Migraine Pagedifference in migraines
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difference in migraines
Jewishmother Fri May 20, 2011 9:20 am
Not sleeping much lately so lots of time to think and was wondering if there is a difference between migraines that are caused by an injury of some sort (car accident etc...) and migraines that are more organic in nature. Is there a difference in symptoms, triggers, treatments that work? Just curious..............
Jewishmother- Posts : 296
Join date : 2009-12-09
Location : United States
Migraines vs. Occipital Neuralgia
Chucky Fri May 27, 2011 10:13 pm
I get two types of 'migraines'.
One is the typical chemical imbalance which I treat with Replax. For me these migraines seem to come on because of certain foods, lack of sleep, stress, and hormones. When I have these migraines my thought process is slower, making it difficult to think or even form sentences. My migraines usually cause extreme nausea, which often leads to vomiting if I don't take my medication in time. If I get sick, it will continue the whole night (sick 15 times in the span of 5 hours). I do not get Auras. The pain is incredible, tight upper back muscles, shoulder, neck muscles. Throbbing along the eyebrow, feels like my nerves are on fire. I can usually treat my migraines however within 24 hours with migraine medication.
The other is what my neck and back pain-muscleskeletal disorder specialist calls "suboccipital headaches" or occipital neuralgia. {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occipital_neuralgia} I was hit by a car from the side as a pedestrian at a crosswalk; the truck was going about 40km/hr. This was about 15 years ago. I treat these 'headaches' with 3 Advil Migraines and 3 Tylenol ones. Sometimes I add Benedryl so I can sleep. For me, these headaches are worse because they can last up to a week with medication only slightly masking the pain, with it coming back when the drugs wear off. I have more pain at the base of the skull and it's harder to move my neck. My muscles are more affeted from this then by my migraines - my whole body aches and the nerves burn. The pain radiates to my eyebrows just like my chemical migraines - corkscrew through the back of the eye - knife stabbing the side of the neck kind of pain. The throbbing is different, I can't explain how. But it's like the pain is actually more intense then a migraine, but the fact that the migraine makes me nauseous makes it worse. My suboccipital headaches are caused more by stress, physical exertion - stress on the neck/shoulder/upper back (like scrubbing my deck for 2 hours - been paying for it for 4 days now with no relief). Sitting in an unsupportive chair, restrictive movement of the neck, repetitive neck movements, sleeping in an unsupportive bed - pillow that's too hard/flat etc. Because of this I have termed these 'headaches' my "physical migraines" vs. my "chemical migraines".
And just when I thought the above two were bad enough, I have recently discoverd that there are times where I have the two combined and have to take all the above medications to get any kind of relief.
My migraines and occipital neuralgia can be so similar, that I often cannot distinguish between the two. I find my occipital headaches harder to deal with because of the longer duration and the fact that the pain is caused in the most part from particular daily activities. I'm scared to go on vacation cause I don't know what the bed will be like, I don't want to fly because I get sick from being restricted in an airplane seat or being a passenger in a long car ride. I avoid loud places because talking loudly (screaming) puts too much stress on my neck. Carrying heavy grocery bags, washing the car, cleaning my house... I could go on and on.
I must add that exercise - especially weight lighting helps with the pain from my physical migraines. It's like if I keep my muscles strong, I'm less susceptible to the pain that certain activities can cause. But when dealing with periods of pain, it's tough keeping up the exercising.
It is frustrating, and seems like as times passes, it's getting harder to cope with and my quailty of life is slowly decreasing due to both pain and fear/avoidance.
Not sure if this answers your questions or not? lol
-Christina
One is the typical chemical imbalance which I treat with Replax. For me these migraines seem to come on because of certain foods, lack of sleep, stress, and hormones. When I have these migraines my thought process is slower, making it difficult to think or even form sentences. My migraines usually cause extreme nausea, which often leads to vomiting if I don't take my medication in time. If I get sick, it will continue the whole night (sick 15 times in the span of 5 hours). I do not get Auras. The pain is incredible, tight upper back muscles, shoulder, neck muscles. Throbbing along the eyebrow, feels like my nerves are on fire. I can usually treat my migraines however within 24 hours with migraine medication.
The other is what my neck and back pain-muscleskeletal disorder specialist calls "suboccipital headaches" or occipital neuralgia. {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occipital_neuralgia} I was hit by a car from the side as a pedestrian at a crosswalk; the truck was going about 40km/hr. This was about 15 years ago. I treat these 'headaches' with 3 Advil Migraines and 3 Tylenol ones. Sometimes I add Benedryl so I can sleep. For me, these headaches are worse because they can last up to a week with medication only slightly masking the pain, with it coming back when the drugs wear off. I have more pain at the base of the skull and it's harder to move my neck. My muscles are more affeted from this then by my migraines - my whole body aches and the nerves burn. The pain radiates to my eyebrows just like my chemical migraines - corkscrew through the back of the eye - knife stabbing the side of the neck kind of pain. The throbbing is different, I can't explain how. But it's like the pain is actually more intense then a migraine, but the fact that the migraine makes me nauseous makes it worse. My suboccipital headaches are caused more by stress, physical exertion - stress on the neck/shoulder/upper back (like scrubbing my deck for 2 hours - been paying for it for 4 days now with no relief). Sitting in an unsupportive chair, restrictive movement of the neck, repetitive neck movements, sleeping in an unsupportive bed - pillow that's too hard/flat etc. Because of this I have termed these 'headaches' my "physical migraines" vs. my "chemical migraines".
And just when I thought the above two were bad enough, I have recently discoverd that there are times where I have the two combined and have to take all the above medications to get any kind of relief.
My migraines and occipital neuralgia can be so similar, that I often cannot distinguish between the two. I find my occipital headaches harder to deal with because of the longer duration and the fact that the pain is caused in the most part from particular daily activities. I'm scared to go on vacation cause I don't know what the bed will be like, I don't want to fly because I get sick from being restricted in an airplane seat or being a passenger in a long car ride. I avoid loud places because talking loudly (screaming) puts too much stress on my neck. Carrying heavy grocery bags, washing the car, cleaning my house... I could go on and on.
I must add that exercise - especially weight lighting helps with the pain from my physical migraines. It's like if I keep my muscles strong, I'm less susceptible to the pain that certain activities can cause. But when dealing with periods of pain, it's tough keeping up the exercising.
It is frustrating, and seems like as times passes, it's getting harder to cope with and my quailty of life is slowly decreasing due to both pain and fear/avoidance.
Not sure if this answers your questions or not? lol
-Christina
Chucky- Posts : 21
Join date : 2011-05-27
Age : 43
Location : Vancouver, BC Canada
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