I get them usually a few times a month. If I catch it very early and am able to take migraine medication I can muster through it pretty well. If I am out and about and not able to take medicine the only thing that will help me is sleep. I always suffer awful nausea from them. Getting off caffeine and having a radical hysterectomy has helped me.

At the first sign of one I tale Relpax which is an antimigraine medication. I've had them for years and Relpax gives me the best relief. I tried all kinds of meds including Topamax and even Botox but Relpax is the best for me. Everyone is different and I would follow my docs advice. In my case I also saw a neurologist.

I agree that seeing a doctor is a must. It is also helpful to have some knowledge of other sufferers' experience.

This might not have anything to do with your migraines, but I will share my experience.

I used to have severe ones -- nausea, vomiting, photophobia, the whole nine yards. Started when I was about 17 and dating my future husband. The only thing that ever helped (this was before there were any migraine specific meds available) was to take whatever I could get my hands on to knock myself out -- best was a sleeping pill that I would get from a neighbor. I don't think that particular pill is made anymore, because it became an abused drug...

Anyway, I finally figured out at least one of the triggers -- tobacco smoke! My boyfriend/husband smoked, people smoked where I worked, people smoked everywhere. Why it didn't trigger every time I don't know, there had to be other factors ( likely stress, maybe hormonal) but I had several every month.

After I moved to a department where smoking was banned, and my spouse & I split up, and I then started avoiding other smoky places -- the migraines stopped. It was either the tobacco or my husband LOL!

I would still have severe menstrual headaches, but with those I could still be up and functional and be at work although completely miserable. Ibuprofen worked for those once it became available OTC.

I've had only 2 migraines in the past 20 years, still avoiding smoke (so much easier now).

Some people find that taking Magnesium Oxide tablets helps.

I have a child who suffers from cyclical vomiting syndrome, a precursor to full blown migraines. For two years he threw up several times each week. He underwent many many tests and finally spent a week in hospital where he was diagnosed by a pediatric gastroenterologist. He takes cyproheptadine every day and is much better, although weather systems can still make him wonky. As soon as starts to feel an attack he takes Advil right away as well as his regular meds and is usually able to catch it in time.

My mom has suffered from migraines since she was a child and she always asked me to bring her 2 Tylenol, 1 aspirin and a glass of unsweetened iced tea. A cold wash cloth on her head or neck too.

I had horrible migraines as a teenager, bad enough I got sent to a neurologist and had to take a low dose prescription blood thinner to attempt to prevent them.

They were so debilitating I couldn't drive, would usually vomit and would be so dizzy I could hardly walk. I had a prescription for a sublingual medication that could knock the edge off enough for me to fall asleep.

As I reached adult age, I got them less frequently and they weren't as severe, though I did have to have my husband come pick me up one day because I couldn't drive.

Since having kids I have only had a few, I had none while pregnant and breastfeeding.

Mine are definitely tied to hormones, I hope they don't start back up as I go through menopause.

My 8 year old has had 3 migraines now and I feel so bad for her. Not everyone in my family gets them but I do think there must be a genetic component.

I hope the rest of my kids aren't afflicted.

I had chronic migraines with nausea and vomiting, untouched by drugs and just about everything else for 30 years. I was unable to work and struck with migraine related hypoglycemia which has plagued me and caused weight gain.

About 10 years ago I started taking copious amounts of flax oil and found my migraines cut in half in length of time and severity.

After about 3 years I had no migraines for 2 full years. It was what heaven would be for me.

Unfortunately due to weight concerns I had to cut way down on the oil and my migraines crept back in. However they are so mild and also infrequent that I take an 8th of a Ultra relief Tylenol when I get them.

I wouldn't wish migraines on anyone. I hope you find a way to manage yours.

My mother and my grandfathers on both sides had migraines. My son has chronic migraines too and is not helped by drugs or my flax oil elixir. I'm so sorry about your child Texas-Gem. My sister had them until puberty so maybe your child will grow out of them. I sincerely hope so.

I used to have the really bad ones vomiting, dizzy, had to hide in the totally dark bedroom with my pillow over my head and an ice pack. Not many good drugs back then. I took a few prescription meds didn't help much. Trying to pass out was the only relief. As soon as I went through menopause I quit having them. Now I have the visual /optical migraines which is so weird. No pain involved but wild strange visual patterns and colors. I can't do anything while it's happening. Sometimes I get dizzy and disoriented. My ophthalmologist diagnosed me then sent me to a neurologist and for extensive testing to make sure it wasn't a blockage in a vessel in the head or neck. Google has some great artists drawings of what I see. Very far out wild like the things they show when depicting an acid trip lol. I don't know about that because I never had that experience.

Thank goodness I have not had a migraine in many years. Very rarely have headaches. It may be one of the only good things about menopause.

I know imatrex worked for my friend. I have heard that there are special blue lenses for glasses that are supposed to help with migraine.

Visual migraine, mine are very similar.

https://youtu.be/qVFIcF9lyk8

A little video of what it looks like. Mine have more of the colorful zigzag effects.

I've had them since childhood. I can usually trace them to a "perfect storm" of atmospheric low pressure, something I ate, wine (which now nearly always gives me a severe migraine), stress. Excedrin Migraine helps tremendously--I always have a bottle of it at work, at home, and when I travel.

A friend just told me the other day her migraines have stopped since she started vigorous exercise 4-5 times weekly, combined with eating a much healthier diet. She didn't know if it was one or the other or a combination of the two, but she said she is not stopping either because the migraines are gone!

Perhaps I missed it mentioned in previous posts, but has anyone suggested PROPRANOLOL An old remedy with several uses. I began taking it probably about 40 years ago for Migraines. My headaches became much less frequent and much less severe. After menopause, I stopped taking it for a short time. That is when I realized that it was also helping greatly with an essential tremor that I was born with. I have had no side effects from it and since high blood pressure runs heavily in my family, perhaps propranolol is why I have never been diagnosed with hypertension.

The statement below was copied from an internet entry on the drug.

"Propranolol is used to treat tremors, angina (chest pain), hypertension (high blood pressure), heart rhythm disorders, and other heart or circulatory conditions. It is also used to treat or prevent heart attack, and to reduce the severity and frequency of migraine headaches."

In my experience and that of friends, it seems an awful lot of migraine avoidance has to do with what the patient can discover and uncover for herself through a lot of trial and error, keeping track of events, even keeping food logs to find dietary connections.

I get ocular migraines but not the full-blown headache, nausea, etc. ones. Only thing I get after the scintillating scatoma is a sensation that my brains are "loose" and a desire to avoid bright lights. Sleep really helps that to go away. While stress is one trigger, very white bright lights seem to be another and for whatever reason, diet cherry coke, which I used to love, was also a trigger. For my Dad it was caffeinated coffee.

My GF has been treated for migraines for many, many years and ended up having a heart attack which they attributed to the vasoconstrictors they had her on for her migraines. So she has been taken off of them and is now on beta blockers which seems to help. Not sure what else they are doing for her at this point. While you can't live with either migraines or a heart attack, my only point is that the more natural solutions you can find, be they dietary, activity related, identifying your triggers and avoiding them, meditation, etc., the better off you will be as there are potentially negative side effects to so many medications.

meditation and migraines

I could have written the same post as ghoghunter.

I didn't realize for years that my headaches were actually migraines. I finally started tracking when I would have them and realized most were brought on by weather systems, and sometimes certain types of wine (yes, cheaper reds, mainly merlot and some cabernets). I saw a neurologist and he prescribed Topomax and Relpax, the magic bullet. Now I'm down to just the Relpax, as needed. Sometimes I can use just a half a tablet and it relieves it in time.

I also make sure I'm hydrated at all times. Dehydration can trigger one for me also. If I have a really bad one, which is pretty rare now, I have had nausea and the colorful zigzag ocular effects a few times. Really crazy.

My migraines are triggered by fluorescent lights, bright light, flickering light, computer monitors, and chocolate, but they're the ocular variety (vision disturbances, mild head pain), so that might not be useful to you.

One of my friends has suffered with painful migraines for decades. Her doctor recently put her on a beta blocker because of a heart issue--and her migraines stopped. I don't know how a beta blocker connects to migraines, but I'm passing it along in case you think it's worth mentioning to your doctor.

I did and do what Annie Deighnaugh suggests. Unfortunately I can't do TM meditation as it brings on a migraine but use many other types of meditation, as perceived stress brings on migraines. I also can't eat most cheeses, white flour, msg, sugar in most forms, carrots without meat and liquor. :( No wine and cheese for me. :(

I also get migraines from hormones and weather. That's why my migraines didn't stop at menopause.

Still nothing touched the flax oil for effectiveness... Until I did that I couldn't even exercise as it brought on a migraine. My unproven theory is that the flax oil made my blood slippery enough to slide past the inflamed areas which brought the healing blood to where ever it was needed.

My son is the same. We finally got rid of his nausea for him but any stress, wrong food and or weather brings on the migraines.

I'm sorry, I mistyped earlier. It wasn't a blood thinner I was on, it was a blood pressure medication, the same propranolol mentioned by others.

I don't think it really helped me though. Finishing puberty and my cycle normalizing helped the most.

I have a couple of migraines a year. Mine always start with visual symptoms, that eventually look like the image ravencajun posted above. Although I've found that if I get enough caffeine quickly enough upon the onset of the visual symptoms, I can prevent it from becoming a full migraine. Usually that means something like a 20 oz latte with 3 additional shots of espresso.

I few years ago the frequency jumped from a couple a year to a couple a week. I determined that the only difference was that I had started carrying a laptop bag back and forth to work, and the migraine would start about 30 minutes after arriving. I stopped bringing the laptop to work, and the frequency dropped off to its usual low level. Weird. My best guess is that the bag was pressing on blood vessels or nerves in my neck/shoulder area which somehow was a trigger for me.

I had silent migraines with aura for years, but (thankfully) they went away a couple years ago around menopause. Have not had any since. When I still had them I read somewhere that magnesium tablets help prevent them and that worked pretty well, provided I remembered to take the tabs. I've recommended magnesium to several people and it has helped everyone by either completely preventing or lessening the frequency of the migraines a lot.

I had migraines about ten times between age 28 and 32. I'm amazed that anyone can do anything when that blinding pain and nausea start. I'd have to wait it out in a dark room. There was no way could I have stomached oral meds.

I don't know why they came or why they stopped, but I feel very lucky that they did stop. At least I could take meds when I had kidney stones!

I've had the visual aura a few times as an adult. Jagged, flashing line creeps up across my vision, sort of a hole in the middle, all starting and fading within maybe 15 minutes. Thankfully never the pain, nausea or other sensitivities of a migraine. I used to be a real scaredy-cat of the dark when I was a little kid -- certain that there were monsters floating out of the closet at night. Now I wonder, perhaps was I experiencing some auras then?

Both dh and one dd have chronic migraines. For both of them lack of enough sleep seems to be a determining factor, though weather also plays a part. It's definitely a hereditary condition, for them.

Mine are weather related and certain smells can trigger one. The ones caused by weather are the worst as I have no control over mother nature. I will look into some of the things that work for you. Thank you all.

Years ago, when I had a desk job, I was occasionally affected with "sick" headaches. I would feel the headache coming on, and tired to quell it, but many times it got the best of me and caused vomiting. Strangely after vomiting, I would begin to feel better and recover. It took some time for me realize that many of these occurrences were happening on the weekend. The cause was caffeine withdrawal. During the week at my desk and workbench, I'd sip coffee up to 4 cups per day. On Saturday, I'd shut off the alarm clock and be lazy that morning and I drank little to no coffee. After making that connection, I have not had this type of headache in over 25 years.

This is my story. Hopefully, it may help a few. From reading the preceding posts, it seems there is a variety of causes and very likely the help of a specialist is needed. For that poor soul who could not sleep at all, he/she should check into a sleep clinic.