Weird migraine schedule, anyone take a guess..

My migraines the last few months have got into a strange cycle. It does vary, but seems to be fairly constant now.
Wondered if anyone could hazard a guess as to what is going on....

I get a migraine (almost always in the night). It comes, I take a Triptan, and then more often than not the next day it backs off.
Sometimes I have pain and take OTC, other times, like yesterday I get through without.
The following day (day 3 if you like), it returns, again in the night, usually worse than the first day. I take another Triptan.

Then more often than not, I can go 3/4/5 days with no further triptan, when on average day 4. It comes back in the night...back on the Triptan. Then the whole schedule starts again.

Sometimes this changes and I get a run of Triptans ever other day or every two days. This can go on for 12/14 days and then back to the 4 day thing..

Can anyone imagine what this strange pattern might be please, or do you have anything similar.
My migraines were only ever scheduled with my hormones until menopause.
Is this possibly still occuring... although 4/5 days is very odd.

Thanks for reading
Pen

Although mine aren't exactly like that, I do believe they are still hormone related. That is the only trigger that I was able to figure out. And I get them 2-3 times a week, so they are on a schedule. If something else was triggering them, I don't think they would be so predictable. I had that spell of a few weeks without one but maybe my body is changing. Hopefully!

Linda,
Do you get the 1 day off thing as well? Not sure if that is me or the Triptan...

I have never kept a diary on them but if I haven't had one for a few days I can expect one. Once I have one I won't have another for at least a couple of days. That is why I don't think I have any triggers other than hormones. My life is pretty predictable, same everyday so why would I get them some days, and not others. And when I'm in a real "trigger" period like around holidays and break every rule in the book I don't get them. I actually do better. Maybe I am being too healthy.

Im sure we are just to "clean" Linda....Told you we need to eat crap.....
I think we all end up paranoid.
No wonder they say stress is a big trigger...
Who wouldnt be stressed with the pain and confusion we live with.

I think I am on some sort of routine for migraines, but its the day without thats fooling me
As I said, that could be the triptan...

Pen,
that's part of the funny game. Migraine does not follow a pattern .... It's a very indipendent disease

In my 20 years of pain, I've experienced the weirdest patterns and symptoms and migraine is still a mystery to me.

Bye

i think i agree with ivy, over the last 9 years my hubby and i have looked at my migraines and try as we or i might we cant find no rhyme nor reason to them, they turn up when i thought i was doing ok, and dont turn up when i expect them, no predicatability to them whatsoever, ok with the exception of my "monthly friend"

for example the 2 weeks over xmas that i was worrying about, all the rich food, , seeing friends, late nights etc etc no migraines whatsoever, this week i have been following all the "rules" ands have woke with bad head every morning!!

doesnt it drive you mad?

But you see mine do follow a pattern. They always have. It isnt set in stone, but it is what used to be with my period.
Then over time became every 8 days or so. Now the gap has closed and it is 4/5/6 days.
As I say it does vary and I wasnt expecting today's but its pretty consistent.
I would rather it was totally, I dont get much time off, but at least I could plan.
I know this is a big problem for us all.

With no known triggers but this sort of pattern, I am back to hormones.
But its like no hormone pattern I can work out.

i see what you are saying pen,

mine also started with just being when i had my period and when i ovulated, there was a pattern to them i got them twice a month for about 2 days each time, but slowly over 9 years they have turned up more and more frequently, and now loads of things will trigger them, that didnt used to trigger them, you know the usual, hunger, being overly tired, stress, chinese food, etc etc my brain now reacts to the slightest of things, and a migraine sets in.

and now there is no set pattern at all,

but someone on here said a few months ago that migraine disease/condition is a progressive condition that for some will get worse over time,

i do wonder sometimes is it because i have been too quick to take the triptans and otc meds that i have somehow encouraged the frequency and have now got caught up in a catch 22. i dont know and i should know better than to spend time thinking negative things like that but sometimes i cant help it,

Theresae - I don't think so unless you are taking them everyday. How can you explain pain free days?

That sounds very familiar. Mine started at puberty, but the real hormonal horrors begun after the birth of my daughter 23 years ago. Then it would be mainly those, with a shorter one at ovulation plus first day of holiday, etc and times of stress. Then over the years they've evolved into frequent ones and half the time I've no idea of the trigger, except more recently when it seems I definitely overdid the tablets. Since the break, things have improved a little, although this week I've needed loads again due to the hormones, so perhaps I'm off down the slippery slope again.

Estre, when you say yours are better when you're on holiday, don't you think it's due to the absence of stress? Mine are never as bad when I'm away, even the hormonal migraines - bliss.

It's not only stress that causes them though, it's excitement as well. I guess there's a fine line between the two. My sister comes to see me every couple of months, I love her coming and I always get a migraine

Liz

LizzieB - Actually you hit on something that has been true in my case - excitement. If I am excited about an event even if it is as inconsequential as "being Friday" I am prone to a migraine. I can be under intense stress and be fine but if I get excited about an event, bang. I think it is getting better so I kind of forgot about it but how unfair when you think about it. As long as your life is crazy or boring you are fine, but as soon as something happy comes along, you can't enjoy it. For a long time I woke up with migraines on Saturday morning just because I was happy it was a weekend. Must have to do with chemicals in the brain. Like I said, I don't notice it as much now but it used to be every Saturday.

One thing that I have tried and it has worked very well is---for example, I am excited about going to an event with some friends---I take a triptan BEFORE the event, not wait until the next morning when I wake up with the migraine. It has actually worked every time I have done it and I have noticed I don't need them as much as I used to.

I also believe that the more migraines you get the more they progress. I have noticed since I started taking triptans as a preventative or abort them immediately with DHE they have lessoned. Could be a fluke, of course, but I don't think so. I have always thought migraines as a serious disease, not an annoyance. I do everything to avoid or abort, and I think I am getting better.

Didn't mean to ramble on but when you brought up "excitement" that clicked in my brain as being a major factor.

That was interesting, thanks, it's good news yours are getting better.

I've been tempted to take a triptan as a preventative but as I take so many anyway, I feel I just can't take any more. On the other hand, perhaps if I did and it worked, the absence of the migraine would stop another coming? I don't know if I have the courage to go down that road at the moment. But it's a thought.

Off to bed
Liz

LizzieB wrote:That was interesting, thanks, it's good news yours are getting better.
I've been tempted to take a triptan as a preventative but as I take so many anyway, I feel I just can't take any more. On the other hand, perhaps if I did and it worked, the absence of the migraine would stop another coming? I don't know if I have the courage to go down that road at the moment. But it's a thought.
Off to bed
Liz

Liz,
I am tempted to try Linda's preventative as well. Two things stop me.
I might not have enough if it didnt work for me.
And like you I think I take a lot already.
Maybe we could both try, say for a week.
How many do you take at the moment, and how many are you allowed?

Linda, when you take it at night, do you take it at bedtime?
Does it always ward it off, and have you found that the triptan wears off sooner because you slept through some of the benefit....this bothers me...They dont last that long.

Thanks
Night

LizzieB,

My migraines also started at puberty as well, but worsened after the birth of my daughter. They are now chronic, but I am new to this. My daughter has only been here for a bit more than a year...

Can you give me a little insight on what I have to look forward to? Did they ever get better? Sometimes I think if I have another child maybe they will stop. I don't know if they would and I am in no financial situation to do so, but maybe one day down the road...

I haven't met too many people who have this situation. Most people actually say their migraines got much better after pregnancy and birth. Lucky..

Sorry to go off topic ladies.

Hi Lovegia, after I read your post I went away and had a drink as I wanted to think about it and I really want the reply to have some hope in it

After the birth of my son 2½ years after my daughter, regrettably things didn't improve for me, but it could be different for you. I had a caesarean the first time and natural birth the second, maybe that could make a difference, I don't know.

At that time triptans didn't exist and if preventatives were around, I wasn't offered any. Things have progressed so much now so at least there are many more options to try. That's not to say I don't think far more research should be done than is currently. Then there are the new drugs gap-junction blockers, preventatives with less side-effects. I haven't heard anything for a while but they were on Stage II trials a year or so ago. Perhaps you've heard more over there - I think you're usually ahead of us! So hopefully for you, there will be far more to help you in a few years time or sooner.

But everyone is different and your migraines may hopefully improve on their own. It does happen. Also it sounds from reading the posts on here, people are far more ascertive (and I mean that in a good way ) about getting the right meds to help you. I think statistically over here we have less help as we don't ask for it/aren't offered it as often.

So as to what you can look forward to all I can say is it should be a lot more promising than it has been. I really do hope so

Liz

LG.

I was the best I have been as far as my "problems" go during pregnancy.
I didnt have migrianes then,but I had IBS and I now realise I already had FMS.
Buy the time my periods returned after delivery, I was back with the problems, but I dont think they worsened.

I had a total hormonal breakdown after my second child but hat didnt seem to make things worse.
It is so confusing.

Mine only hit with peri menopause and they have just got worse and worse.
I like you I keep praying for a shift.

However, I have a good book here, which I will look at for you, as I believe it has info regarding migraines and childbirth.
As Liz says things are changing all the time. Not quick enough for any of us.
I dont know which is worse to be so young like you and try to cope but maybe have the hope they MUST find something in time to change your life.
Or to be older like me and feel that this is it for the rest of my life. Things move so slowly.
I dont know how I would have coped if I had been like this when my kids were young.....empathy.....

Theres nothing to choose, we are all in a dreadful situation, and really dont get the attention and help we should.
I think we should get ourselves more proactive "somehow"

Hang in there, vent when you need, I will check my book. See if it suggests anything you havent tried already.
Take care of that little one, and be kind to yourself.

P

Pen - When I first tried this (after reading it in a migraine book by a doctor--there is even a name for it), I took it before going out with some friends to celebrate a birthday. I was even able to have a couple of drinks which I never could do otherwise. Woke up feeling great. Since then I have tried it just before going to bed if I have had a "trying" evening. I haven't done it numerous times to say it was a miracle, but I can say that it has worked every time I have done it. Of course there is no way of knowing if I wouldn't have gotten a migraine anyway. I believe that I would have. I would do this more often but a lot of times I have something planned also for the following day and by chance this didn't work, I might no be able to use my DHE that always works (can't take both of them), so I still have to deal with the should I or shouldn't I. At least in my case, I have plenty of them so I could still take another one but I haven't had to do so yet.

Thank you so much guys. There isn't a ton of info out there for people who suffer after childbirth and when they improve or if they do. I wake up every day just hoping this will be gone, and you know what..I'm sure one day that will be the case. For now, I just take a buttload of medication to keep it under control. I just hope that medication that keeps me functioning enough to take care of my little Gia doesn't put me under worse than I was before it.

It is such an issue that I face. I want to be a good mom for as long as I can. Being a good mom means I have to take my meds, because I really just can't do anything unless I take them. The meds I take have some bad long term effects though, and of course I want to be around to see the birth of my Grandbabies someday but starting narcotics so young I wonder what havoc they will wreak on my system by the time I get there. I really hope there are some answers coming out soon in the medical field...I have high hopes for botox and the migraine surgery, but right now my financial situation is so far from making that possible for me. Maybe one day insurance companies will cover it. One can hope!

Yeah, wouldn't it just help if we had bucketloads of money. I know I'd have regular massages to help with the stress - if I have a one-off one at the moment, I just end up with a migraine.

You're doing everything right at the moment and have a good attitude. I think it's so much better to accept the migraines and the meds you have to take to deal with them (which I find difficult) than fight them all the time - you just end up exhausted and you've still got the darn things. Your lovely little girl needs you and you have to do what you have to do - you sound a great Mum.

Liz