What ethnical group do you belong to?

Becky I feel your fire. I feel the same.

I have no reason for having these and they are now so chronic i have no life.
I cant work, I cant go on holiday, i can barely even go out. Life is awful and I cant accept it. Why should I.

No one has told me why I have it. Nothing seems to trigger it.
Neither has anyone helped me one bit.
Not a preventative, not a complimentary therapy. Nothing has helped.
So it is down to me, the sick person to try to work this out.
If I don't I might as well just jump out of the window.....

Teri Roberts says they just wont spend the money on research.
She also said there wont be a cure in her lifetime, well she is younger than me...
How depressing is that.
Why do they keep saying there is no cure, learn to manage it....why....
I am sick of being told to be positive. I try to make the best of things, but I have no life quality, what best can I make of that...

I agree ,we should all look at the clues here.
Migraine could well be a symptom of something else, and if it is we are not ever going to fix it, unless by accident.

Sorry, I am fired up too.
All I have to look forward to is waking tomorrow with another pounding head....
I was supposed to baby sit my grandchildren tomorrow. I had to cancel.....
At least if we work together, and don't keep straying, we might either help each other by coincidence ,or actually find a clue.

Sorry guys, I should go to bed.
Pen
PS: Our boiler broke today, its freezing here. Its snowing. No heat, no hot water. But hey, its not migraine.

Thanks, Risa. Great link! Good job cutting through it all to get to the heart of the topic.

I missed that. Thanks Risa. Need to sleep now. Can anyone in less pain today maybe cut through it so we can work with the info?
Be grateful

Night.

lovegia - forget the blue eyes theory. I have dark brown eyes and light kills me. Now here is another theory - how many of you are near sighted? Wear contacts? Maybe if we keep this up, we will solve this mystery --maybe.

Maybe true, maybe you are just super sensitive to light and an anomaly to the rule. Who knows? I still won't forget it though! I really do believe that people with blue eyes are more sensitive to light because of the pigmentation. I'm not positive but I strongly believe it.

As for your question, I am not near sighted as far as I know. I don't wear contacts, but I should go to the doctor for a check on my eyes. I am deathly afraid of anyone messing with my eyes, I know it is silly but call it my own phobia.

When working as a machinist, I actually got a metal chip IN my eye and refused to go. I had to have a coworker of mine hold me down to flush my eye out with the emergency solution they had. It came out with several flushes but IIICK. Nobody touches my eyes!! They still wanted me to go to see if I had scratched or damaged my retina but nahh, I passed that up.

Thanks for the info on the lineage too!

pen wrote:
I have no reason for having these and they are now so chronic i have no life. I cant work, I cant go on holiday, i can barely even go out. Life is awful and I cant accept it. Why should I.

No one has told me why I have it. Nothing seems to trigger it. Neither has anyone helped me one bit. Not a preventative, not a complimentary therapy. Nothing has helped. So it is down to me, the sick person to try to work this out. If I don't I might as well just jump out of the window.....

Teri Roberts says they just wont spend the money on research. She also said there wont be a cure in her lifetime, well she is younger than me...How depressing is that. Why do they keep saying there is no cure, learn to manage it....why....

I agree ,we should all look at the clues here.
Migraine could well be a symptom of something else, and if it is we are not ever going to fix it, unless by accident.

At least if we work together, and don't keep straying, we might either help each other by coincidence ,or actually find a clue.

I haven't been in your shoes but I do understand the frustration. We get patronized and patted on the head and dismissed as "whiney". We turn into lab rats for doctors and does it help - the answer seems to be rarely if at all and we pay the price. What I know is that they understand the mechanism of a migraine - the stages, how it works and the effects. What they don't know is what trigger mechanism is....which is why they turn us into rats. For some it truly is an imbalance somewhere that can be corrected and they usually don't stay rats long. For us, well they throw every trick in the book at us and either we can't tolerate them or they have no effect we are then told to cope.

From my perspective this is a prime area for research - the bad is that we may be the outliers rather than the majority which makes the research that much harder. Part of it is public view...the hot area of neurological study is Alzheimers - many are affected and they are visible. I wouldn't say that research money isn't spent on it, I would say there are few researchers out there and most are looking at drugs not cause. As we are finding, potential causitive events vary between person. This in itself makes it hard to justify doing the research - they have no results to prove a theory. Unless they'd get hit by lightening and find a common factor in all of us.... So we must become our own doctors - start looking at what we know. If one of us gets a solution, share it with others, you never know who else might be in a similar condition and it could help.

Pen, I hope your boiler gets fixed soon. Although I'm sure a bit of cold beats an M any day

im afro carribbean british and i suffered from headaches/migraines for 4 months straight last year and migraines when i was a teenager but they have stopped for the time being.

hope that helps a bit.
when i had the migraines for 4 months straight my research seemed to say that migraines are basically a combination of a number of triggers including foods and emotions and it is a process of eliminating the triggers.

and there is hope of recovery as one book i read said that if you are unable to work due to migraine it is normally a case of not receiving correct treatment and a dr should be able to perscribe medications to help

oh also to add i remember reading low seratonin being a trigger or something so exercise should reduce migraines if done regularly

ache25 wrote:im afro carribbean british and i suffered from headaches/migraines for 4 months straight last year and migraines when i was a teenager but they have stopped for the time being.

hope that helps a bit.
when i had the migraines for 4 months straight my research seemed to say that migraines are basically a combination of a number of triggers including foods and emotions and it is a process of eliminating the triggers.

and there is hope of recovery as one book i read said that if you are unable to work due to migraine it is normally a case of not receiving correct treatment and a dr should be able to perscribe medications to help

I am going to totally disagree with the theories you posted. I have been more ill since under a migraine specialists care than before I went in to see him. Before, I rarely missed work - yes I didn't feel good but I could still do most things. Now, I'm lucky if I make it in 2 days a week (spent 2 weeks at home just due to medication interactions). I'm going off my meds as they have been more harmful than helpful.

My problems started June 2009. I was on an exercise program to lose some weight. I ate mostly fresh foods and avoided anything processed (avoiding most known triggers on accident) as well as got over an hour of exercise every day. I was able to maintain some level of exercise until December - my meds make that impossible. I'm still waiting for a pain free, no symptom day.

Of course we all have triggers, if we knew what the hell they were do you think we'd be on this board? We are the ones that can't figure it out - there is no common theme to what triggers are. Foods are avoided, if stressed just weather the blast but 9 times out of 10 we have no idea what caused them. We come here for support from others like us...you obviously have not experienced migraines to this level as yours have resolved. You are one of the lucky ones that was able to be easily treated. Don't come here and tell us that it's psychosomatic and that a good doctor should be able to solve it - it doesn't work that way for everyone.

I do agree that you have to be more sympathetic to people who have no cure, ache. I am so happy you were able to solve your migraines by avoiding your triggers, I wish I could do the same!! Unfortunately, I can't help the weather nor can I stop my period or hormones. I can't help certain smells when I go to certain places as much as I try to avoid it. Such is life...

I am trying very hard to get medication to help, but preventatives only take you so far and rob you of a lot, too. Some people don't experience side effects from their preventatives but most of us do and they are HORRID. To fight this DISEASE is hard!! It is not a matter of avoiding stress or triggers for some of us, it is our life. Imagine that...Imagine waking up and knowing it won't go away like yours did and where as you have hope some day they will be managed, you know that it will take pills or treatments to have a functional life. If you decide to stop those pills or treatments you will be back at square one all over again. Sucky.

omg heelerlady i definately was not trying to be rude or anything like that. i certainly was not trying to suggest that your symptoms are psychosomatic believe me when i was having my migraines i did not hear the end of 'just dont think about it so much its just a headache' etc.

i do understand your pain totally- i was unable to function during that period and do realise i am lucky it resolved.

my post was just trying illustrate that there is hope of recovery despite the current migraine problem.

i am really sorry if i offended anyone because i didnt mean to

ache25,

you did not offend anyone, don't worry.

For long periods I can also keep migraine at bay by avoiding certain triggers. Unfortunately, there are some uncotrollable triggers that cannot be avoided (weather, hormons...)
I agree with the exercise theory. It does help me a lot and when I cannot exercise regularly I feel bad.

Unfortunately, for some people migraine is a daily event that has no apparent triggers so it gets very difficult to find a way out, even for a few days. That's why for some of us certain theories are bull**it and I can totally understand their pain and sorrow. Migraine - especially when it's continuous - can really spoil a human's life.

I hope that you can continue to control migraine anyway. It's always good to hear that someone can have success over this monster

Bye

Good information. Maybe their diet? That would be great. Could be their genetic makeup though.

Risa

Great search string. You should be a librarian!

Charlotte

ache,

I probably should have phrased things differently. I wasn't upset at you and I apologize as I seem to have vented a few frustrations directly at you. I am happy that you no longer have a daily migraine monster. I was disagreeing with the theories you presented - the point I was making is that I was already doing the things that should help and it didn't make one bit of difference. I'm also tired of "helpful" people....what I mean is that everyone has an opinion. Well are you doing this, that, have you tried this, well this fixed this in Larry and it should in you - sort of like they have some personal insight that I've never heard of or considered trying. I know they all mean well, but it's not helpful. Right now, most of us are looking for relief, not a cure and ways to cope with the pain and symptoms. I'm not sure that mine can be cured, I've got a whole sack of medications that have been tried and discarded because they don't help and I'm starting to wonder if anything will stop the symptoms or if I'm one of those that will have to cope. After a while it's not just the M itself, it's the depression and the isolation that make you start to lose your mind. You think about all sorts of crazy things when you are in the midst of an attack and once you get through, you realize they were nuts but at the time they seemed completely rational. I now understand how the temporary insanity defense actually works in the US....

Heelerllady - It sounds like from your post that your migraines got worse when you started exercising and eating healthy if I read it right. If this is what you meant, I can identify with that. Mine didn't start until I was leading a healthier lifestyle and even now when I decide to ignore all "triggers" that is when I seem to be more migraine free. I'm attributing this to pure coincidence but it does kind of make you wonder.

Hi All,

I am caucasian, of french hugenot, scottish, and probably german decent. My father, 2 cousins and paternal grandmother had migraine. (mine are more severe.) I also have dysautonomia with low blood pressure and fainting spells. Brown hair and hazel eyes.

This is interesting.

Pain free days,
sailingm

estre004 wrote:Heelerllady - It sounds like from your post that your migraines got worse when you started exercising and eating healthy if I read it right. If this is what you meant, I can identify with that. Mine didn't start until I was leading a healthier lifestyle and even now when I decide to ignore all "triggers" that is when I seem to be more migraine free. I'm attributing this to pure coincidence but it does kind of make you wonder.

My migraines had started coming in cycles early last spring. I'd get a cluster for 2 weeks, then nothing for 4-6 weeks. In early May, I decided to clean up my act (really needed to lose 30 pounds) and to look and feel better. Things went well for about 6 weeks or so. Then cluster came....and stayed. I still do follow the eating principles (fresh, not processed if possible, whole grains, more fish) and until start of January I was still walking 45 minutes every day. One of my medications has my hr up so that any exertion on my part raises it to the point of severe pain. I want to but know I'll be very ill. I'm trying to get off that med now so I can resume "normalcy" in this area. I have a feeling it is sheer coincidence - I can eat anything and it doesn't seem to make any sort of difference. I think it's more likely tied to other factors but maybe it's an excuse to be a junk food junkie

I'm Caucasian - Hungarian, both sides.

Miss my mom's cooking (oooh).

I'm also a mutt ( aka Heinz 57 ) ... The parts I know of are French Irish Dutch American Indian... Could be more tho... Lol.

My aunt on my dads side gets occasional migraines and I think ( but don't know for sure ) that my maternal grandma suffered from them pretty bad .... She now has parkinson's and severe dementia ( hence my inability to ask her about it )

My mom remembers " severe headaches w nausea especially around her period " but these went away once she started having kids however she was never diagnosed w M. ( oddly, mine didn't become severe until AFTER I had kids. Hmmmm

also a family history of high blood pressure and cancer.

Oh yeah... Blondish brownish hair and dark brown eyes. INTENSE photophobia!!!! I challenge the eye color theory just bc mine HAS GOT to be as bad as it can get!!!! ( not to ruffle any feathers just commenting!! )

Not ruffling feathers!! I'm just interested in it! Heck, My Dad and I asking a few people can't possibly be a logical study after all hehe. I would love to know though, but even asking the people on the forum wouldn't yield enough answers to know definitively.

Also, Ache25 NO! You didn't offend me or anyone! I too am sorry if I might have come off that way, I have a way of sounding like that and never mean it, especially on these darn computers! I also have been off lately, lots of stress in my personal life and family and it is starting to build and build. I hope you feel nothing but welcomed here and I'm sorry if I made you feel otherwise.

LOL HeelerLady, can have that sack full of medications you have that didn't work JK

Seriously though, this debate just illustrates the point that not all migraines in all people can be traced back to specific triggers. And sometimes, some people have certain triggers, but not every migraine they get has a trigger. So, for example, if I get 6 migraines over the course of 2 weeks, only 3 of those may be traceable to a specific trigger. I may never know what caused those other 3.
I think it's very rare that every migraine a person suffers is actually traceable to a specific cause/trigger. If that were the case, then we could all cure our migraines by avoiding our triggers.
And, of course, one's triggers change as one gets older and one's body, body chemistry, etc., changes. Smells bother me tremendously now. They didn't used to when I was younger. Same with noise.I can't stand loud noise, noisy places, its a surefire trigger for me, I can literally feel the migraine coming on if I'm in the mall too long when its crowded and noisy, for example.

AuntieBubbs - you are certainly welcome to all my rejected meds....have a feeling you have probably tried a few of them too. Some days it feels like we keep the drug makers in business Now if only they could find one that worked for all of us with no side-effects I know, keep dreaming, but hopefully some day.

lol Charlotte, I just copied and pasted the link but thank you all the same

Risa

I have:

Nearsightedness (glasses worn since fifth grade, I hate my 1st pair of bifocals)
Depressive Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Tinnitus
Multi-Nodular Goiter
Heart Murmer
Learning Disability
Cervical Spondylosis (a real pain in the neck)
frequent Epistaxis (nosebleeds) / seems to be a correlation with the migs
easily Dehydrated (my main trigger)
might have the beginnings of Familial Tremons (tremor), my Father and his Father had it

My Father died from a Stroke, and my maternal Grandmother died from complictions of a Stroke. My Father had a couple of Heart Attacks, and my maternal Grandfather died from a Heart Attack. My paternal Grandfather died from complictions from Pneumonia.

The headaches, which started in childhood, became more frequent AFTER menopause. They were not even dx'd until after menopause.

Mule Kick wrote:I have:


frequent Epistaxis (nosebleeds) / seems to be a correlation with the migs

interesting!

I get a TON of nosebleeds. Not as many as when I was a kid....the docs were considering cauterization of the vessels in my nose, then they lightened up a little....but still more than any adult I know. I've never looked into a correlation to M. My 5 yr old is starting to get them alot. I hope this is not a sign of things to come for him