Newbie seeking advice

[phillips123]

Hi people, I am going to be honest and say I'm not sure if I have a migraine or not, been to the docs and he thinks it's possible its what I am suffering from I was just looking for other people with similar symptoms and learn more about migraines on my journey (whether I have them or not as I may be able to help others in the future)

my symptoms are of a constant pain (dull but constant) on my left side, this of late has gone more towards my left eye, which feels closed but doesn't look it, the pain is focused just above my eye that spreads back over my head.

the pain never seems to disappear and has been i going constantly for around 3 weeks now, dr suggests migraine but I have never heard of a migraine lasting so long, hence my reason here - has anyone else suffered similar symptoms? And can a migraine last this length of time?

(Dr did a neurological exam as well btw)

[Cally01]

Hi welcome 😀

Well there are lots of diff stories and you might relate to some but here's mine.

Diagnosed with Hemacrania Continua ( constant daily headaches which escalate to daily migraines) and vestibular migraines.

Two diff neurologist and two diff diagnosis so i went to a third and guess what!! Yip, hemaplegic migraines!!

Decided to diagnose myself, paid for a max facial specialist, diagnosed with jew issue TMJD causes daily migraines!

Long story but operated and now have a locked jaw but still getting daily migraines so I'm not done i think something is wrong with my nose and I'm going to see a specialist to have this confirmed.

Listen to your body, follow your pain and don't give up !!👊

[creativeK]

Hi,

Before diagnosis I had a vestibular migraine for almost 18months that, after its initial onset, didn't start or stop (was continuous), which was why it wasn't diagnosed (I had no idea what was going on). I have it with another condition (bppv) but it took a neurologist to figure out they were overlapping conditions. So it is totally possible to have a migraine that doesn't go away until (hopefully) appropriately treated.

If you haven’t been referred anywhere and still have these symptoms I would go back to your GP and ask for it to be investigated via a referral to whoever they deem appropriate. I hope you feel better soon. Take care, Kate.

[tillykitty]

Hi, Firstly I'm really sorry to hear that you are suffering with long term head pain. And Secondly, regardless of what you label you give it, or how intense it is, any pain that lasts for a long time can be debilitating. You have my utmost sympathy. And in short, yes, it probably is migraine, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and if you have the time to read a brief precis of my story, it might save you both time and pain. However,I must stress I'm not a clinician, so this really is just my route to a managed pain state.

I'm in my 50's and have suffered with migraines since I was 15. My migraines were awful but pretty standard. Visual disturbance followed by intense head pain and sometimes vomiting and lasting anything from a couple of hours to several days. However, three years ago I woke one day with a headache, nothing too intense to start with but quite annoying all the same and after several weeks I sought the GP's help. We went through every pain killer, anti depressants, various drugs normally used to treat epilepsy and nothing worked, so he referred me to a neurologist, who diagnosed Chronic Migraine (The International Headache Society defines chronic migraine as more than fifteen headache days per month over a three month period of which more than eight are migrainous). My headaches were everyday, all day and now severe enough that I was forced to go on the sick. However, the diagnosis was just a label and not really helpful in itself. The neurologist suggested several more drugs and nothing was shifting it and the side effects of some of the drugs were pretty horrific. However, after nearly 10 months of this I saw yet another neurologist who had various suggestions but amongst them thought I might look in to a device called Cefaly. Cefaly was not available through the NHS (not sure if it is now), but at that point in time I would have sold my house to pay for treatment to rid me of pain. Cefaly looks like the 80's headband that wonderwoman wore and sends a pulse through your forehead to your trigeminal nerve. You only wear it for 20 mins at a time and as the intensity progresses it can be quite painful, but I persevered and it did its job and successfully stopped my head pain in a matter of days with no side effects. I still sometimes get a classic migraine but if I can get cefaly on when the visual disturbance is occurring Cefaly will more often than not prevent it from developing. I guess you could think of it as a tens device for your head.

I think it's also worth noting that some long term pains just stop as mysteriously as they start, so I hope yours had indeed ended and you have no need for any other intervention. However, if you are still suffering you might want to look in to Cefaly cefaly.co.uk/en It's not the solution for everyone and you should always seek your GP's advice.

I hope this has been helpful

[AmySholay]

Pain in the eyes, above the eyes, face and head can be migraine. But your dr needs to do MRI if your having vision or balance problems to rule out a structural problem.

Pain with migraine can be constant and daily.

If you do have migraine, cutting out coffee, smoking and alcohol is a must.

I suggest if your pain persists in your head see a neurologist who's a headache specialist, to get further advice and oppinion.