Migraine story so far.....

Hello, i'm writing this from my bed after an awful week of repeated episodes of migraine, depression and fatigue. i'm not sure it is over yet.

i started migraines when i was 18 years old, though i remember as a child getting tummy aches and sicky headaches on buses and in cars.

My first one that i recall was when i was away from home for the first time and came back to my halls feeling desperate to get in a darkened room. (no, i wasn't drunk!) i remember just wanting to sleep and time became a blur. i can't remember how long it lasted. long enough!

Then in my twenties they started to become a bit more frequently and by the time i was in my mid twenties i was on prophylactic pills. i wasn't being kind to my body i guess, still living as if i didn't have themto be honest but even so I was getting them severely and frequently. I remember panicking if i felt one coming and i knew there was an essay i had to hand in the next day.

then of course there was work, when i started, i guess the combination of stress and travel, living on my own, i started to get them every week, like clockwork. frightening whenyou can't possibly give into them for fear of having too many days off and getting a name for yourself or worse, losing your job. no drug seem to help the frequency, only the severity.

Then i met my now husband and had our first child. no more work, luckily but since having children (now I have 3) i am a living walking migraine. i now have 3 a week (one for each child may be?!), sometimes more, sometimes less, but always one a week and it's been like that for nearly 10 years.

i have tried acupuncture, reflexology, homeopathy, hypnotherapy, cranial osteopathy, physiotherapy, reiki, kineseology, wacky woman purging me of children's spirits hanging onto me (she disgusied herself as a homeopath!) none of which have made an impact. i still see a cranial osteopath and do pilates which i find helps ease aches and painsand is correcting a poor posture, but not as yet affecting my migraines.
Diet is a complex thing. i have given up loads but none of them seem to have an impact on the frequency. the wacky woman i refered to actually began to help me accept this illness which has been a long road of anger, frustration and crying!

i take triptans up my nose, aspirin and anti sicknessdrugs. i have been to national migraine centre and am due to go back. I've given up gluten, dairy recently and i think have got worse...prob not linked.....will stick it out a little longer i guess......

to help my self, i have started a blog www.migrainemum.blogspot.co.uk
i like to write..it helps me feel better (writing this is helping) i had hoped to develop it into an interactive site for sufferers but i can see this forum already does this! If you fancy taking a look anyway, another way of reaching people who are living with this isolating disease, then please do. it is a serious but light hearted look at living with migraine in amongst family life.

anyway, I'm going to rest a bit more before children are back with their dad.....the ugly beast needs some attention

Helen (alias MigraineMum)

Hi and welcome. I'm also writing this from my migraine sick bed!

Am looking forward to reading your blog.

Hi from me too.
I woke up with a migraine this morning. Managed to struggle out of bed at lunchtime. Perhaps the weather is affecting us all.

Hello Migrainemum and welcome - sorry you are having to lay down and write this - but you are not alone... and as you have said sometimes just writing it all down does help .... please do feel free to scream and shout if you need.

I will have a look at the blog and add it to the list of links on the front page of this one.. There is a bloggers challenge running in the USA at the moment for Migraine Awareness Month which you may be interested in - I will find the link in a min.

I see you have tried a lot of the alternative stuff along your journey - did any of it help at all? What preventatives have you tried? and have you been able to find any triggers along the way?

Hugs

Tee x

here is the link - https://migrainetalk.forumotion.co.uk/t974-calling-all-bloggers?highlight=bloggers xx

Hi Helen,

From you have said here..

Helen wrote:I've given up gluten, dairy recently and i think have got worse...prob not linked.....will stick it out a little longer i guess......

There is the possibility that cutting out the gluten and diary may be beneficial because you can be seen to deteriorate for a period of time before seeing the benefit, so it may be worth persevering with it.

Just a thought.

Michala

HI everyone, thanks so much for your replies. It feels fabulous to know there are people out there in the know and experiencing similar things. I appreciate you support with my blog too and thanks for putting my link on the forum, that is very helpful!

RE preventatives: i have tried a full range: beta blockers, topirimate, antidepressants, pizotifen. All help the severity i think but not the frequency. I found topirimate difficult to cope with, made me a bit manic and very anxious so came off that. At the moment i@m on dosulipen which is similar to amitriptyline. My mum has depression and migraine and tkaing this got rid of her migraines. I have depression too which is linked to having migraine but I think I have a tendency towards it anyway so on a biggish dose, Again, frequency not affected but severity in the main is reduced....apart from recently.

Interesting thought Michala re things getting worse before they get better.....that fuels my motivation all the more......will do my best to stick it out. Thanks for the encouragement......

Much better day and night last night and ok today despite heavy day with my children in the rain! here's hoping for a migraine free week (2 of my children have birthdays on consecutive days, parties, present buying andgeneral extra stress.!) oh and my period's due at the same time.........arggh!! h x

oh hi again! Tee, I meant to say re USA blogging that i have picked up the idea of choosing a song so far. I only blog once a week and would find anymore a stretch. But will definitely take a look at other ideas from it. I have found that by blogging it has raised the profile for lots of people, increasing their understanding, sympathy...will keep blogging. Thanks for your commitment to it all too. hx

HUGS - hope you manage to get through the week - birthdays and period is not a good mix

I agree with Kala - things do tend to get worse before getting better re food and meds - so stick it out a while........ I am gluten free so if you need any help on that front do shout - It certainly helped me as did supplements - not sure if you have tried any of those?