Migraines

[Fern27]

Hi all

I really need to know if my severe migraines are anything to do with my Bronchiectasis as I get upper chest pains in the middle with them . I

Take Omeprazole for the GERD and I don’t think

It’s my heart. I know I have this lung problem but

Would it cause bad Migraines because I’ve never

Had them so bad before and nothing will make

Them go away. I ache all over with them too which is making it difficult to exercise to keep my chest clear. Had anyone else had Migraines

With this condition? I am getting desperate

Many thanks 🙏

[Hidden]

With the usual caveat that I’m not remotely medically qualified...

There is a suggestion that there could be a small, potential link between asthma and frequent headaches, but I’m not aware of any suggestion of a link between bronchiectasis and headaches, and definitely not migraine. A quick look through my usual resources doesn’t throw anything up, either, and the asthma/headache causal link is still only a question that they’re looking to study rather than something they know to be fact. Headaches are separated into primary and secondary: primary are headaches that occur as headaches in their own right (if that makes sense), such as migraine and tension headache. They’re not a symptom of something else, they are the something. Secondary headaches are headaches that are as a result of something else, such as over use or withdrawal from a medication, stress, teeth grinding, or as a symptom of something else medical like dehydration or an infection. Coughing can be a cause of secondary headache, so people with respiratory conditions can experience headaches when they’re coughing quite a bit, but coughing wouldn’t give you a migraine, and at the risk of sounding patronising (I’m not meaning to be!), migraine is more than a really bad headache.

Whilst there are variations from person to person, and some people don’t get much if any pain at all, the pain from migraine is often on one side of the head, quite frequently behind an eye, and usually accompanied by sensitivity to light and/or sound and/or smells. Many people will have nausea and/or vomiting during a migraine, and migraines can last anywhere from a few hours to several days. Some people get auras and other physical warning signs in the run up to having a migraine. Thankfully, I get them extremely rarely these days, but if I don’t catch the symptoms early enough and take medication right at the start, mine routinely last anything between 4 and 10 hours, and I’m pretty much incapable of functioning beyond lying somewhere dark and quiet, trying not to projectile vomit until it goes. Using any kind of screen or even talking on the phone is next to impossible. Many people also get grotty ‘postdrome’ symptoms for the hours and days afterwards.

If you’re having symptoms other than a headache, and/or it’s not responding to normal over the counter painkillers, then it could well be you’re having migraines. There are a small number of reports of people having pains in their chest during a migraine, that went away when they were treated with migraine medication. Either way, my advice would be to speak to your GP to discuss the situation as soon as possible, because either one of chest pain and severe headache experienced on their own require medical advice, so you do really need to get it checked out.

[Fern27 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much Charlie for your reply Migraines are a mystery 🙄

[Hidden in reply to Fern27]

They absolutely suck. Hope you didn’t think I was preaching to the choir, it’s just migraine is one of those words like flu, so if I’m not sure of whether someone knows that, I always explain that there is a difference and what the difference is.

[Lyd12 in reply to Hidden]

I suffered with migraines regularly from the onset of my periods until the menopause, then only occasionally. They were awful, could only go to bed and couldn’t keep even water down, one bad one lasted three days. Mybronchiectasis started after a series of infections ending up in blood coughed up and a bronchoscope revealed my condition. Have never thought of a connection between migraine and bronchiectasis but guess it’s possible. Iris x

[Fern27 in reply to Lyd12]

Thank you Iris yes I was thinking there must be some connection. I can handle the BroncThe migraines are something else and I’ve

Spoken to a Neurologist 🙄

[Ergendl]

Like another here, I had severe migraines during my fertile years, and for a little while after. I am now normally migraine free, but if I've had a spell of sleep apnoea overnight, that gives me a headache which can trip over into a migraine again. Fortunately they don't last so long now.I recall my first husband, a vehicle mechanic, used to give himself a blast of oxygen from the welding equipment at work to treat a hangover. Not to be recommended, but he said it did get rid of the headache.