Hi, I'm 18 years old and I supposibly have chronic migraines. I want to know if many others out there has experienced this type of pain. I might go off topic a lot so please bear with me.
Like I said I'm 18, and have chronic migraines. I also have a anxiety disorder and mild depression. I weigh 223, and I'm 5'4". I see my doctor atleast twice a month for my migraines. She has prescribed me on Ibuprophen 800mg, but it seems that it don't work. I know I get tension migraines all the time after school, being around a lot of people, etc. Lately I've been having these really sharp jolts in my head in the most randomness places. (Mostly around my temples, forehead, and the back of my head.) I have looked them up and they were called Ice Prick Headaches or something of the sort. I feel as if there getting worse and worse and my doctor isn't realizing the pain I'm dealing with. They are really starting to affect my daily life at my school(s) (High School, and my College Courses.), and just how I live period. I also do experience neck pain at times, but i asked my doctor about it and she said something about physical thearpy because we took X-rays before and my neck looked normal.
Any ideas on how to treat at home instead of taking pills all the time? I feel like if I continue to take the pills constantly it'll affect my implant (birth control), and all my other medications.
Thank you for reading.
Hope you have a safe and happy New Years!
-Samibvb96
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samibvb96
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Have these been diagnosed by a doctor as migraine? They sound as though they are cluster head aches. Something which there is little success in treating. The stress would be the best target. Try to reduce the amount of pressure that you are putting yourself under. The tension in your neck muscles will cause awful headaches and ice - pick headache is sharp almost blindingly painful momentary pain. I know it well but there is no cure. Rib
Yes they have and she just says that there migraines but she never tells me what type of migraines they are. I want to get a second opinion but I'm still new to the area I live in now and have no idea where other doctors may be located. I know most of my family has migraines and I thought maybe it runs in the family but I don't know if that's true. I'm just going to have to talk to my doctor and try to make her realize that the medicine isn't working.
That migraine runs in families is certainly something that has a lot of anecdotal evidence and one thing that many GP have experienced patients with. Is there not another GP in the same practice?
A lot of GP do prescribe medication for migraine sufferers. Not pain relief but event avoidance. Do you get any warning of attacks? Do you have signs of attacks like odours or lights? These types are the kind that seem to respond best. How about your family. Have you discussed the pre events and attacks that they experience?
I would separate the tension headaches/ stress headaches and the ice - pick from the migraine. Try and get the migraine treated first because the others are probably not related.
I am so sorry to read that you are suffering so badly with your migraines, and I genuinely hope that you can find some resolution and relief to this issue. I have recently been experiencing very bad repeating migraines and have been to see a Neurologist.
He told me that constant use of my Co-Codamol could cause repeating migraines and that I should try and cut them down. I was also given some medication for them. I was given one drug called Sumatirptan which is the best migraine treatment that I have ever been given. It simply stops the pain in its tracks for me. Sadly, I was told not to use more than 8 tablets in any one month as it may encourage more migraines through constant use.
I was also given Pregabalin which is to be used a preventative medication? I started on 75 mg daily, and I have to increase the dosage by 75 mg every fortnight and I am now on 150 mg daily. I cannot say that it is helping at this time and I am having a great deal of side effects from the Pregabalin.
It may be advisable to discuss these with your GP or Medical Specialist? If you are looking for a totally non-drug approach, have you considered a TENS Machine? It gives a small electric current on to where you feel your pain and allegedly confuses the brain into thinking there is no pain? I use one on my Sciatic nerve and it works quite well for me.
One last thing, I noticed that you said that you use a birth control implant? I was wondering if you had read all of the side effects that accompany this implant? As this may well be worth discussing with your GP or Medical Specialist also?
I genuinely want to wish you all the best of luck and I sincerely hope that you can find the answers that you so desperately desire and deserve.
Hi Samibv96, never had migraine myself so I cannot comment. However in respect of the neck pain I would ask about Physio because not all physio is given at gyms you can be given details of exercises to do at home to help relieve pain. I have many exercises for my arthritic joints that have to be done on a daily basis to keep the pain level down so it is worth a try. You are young to be taking so many pills and they often cause long term side effects so any you can manage without has to be good.Ongoing pain does have a long term emotional effect on suffers causing more tension pain so try hard to relax, you are at a stressful time in your school work too maybe when that is over the headaches will reduce. Sometimes a chat on our site can help, some people try herbal remedies, camomile and st. Johns wort help calm but take about three months to work so you need to give them a long trial. Best wishes to find a solution and try to enjoy your New years eve and a fresh start to 2015, the future for you looks good.
Thank you for your response katieoxo60, my school and daily life at home is very stressful and my doctor believes that the stress is the reason why I have my migraines but I think their just more than stress and my anxiety. I take medication for my anxiety and I don't believe that making anything better. I'm also on a anti-depressant and it suppose to help with my migraines as well. (Which it don't.) Lavender indents do tend to help me a lot but it's hard for me to relax with them. I was recommended meditation but it's hard in my living conditions. anywho, thank you, and have a safe New Years!
Hope you have had a better start to the new year than me, two light bulbs blew leaving me in the dark and difficult to change with arthritic hands, my heating did not come on in the afternoon then came on in the middle of the night, the time clock must be out of sequence. Then to top it all I knocked a glass over on the sink and of course it broke. Now back to your problem antidepressants are often given these days to people with chronic ongoing pain. If you don't believe you have stress and it is something else why not ask for a second opinion doctors do make mistakes I know from past experience. But remember stress and anxiety can make symptoms worse, just as tiredness can. You must do what is best for you and listen to what your body is telling you. Try lavender pillows in your bed or lavender bath oil if lavender works for you. It is a very old tried and tested remedy for relaxation. My friend went on a stress course for eight weeks I think, run by the NHS as stress was making her illness worse. Worry is another less modern word for stress and anxiety. Thinking of you
Hi Samibvb96, I have suffered from migraines on and off for many years, mine are mostly triggered by food. I have woken up with one this morning because I ate a Satsuma yesterday. So many foods cause this for me I forget which ones set it off until the next time. Mine often, as this morning, start off with Aura the zig zag lines, twinkling effect in my left eye, then the headache across my forehead, and sometimes an upset stomach as well. I would look at your diet and try to find something common relating to each episode and eliminate it. When I was prescribed HRT it set off migraines so I came off it, so maybe your implant could be setting them off for you. I have not found anything to successfully treat migraine , I just take Paracetamol, drink Camomile tea, and rub Olbas oil on my forehead, and have a nap if I can.
Hi Fern369, I also sometimes get an upset stomach when I get my migraines. But about my implant, I have had it for about over a year now and I don't think that what's part of the cause. I got it in Aug 2013 and I started having my migraines like this around the beginning of the school year Sept 2014. I do rarely get the Aura, but I mostly get the tingling around my eyes and on my face...Im going to try and see if I change my diet it will help a little. I know my lavender indents help for a certain period of time. Thank you for your information and help and have a safe New Years!
Happy New Year to you too Samibvb96! Paracetamol plus with caffeine shifted my migraine yesterday. I hope you find a solution. Lavendar tea does help me too with honey in it!
Taking painkillers and anti-migraine drugs will not stop migraines: we all need pain relief at times and the most effective way of dealing with an acute attack is to take Domperidone plus some sort of analgesic such as voltarol. Domperidone enables the pain killer to be absorbed, without it, pain killers don't work because migraine inhibits metabolism.
But if you have migraine all the time, the best approach is to rethink your diet. Many people are intolerant of the foods they eat most often, especially cereals, dairy products and food additives. Try a fortnight of eating NOTHING that came out of a factory: just fresh fruit (no citrus fruit) fresh vegetables (no peas or beans), organic fish and meat and drink lots of water. No milk of any kind, no caffeine, no alcohol, no junk food. You may find the headaches simply go away. In any case, you'll feel so much better that you'll probably never want to eat sugar or starch again.
It's worked for many people with chronic migraine and it's much easier to change habits when you're eighteen than when you're twenty eight. Good luck!
I too suffer constant chronic migraine and have been treated by a Neurologist for the past couple of years.
Long story but I was first diagnosed with a Stroke, my Neurologist has disputed this diagnosis, but one type of the attacks I get affects me by causing blindness, loss of limb function, trouble with speech etc. I have trouble with vision, sound, confusion, word loss etc etc on a daily basis and I do get Ice Pick Migraines.
I too was told about medication over use headaches, as I also suffer from RSD and was told to take Co-Codamol. My Neurologist made me stop taking those tablets and it made not a jot of difference to my Migraine issue.
He put me on Gabapentin, for my pain issues, and tried other drugs that I did not get on well with that made me very poorly. I cannot take Triptans as I have Raynaud's disease, a circulatory condition. He also gave me Topamax which has helped a little but not much, and also something for my constant, chronic nausea.
He offered me Botox injections, which I declined for a number of reasons, and, at my last appointment a couple of weeks ago, I saw a colleague of his who informed me he was retiring and that they didn't see any point in me attending Clinic any more.
He always said he could not cure me and that I woukd have to learn to live with the condition, but he did say he would help me get more capable than I am.
Sadly, this condition seems difficult to treat.
Get more help than you currently have, lay off the pain relief and do try to see a Neurologist or Headache Specialist. They might be able to help you.
Hi, I suffer with severe migraines from the age of 17 til my late 40's early 50's. They used to lay me out for 3 days at a time. I was light, smell and noise sensitive and nauseous, so was always sick which helped. So it was a darken room, hot water bottle on the back of the head and ice pack on the front or visa versa. After many years of diet checking and various combinations of drugs, I decided to plot them out on a chart month by month. They were with me mostly hormonal, but not all! Out of a 28 day cycle I woul have 15 days of migraine plus groggy days in between. Miserable time indeed, so I feel for you. I would also get sharp shooting pains front to back an visa versa. Normally pain imigraine pain would be my left Side of my head. If it ever started on the right I knew I would be in for a rough time. It would then go round to the left and come back again on the right 4 day then.
So in the end I had a beta blocker in the morning ( they are not keen on those now!) and 50 mg of amitriptyline at night which relaxed the muscles in my neck.. I had MRI's as they were so severe, one with A small amount of something nuclear injected so they could see it flow around my brain and as it happened I had a migraine at the time - which they thought was great!!!! Anyway the best thing that I had along with the other drugs was Imigrain injection. I can't tell you what life saver they were. They sting a bit at the time but you can feel it whiz round and start to work; I still had to lay down the same for at least an hour. Still a little groggy for a day, but that was an improvement on 3 days! You are only allowed 2 in 24 hours. If the first one doesn't work within an hour it's not worth injecting again as it won't work. You can have this type of drug in a nose spray and tablet form, but it doesn't suit everyone. If you have a good doctor you should be able work out what is best for you. But taking lots of pain killers doesn't work. I had to do cold turkey off neurofen as I was taking them everyday just in case I would get one. I hope you can find the right combination and help the suits you. People really don't understand how debilitating migraine can be. It's not "Just a headache" it's miserable. Sending you lots of love and hugs.
Do you know what Becca, the clinic has no right to discharge you on the back of your consultants retirement, you should only be discharged if you have found a regime that works for you, and a pain consultant has discharged you,and clearly that is not the case. I too have regular migraines and occcipital neuralgia, which causes the acute head and stabbing pain, which comes from three degenerated discs in my neck, and I'm afraid to say that I have not found a cure, but my pain clinic has been fantastic, and we just keep trying different combinations to see if any combination work better than others. I have the Sumatriptan in a nasal spray ,as I vomit with my migraines which makes getting pain killers into me very difficult, but it does shorten the attack.You might try and see if your local area has a headache clinic, yes they do exist! Keep going back to your Dr. if he isn't helpful, look up your health providers and change, it may be worth asking if anyone in your practice has a special interest in headache/migraine treatment, I'm lucky that my Dr, has a husband who suffers from migraines, so she is very sympathetic. I find too many pain killers give me migraines, I personally have not found a link with food, and I wouldn't change your diet to exclude things without keeping a proper list , it will just get very confusing for you and make the Dr's job more difficult.Have you looked at what you drink? Energy drinks which contain huge amounts of caffine are a KNOWN trigger for migraines. Keep your chin up, and keep battling on, be firm and polite when you complain and don't let others steer you off track, I wish you the very best of luck finding a regime which will help you to gain a measure of control over your very young life.
I have been prescribed propanadol, which helps. My migraines are less frequent and less severe. I bought a " chillow" which helps as the muscles are usually very tight in the back of my head. You can get these on Amazon. I also use a tens machine
Hi, Sorry to hear you are suffering so much with headaches and at such a young age. Migraines were a huge problem for me back at the beginning of 2014. I was pretty much hardly able to get out of bed, as my head hurt that much. Light was excruciating and when I tried to move my head would pound.
I tried triptans at first, but they didn't help. I think it was partly because I already had a migraine there before I got the tablet in, that was half the battle. I then tried a number of beta blocker meds, which to my frustration didn't help either. My doctor then tried me on an anti epileptic drug called Topiramate. Wow!! It has stopped my migraines. I do still get bad headaches now and again, that pound at the front of my head and make the room spin, but I find if I take a dose of Sumatriptan it usually stops it in its tracks. Of course there are times when I can't win by popping pills and have to go to bed, but I am pleased to say on the headache front Topiramate and Sumatriptan are my migraine magic drugs.
There are lots of meds available to treat migraines, even though they are difficult to treat, so don't go on suffering my lovely. You are so young and need to be enjoying your study years with your friends, not battling with nagging migraines. Speak to your doctor, maybe your doctor will arrange an appointment for you to see a neurologist.
I can totally sympathise. Do a little research then speak to your GP. Others have named meds they have had success with. I use Naratriptan, you take this when the migraine starts. For me 1 pill at the start works 7 out of 10 times, the more intense migraines take more pills to kill off the attack. But has been mentioned, too much medication can cause rebound headaches.
Just so you know, I suffered migraines as a teenager & went through so many different medications I lost count. I had acupuncture, which I know doesn't work for everyone. My migraines stopped for 20 years, but after 3 car accidents in 9 years they're back.
I attended a neurologist who told me I would have some kind of migraine everyday for the rest of my life. He was wrong. I do get severe migraines and I get what I call electric shock pain, which is intense but short lived. You may find as suggested that getting your neck pain checked out with a physio is a good idea. It's possible there are a couple of things influencing your migraines. Reducing the possible sources can be helpful.
I do often get neck pain as a migraine starts, so keep a note of anything that could be a warning sign. Remember GPs are human, so if you research something and make an informed suggestion, it's more likely to get a positive response.
All my best to you, hope you find a way to manage your migraines. Have a happy, healthy 2015.
Catherine.
In our family.. migraine headache problem was cured by adding beta blocker..
for me it was the cheapest one available.
For my son, tonsils removed even though they were causing no problems.
Adenoids were removed at the same time. His migraines that had him vomiting
for a couple of months suddenly disappeared.
No more sitting in dark rooms with vomiting pails were needed. Our lives
This sounds like problems with posture. Pain caused by poor posture will not show up on x-rays. Ibuprophen will not help pain caused by poor posture. You have to go and do something about the posture.
Hi.....i suffer with migraine, and my dr has put me on PIZOTIFEN which work quite well. try and avoid things that u know will give u any sort of h/ache which can lead to a migraine. You can also ask yr Dr for some pen jabs to inject yourself he/she will not volunteer these u have to ask for them, its what they give u if u go to hospital with a migraine....good luck
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Occipital Neuralgia & constant neck stiffness 
Hemiplegic Migraine.
Constant pain
