Migraines

[beezaneez]

im worried about my wife , she is getting very bad migraines where she cannot see properly. how can she reduce these / control them ? she gets magralief at present.

are they triggered by stress ?

thanks

[Sqad]

Yes.......they may be triggered by stress, or certain foods or by hormone imbalance or by alcohol and so on and so on. Your wife is the best person to ask as to what triggers her migraines.

Is there a tablet that will stop them.........NO.....each attack will be treated on it's merits.

[daisymay67]

migraines can be triggered by many things - stress can definitely be a factor so minimising this is a good thing. Also look at your wife's diet - lots of caffeine can be trigger, so can cheese and chocolate and different foods act up for different people - keep a food diary to see if there is a possible link. Another possibility is a compressed nerve causing pressure. You can look at one thing at a time to see if any of these are an issue.

[leahbee]

I have very bad migraines and I find that if I take 2 migralieve tablets as soon as the vision starts to become blurred then the attack is less severe.
Light triggers mine, if I draw the curtains off in the morning and the sun Is on the window I get a migraine immediately.

[Buenchico]

It might be useful to check out the links (especially 'Treatment' and 'Prevention') here:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/migraine/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[boxtops]

There is also a group of migraine sufferers who get migraines (as I used to) linked to their monthly cycle, when hormone levels change. I used to have dreadful migraines each month. Your wife needs to see her GP, to determine what can be done.

I found that taking two stemetil (prochlorperizine) when symptoms began, plus paracetamol and codeine 4-hourly, helped - but tbh it's often a thing she has to live through until it clears, it's a vile condition.

Stress certainly doesn't help but mine also reacted to red wine, chocolate, onions, and oranges - I avoided those items.

[boxtops]

Btw a very helpful GP in the past explained to me that migraine comes in several stages - sickness, headache, disturbed vision, etc - and any one of them can be called a migraine, you don't have to experience the full-blown thing. Mine used to lay me out for 24 hours, and I'd feel very odd for a day or so afterwards.

[boxtops]

I was also sensitive to smells - my worst memory is of going with some friends to the perfume hall in Harrods - by the time I came out, my headache had started......

[Robinia]

How often is she getting them? I'd been suffering for years until I reached a point when they lasted 3 days and I was lucky to have a week in between each one. My gp prescribed a low dose of atenolol (a beta blocker), one a day, and it's been fantastic, migraines are now very rare, less severe and short lived if they do occurr.
Tell your wife to see/go back to her gp and see if there's any help available.

[Eve]

I also find if I take two migraleve (the pink ones) when it starts up I can head off a worse migraine.

There are also medicines which can help reduce attacks generally like amitriplityne (sp?).

I find keeping light away from my eyes helps, especially anything flickering or really bright light, I'm not keen on bright light generally though and tend to keep my curtains closed all the time and wear a hat with a peak when out. Check computer screens used for any flicker. I worked in one office where the sun would move round and be really bright through the blinds and I was getting lots of headaches from that.

I also found dianette (contraceptive) and artificial sweetners used to trigger mine. Similarly I tend to get quite dehydrated easily and that gives me really bad headaches.

[Ann]

When I had daily bad headaches earlier this year, my doctor gave me amitriptiline for 2 months, I took them for 6 weeks and they completely cured me .... and also stopped me waking several times during the night to visit the loo! Worked brilliantly for me ....... worth a try beez?