like offering BBQ ribs to someone who's vomiting their brains out.


Anyone else notice patterns and odd relations with their migraines?

 

[HunterAcosta]

My ex suffered from those. She tried tryptophan and 5 http and it seemed to help. She also tried biofeedback and acupuncture with mixed results. Hope you can find some relief from the pain. I know they have binaural beats for pain reduction. Google it. You can download an app on your smart phone and supposedley it can put you in different states by changing your brainwaves(delta theta, beta, etc) to correspond with whatever result you are desiring(relaxation, sleep better, pain reduction, concentration, etc). Good luck!

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

I get headaches - fairly bad but not over the top - from anxiety and depression.

Have taking CBD drops since Dec and that has helped immensely.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

I’m glad I don’t have either. I actually was diagnosed with some anxiety disorder for years and didn’t learn until last year that I actually had svt. Got surgery and I’m all good. Although, i’m Pretty sure I have depression. But I can deal with that.

 

[bandicoot]

Hope you can find some relief. My fiance also suffers from migraines. Shit is terrible.

 

[ThinkGreen]

I have the same sequence basically every time I get a migraine:

-aura that messes with my eye sight and gives me that “just stared at a light too long” vision. This is the first sign that a migraine is possibly coming
-random numbness/tingliness in my hand, arm, face 10-15 min later
-watery mouth like I’m going to get sick
-headache/migraine

Ironically it doesn’t always get to a full blown migraine every time. There have been numerous occasions where I get to that second level but never get a full blown migraine. It’s pretty strange and frustrating.

 

[moreorless87]

I have the same sequence basically every time I get a migraine:

-aura that messes with my eye sight and gives me that “just stared at a light too long” vision. This is the first sign that a migraine is possibly coming
-random numbness/tingliness in my hand, arm, face 10-15 min later
-watery mouth like I’m going to get sick
-headache/migraine

Ironically it doesn’t always get to a full blown migraine every time. There have been numerous occasions where I get to that second level but never get a full blown migraine. It’s pretty strange and frustrating.

I get the aura probably 1-2 times a year but luckily thus far its only ever progressed into actual pain a couple of times and even then not really of the severity that people describe. Exactly cause I'm guessing "might" be tension but not to the degree that its really obvious.

What I dislike far more is my phobia of blood, I'm pretty desensitised to it onscreen but I can't for example watch myself having a blood test done without getting a shock reaction a few mins latter. I'v never actually fainted from it but dam that word(brings to mind more Victorian ladies gently swooning) does not describe what a sudden drop in blood pressure really feels like, weakness, nausca, cold sweat, pins and nidles all over your body, hands/arms locking up like you've been lying on them all night, first time that happened I was convinced I was about to drop dead on the spot.

 

[no fat chicks]

Lack of sleep seems like it could be a cause for me. Along with high sugar foods. Honestly it's really hard trying to figure out every thing that I was doing prior to each one.

 

[Phlog]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...20-years-can-half-number-attacks-study-shows/

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Having withdraw symptoms from carbs, sugar and coffee are all the same: awful, but you can ride it out.

Something you may want to try is craniosacral therapy. I had terrible pressure in the back of my head from my last concussion that lasted years. I don't have it anymore thanks to those treatments.