are these migraines?

[suzannejb8]

I saw the eyeball headache comment and wonder: have I been having migraines for years and didn't know? Here's the most recent history:

--terrible dizziness Memorial Day; also headaches, sensitivity to light, some nausea - first instance of terrible dizziness

--they sent me to get an MRI and found that I have thinning of myelin and white matter lesions in the frontal lobe

--I was sent to neurologist who said the white matter lesions were in the wrong place for MS

--I was sent to ear-nose-throat specialist, who found I have hearing loss at low frequencies, which indicates Meniere's. I'd also complained at that time that my ears usually feel stuffy. I'm now on a low sodium and high water intake diet, to see if things feel better in 6 weeks.

--That six weeks ends next week. I do notice that if I accidentally go over 1500 mg sodium a day my ears feel gushy

But also, I take antidepressants and anti anxiety meds, and have been under loads of stress lately. I'm not a hypochondriac, really. I've never felt so full of illnesses as I do now.

Lots of questions abound on the above scenario. But I have a slightly easier question for fellow migraine sufferers:

Does a migraine always have to have auras or nausea? For instance, I had an awful headache yesterday. And I was ultra sensitive to light and the chatter (at work) that was nearby. I was miserable. Was that a migraine? I have had eyeball headaches for years and once did get officially diagnosed (about 12 years ago) for having a migraine. I had nausea, went to the hospital, they gave me something for the nausea and the headache felt better.

[snfg]

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. With regards to your question the answer is no, a migraine is not always accompanied with Aura or Nausea.

I have suffered for over 30 years and never once felt nauseous. I have a friend who has Migraine who has never had Aura nor nausea associated with his migraines. I also feel that your recent discomfort was probably migraine, they change all the time and since you have been diagnosed previously, that is very probable. I hope things ease down soon and you feel much better, take care.

[Gilo]

When I was a child I would suffer terribly with nausea during a migraine episode, in my 20's they changed and I didn't get nausea or visual disturbance. I have had visual disturbance though. Now my migraines are just like very severe headaches (usually behind the eye) that won't go for a number of days no matter what strength of painkiller I take.

[Susann]

You say you used to have nausea with migraines as a child and that you don't now but have some visual disturbance. This is the thing with migraine I have found over 30 years it changes but can hang around for months or years in different forms. When I went just over a year ago to see a consultant he was preoccupied with telling me I didn't have migraine symptoms then. I had pain behind my eyes, pain in the cheek from the trigemenal nerve and TMJ in my jaw. I knew myself it was migraine because I also had muscle weakness one side of my body which I always get with migraine. I don't tend to feel sick these days but have muscle knotting in my stomach which makes it difficult to digest food and also constipation. You feel you have to walk more slowly with the muscle weakness. I have found that taking beta blockers daily has cut down my nausea although I have migraines every week or ten days for a couple of days at least as the symptoms are still there but masked with triptans and beta blockers.